A Few Thoughts About AAA Mobile Gaming (Premium)

Thanks to a perfect storm of technological advances, the devices we use every day--PCs, smartphones, tablets, and more--are getting better through the almost magical combination of performance, efficiency, and reliability made possible by the Arm processor architecture.

These advances are particularly notable on mobile, and the system specifications of modern smartphones are often dramatically superior to what's found in a typical PC. Indeed, the most impressive thing about smartphones today is how much we take for granted: Not only do these devices stay on all day, accompanying us everywhere, but they come on instantly when needed, run and switch between apps quickly, and just work in ways that are often comically impossible with PCs.

These advances are coming to the PC, of course, just more slowly. We just experienced the biggest leap forward with the launch of Qualcomm's Arm-based Snapdragon X processor platform for PCs--that integrates mobile-like CPU, GPU, and NPU cores into a single system-on-a-chip (SoC) package with integrated RAM, like we see on smartphones--which doesn't compromise on performance or introduce major compatibility issues. But AMD and Intel aren't far behind: These chipmakers aren't embracing Arm, but they are adapting their x64-based chips with more efficient Arm-like designs that could deliver similar efficiencies. This wouldn't have happened if it weren't for Arm.

Regardless of the architecture, the chips that power our devices are getting better in other ways. The integrated graphics in the Intel processors of 2006 were woefully bad, incapable of even running the Aero glass display mode in Windows Vista. But the integrated graphics in modern AMD and Intel processors are edging into low-end gaming PC territory, as I recently discussed in A Few Thoughts on Portable PC Gaming (Premium). This is a fascinating change that will democratize game playing for those who can't afford expensive hardware. And when you combine these advances with the efficiencies of modern chipsets and their integrated NPUs, it's clear we're on the cusp of a PC renaissance.

That's good for PCs and the fans of that platform. But when it comes to games, PCs are in the minority. Roughly as many people play games today on dedicated consoles like Nintendo Switch, Sony PlayStation, and Microsoft Xbox, drawn, no doubt, to the unique combination of ease-of-use, performance, and graphical quality these devices provide. But more people play games on mobile--mostly smartphones, but also tablets--than the PC and console market combined.

There are different ways to measure the success of gaming on mobile--usage, device market share, overall revenues, and so on--but much of the gaming that happens on the go is thoroughly uninteresting to me. There's nothing wrong with titles like Words With Friends, Candy Crush, Angry Birds, and their ilk, they're pleasant diversions for life's more boring moments, and I get that. But I'm coming at this from a...