Mobile gaming at E3 2014

Mobile gaming made a huge bow at E3 2014. Among the small-screen developers at the show was Gameloft, creator of the hugely popular Asphalt series of racing games – it previewed the next iteration in the franchise here – and massively multiplayer online game developer Snail Games, which aims to pave the way for high-end role-playing games on tablets and smartphones, with the release of Heroes of Gaia. Elsewhere, console-to-mobile games spin-offs continued apace, with EA showcasing the follow-up to its critically acclaimed Hitman GO, in the form of the action-driven Hitman Sniper, as well as unveiling a table-top board game of The Witcher.

One mobile game that we’ve devoted a lot of coverage to online, at whatmobile.net, is Godfire: Rise of Prometheus. And rightly so, as this new iOS title boasts some of the best graphics for a small screen that we’ve ever seen – mainly due to its use of the Unreal Engine. The game itself plays out like a cross between God of War and Ryse: Son of Rome – another indication of the trend towards console-style, action-driven games in the mobile sector.

Further evidence of the variety of titles hitting smartphones and slates was provided by several strategy games, among them World of Tanks Blitz – a spin-off of the popular PC game World of Tanks – and Capcom’s RPG Monster Hunter Freedom Unite. The aforementioned Gameloft unveiled a series of blockbuster titles. Outrageously good graphics were witnessed across the board on titles such as the fast-paced first-person shooter Modern Combat 5: Blackout, and on everyone’s favourite high-speed racing game Asphalt, which returns in the form of a mission-based spin-off, Asphalt Overdrive. This year really marked the arrival of mobile gaming at E3. With the industry set to grow significantly over the coming years – some analysts put its revenues at about £17 billion worldwide by 2016 – there’s an exciting future ahead for gaming on mobiles.