Mobile games

Mobile game development

Mobile game development is one of the most competitive and actively growing segments of the game development industry. Such applications not only entertain users, they are a powerful business tool that helps attract and monetize the audience, form a loyal community and scale digital projects. Today, gaming products for phones are an important part of marketing campaigns, educational platforms, corporate training and Web3 ecosystems. They are universal.

What are mobile games, what are their features and advantages?

Mobile games are projects designed specifically for smartphones and tablets, taking into account their technical features. They can be cross-platform, which ensures their availability on both iOS and Android.

Features of such games:

• Convenience and versatility. They are available anywhere, anytime, right from your phone or tablet, which increases reach and lowers the threshold of entry for your audience.
• Easy to control. The gameplay, like the game design, is adapted to swipes, gestures, and touch screens. Such titles can be played without the need for joysticks and a keyboard.
• Short game sessions. Sessions are usually no longer than 5-10 minutes, which allows you to keep users interested without having to spend a lot of time completing the game.
• Social media integration and flexible monetization. When developing custom mobile games, it's easy to connect them to popular platforms, implement advertising, in-app purchases, subscriptions, and NFTs.
• Easy to install. The applications are lightweight, do not take up much space, and install quickly. Thanks to this, you can play them immediately after downloading.

Mobile game and application development is commissioned by startups, well-known brands, educational, crypto, and Web3 projects. Such products allow you to quickly enter the market, test hypotheses, segment and monetize the audience, and also increase community engagement through gamification. In addition, creating a mobile game helps you scale quickly and effectively, expanding the reach of the project.

The main advantages of mobile games

• Scalability – applications are available to billions of users around the world, allowing you to expand your audience quickly and without additional investments in the platform.
• High retention rate - custom mobile game development taking into account the specifics of the project and its audience makes it possible to retain millions of users for weeks and months, ensuring stable income, loyalty, and community engagement thanks to accessibility and short sessions.
• Flexible monetization – apps for phones and tablets allow you to generate income from them in many ways.
• Short development cycle – when you turn to a team of experienced mobile game developers who will think through the concept and correctly select the pool of tools and technologies, creating a mobile game takes no more than 2-4 months on average.
• Low entry threshold and fast payback – such applications are easy to promote, including for free or under a freemium model, which simplifies user acquisition. With the right approach to monetization, they start generating revenue from the first weeks after entering the market.
• Cross-platform - developing mobile games on Unity and other modern engines allows you to release a title simultaneously for both Android and iOS with the ability to switch between devices on these operating systems while preserving progress.

The main thing is a wide variety of genres and mechanics. You can order the development of a mobile game for audiences of all age categories and preferences - from hyper-casual projects to exciting shooters, RPGs and strategies.

Stages of creating a custom mobile game

At Arionis Studio, you can order a mobile game from scratch – from development, concept testing to post-release maintenance. Game designers, developers, gameplay analysts, and testers participate in the production. In addition, it is possible to perform point operations, such as performance optimization, localization, bug fixes, graphics refinement, and advertising SDK integration.

Creating a full-cycle phone game includes the following stages:

Market analysis and concept development

Game development, regardless of the platform it is designed for, always begins with preparation. It is important to understand the current dynamics of competition in the market and in a specific niche, the needs of the target audience, and the business goals of the project. Therefore, before starting the development of a mobile game, the team:

• analyzes the market and niche – studies competitors' offers;
• creates a portrait of the audience – its “age”, geographic data, interests and expectations;
• forms the concept of the project - theme, plot, genre and target platform, visual style, technical parameters, graphics, type of gameplay, presence of progression, features of mechanics, etc.

Drawing up the game's technical specifications and accompanying documentation helps determine the project's goals, the list of necessary stages and technologies. The answers to these questions determine how much it costs to create a mobile game and how long it can be ready.

Pre-production: design and planning

The concept is realized - before starting development, it is necessary to think over specific technical and conceptual solutions. What and in what areas does the team perform:

• game design – prescribes the basic mechanics, type of gameplay and monetization, progression system, levels and challenges;
• technical side – they select an engine (whether it will be creating a mobile game on Unreal Engine 4/5 or on Unity), design the title architecture and the integration system (for example, analytics services, advertising, in-game purchases);
• UI/UX design – develop interface solutions that are suitable for control from a smartphone screen, and also create prototypes for testing the user journey;
• visuals – together with the client, they choose between two- and three-dimensional graphics, 2D or 3D animation, and decide on the design of the characters and game environment – to ensure the integrity of the project's visual style.

Pre-production lays the foundation for successful mobile game development, helping to optimize its cost and production rate. This stage is where the concept is finalized and tested (through prototypes and MVPs). This allows you to create a competitive product and reduce or avoid future rework.

Production: programming and integration

At the production stage, our mobile game development studio brings tested ideas to life:

• creates the client part – implements mechanics, logic, interface;
• works on the server architecture (if provided) – integrates user accounting systems, progress saving, chat options, PvP, etc.;
• conducts SDK integration – implements analytics systems, advertising, in-game purchases;
• makes the product cross-platform (if needed).

Testing and debugging

A mobile game must be tested. This allows you to make sure that the product works as intended, does not contain critical errors, meets the expectations of the audience, and is ready to launch:

• we conduct checks of key parameters (functionality, UI/UX design, etc.);
• we study the stability and correctness of the title's operation on target platforms;
• we look for and fix bugs and other shortcomings.

After collecting feedback, we optimize performance and adjust gameplay balance if necessary. We also configure analytics, tracking systems, etc.

Release and technical support

At this stage, mobile game developers prepare the product for public release – on the App Store, Google Play, and other platforms. What work is performed during the release process:

• final testing and assembly;
• page preparation;
• passing moderation;
• soft start;
• global open access.

Technologies and tools

The productivity, timing, and price of custom mobile game development are determined by the combination of services and solutions used at different stages of product creation.

Arionis uses a broad stack that allows it to launch successful titles of a wide variety of genres for iOS and Android:

• Engines – we make mobile games on Unity and Unreal Engine.
• Programming languages – C#, C++ / Blueprints, Java/Kotlin, Swift/Objective-C, TypeScript/JavaScript.
• Design and animation – Adobe Photoshop / Illustrator (for 2D graphics), Spine / DragonBones (for 2D character animation), Blender / Maya / 3ds Max (for 3D modeling and animation), Figma / Adobe XD (for UI/UX design).
• Analytics and monetization – Firebase Analytics / Google Analytics, AppsFlyer / Adjust, AdMob, Unity Ads, IronSource, AppLovin, IAP SDKs.
• Testing – TestFlight (iOS) / Google Play Console (Android), Crashlytics / BugSnag / Sentry, GameBench.
• Network interaction – Photon, Mirror, PlayFab, Firebase Realtime Database.
• Third-party SDKs and plugins – Facebook SDK, Game Center, Google Play Services, OneSignal / Firebase Cloud Messaging, Cloud Save / Google Play Saved Games.

A structured approach to game project production ensures a high-quality result, predictability of deadlines, as well as the cost of developing a mobile game. Transparent cooperation guarantees control over the process - reduces risks, simplifies communication, and allows you to get a product that fully meets the customer's business goals and player expectations.

Advantages of cooperation with Arionis

Arionis has been creating mobile and desktop game development products for various platforms for many years, including blockchain and AI-based projects. We implement titles of any complexity - from classic 2D games to high-load Web3 products. Custom mobile game development is one of the main areas.

Our team includes experienced developers, game designers, artists and testers. We create games for mobile phones in a full cycle (from concept development to post-release support), work on a project basis, offer outstaffing, outsourcing, and dedicated IT team services. We can also close current tasks point by point, joining the production process at any stage of product readiness and ensuring its successful launch.

An individual approach, strict adherence to deadlines, flexibility and transparency of cooperation are the basic principles of the team's work. We use a modern technological stack, thanks to which our titles are attractive, productive and function stably even on weak devices.