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February 12, 2021 in Games
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It’s never been so important to choose the right engine to support your game – both before and after launch. Find out how this impacts your success. 

It’s no secret that mobile gaming is a big business. With ongoing annual growth this past decade, mobile games have become an integral part of people’s lives across all demographics. In fact, they currently account for more than 72% of all app store revenue [1] and over $100B in 2020 app store sales. [2] 

As devices, infrastructure and technologies continue to evolve, the opportunities for mobile game developers are bound to keep growing – and with them, so do some of the common challenges. There is much to consider when selecting an engine for your mobile game, which is why we put together a list of key considerations you should keep in mind when deciding on the tools, features and support you need to ensure the success of your mobile title. But knowing what you need in an engine and getting the most of your engine’s features can be two different things.

On March 12th, we’re hosting a developer day tailored specifically toward mobile gaming. Through a curated series of six sessions, our team of Unity advocates will showcase Unity’s features and tools to find solutions to some of the shared issues among mobile developers. The sessions for this dev day include a few key challenges and how to address them.

 

Unity for mobile overview

Easy cross-platform development is one key to mobile success. To start the day, Dan Miller provides an overview of Unity’s updates and features for both Android and iOS platforms. This session, for both seasoned Unity devs and those new to the engine, unpacks mobile-relevant features like the Input System, Device Simulator and our augmented reality tools, to help you understand the full capabilities of Unity across all mobile platforms.

 

Optimizing art for mobile devices

Long gone are the early days of the smartphone market, when you only had to factor in a few different device SKUs while working on your title. Today, there are more devices than ever, including mobile phones, tablets and handheld gaming consoles, each with its own hardware specifications. 

In the competitive mobile market, it’s crucial to ensure that your game runs smoothly across all platforms and avoids lag or long load times that could turn players away. In a session geared toward technical artists, Ciro Continsio reveals how to design 3D game graphics with performance in mind for mobile engines through examples that use all of URP’s tools (and a few bonus tricks).

 

Reaching players in a global market

Growing your audience means more than getting your games on as many devices and app stores as possible; it also means making them accessible to a vast global market. With some of the largest mobile gaming communities currently in China, Korea and Japan, it’s critical to consider releasing your game in multiple languages. In a session dedicated to localization, Chema Damak highlights how the Localization Package can efficiently localize your game to accommodate diverse audiences.

 

Supporting your game after launch

Launch day is just the beginning for mobile games. You need to keep players engaged with fresh content and consistently adapt to how they play so they stick around. Cloud Content Delivery (CCD) allows developers to harness Unity’s backend infrastructure to dynamically push game content to their players from the cloud, across all platforms. In this session, Arturo Nereu demonstrates how to implement assets using the Addressable Asset System.

 

Visual scripting for mobile

Whether you’re an indie or a AAA studio, all teams can benefit from increased collaboration. Visual scripting enables creators, and non-programmers, in particular, to collaborate more effectively and quickly achieve their goals. In this session, Ashley Alicea examines this feature from a distinctly mobile perspective to cover the basic setup considerations for using visual scripting into your game to refine your skills.

 

Stable, bug-free experiences 

With so many great games in the mobile market and incredible options freely available, making a great first impression is especially important. If your free-to-play game is buggy or crashes, it can be difficult to convince players to wait around for an update before they move on to another title. Vincent Lussenburg, technical product manager at Backtrace I/O, explores the benefits of integrating an automated crash and error management system into your game, and how Backtrace helps teams of all sizes to create more stable and reliable games.

Our mobile development day is completely free, so head to our sign–up page to register. Whether you tune in for the entire session or just the segments that resonate with your interests or skill set, you’re bound to gain valuable knowledge that will set your mobile title on the path to success.

 

If you’re considering a new platform for your next mobile title, take a look at our e-book detailing some of the critical engine features to keep in mind.

February 12, 2021 in Games

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