The DeanBeat: Has the next generation of mobile games arrived?

A handful of ambitious new games have come out for mobile devices. Each of them is claiming that they’re they next generation of triple A-quality games, or the equivalent of console-quality games on mobile devices. We’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time. And the question is whether this new era has finally come. I’ve played some of these new games, and I’ve tried to apply some thinking that I learned at our recent GamesBeat Summit event.

The start of this new generation arguably began with Vainglory‘s launch last fall. It is a beautiful game, built with a proprietary 3D graphics engine, with the aim of taking the multiplayer online battle arena on the PC to the tablet. But that game hasn’t yet made a dent in the top-grossing charts. Other possible next-generation games have debuted more recently, including DomiNations from Big Huge Games and Nexon; Empires & Allies from Zynga; Rival Kingdoms: Age of Ruin from Space Ape; and War Dragons from Pocket Gems. Each one of these titles represent an impressive amount of work from seasoned game developers. They’re very serious attempts to unseat the leaders.