Mobile games have always carried a stigma of compromised quality amongst the larger gamer community. In the ongoing PC vs Console debate, mobile games are all too often relegated to a lesser category altogether from PC and console equivalents because they're "too casual" or simply not considered to be "true games". For some time, these were valid critiques because so many mobile games look and feel like cookie-cutter copies of other games with limited gameplay or abusive freemium frameworks meant to exploit the addictive behaviors associated with smartphones We've reached a point where flagship smartphones are now capable of emulating full gaming experiences in pocket form. Everyone has played a free-to-play game that starts out being fun for the first several levels and totally hooked you in — and then out of nowhere you hit a wall and the incentive of those in-app purchases are just too tempting. Or the game is built around a loot box system that leaves you waiting for lady luck to bestow you with the character or weapon you actually want. Fortunately, we've reached a point where flagship smartphones are now capable of emulating full gaming experience in pocket form. Whereas we used to accept the hardware limitations imposed on a mobile game developer, we've reached the point where "the gamer phone" is more than just a gimmick. Razer and ASUS have both jumped into the smartphone space to offer phones with specs capable of handling, the latest flagships more capable than ever, and apps like Steam Link offering a promising new look at what's possible on mobile. In other words, it sure feels like mobile gaming is ready to shed that stigma that has held it back for so long — at the same time that the wider gaming industry seems keen on adapting to the mobile model for generating revenue. Free-to-Play is winning the day

I've spent enough time covering mobile gaming to know that, in spite of all of its detractors, the free-to-play model is still often the most sensible option for users who are wary when spending money on gaming, and studios who still need to generate profit. Even pricing a game as low as 99 cents has proven to severely limit the number of downloads versus releasing a free-to-play game chocked full of ads and/or in-app purchases. Even pricing a game at 99 cents will severely limit the number of downloads versus releasing a free-to-play game chocked full of ads and/or in-app purchases. For indie developers, it's a challenge to even make gamers aware of your game, let alone convince them to pay for the game upfront. For every Monument Valley or The Room success story, there are some really great games that may never get the attention they deserve because they lack the marketing budget to blitz the internet with ads, or never get featured in the Google Play Store. News of Square Enix Montreal ending development of their popular GO franchise came as little surprise because the premium model for mobile games just isn't as profitable for the companies making the game. It's ironic that offering gamers a clean and rewarding experience devoid of advertising and in-app purchases — the things that mobile gamers bitch about the most — is often a death sentence for downloads and profits And yet, mobile gaming continues to grow over the years not so much because of hardware and software advancements, but because of how ingrained smartphones have become in our daily lives. Consider that just eight years ago, Angry Birds was little more than a cute, $2 game that offered casual fun on the go with your fancy new touchscreen phone. Today, the franchise has carved out a cultural legacy that has reached billions of people worldwide and spawned an improbable movie franchise. (The fact that The Angry Birds Movie generated over $350 million at the box office was just another disappointment from 2016.) As smartphones have become ubiquitous in our daily culture, we're approaching a sort of singularity moment where mobile devices are now more than capable of delivering the high-end gaming entertainment that used to be exclusive to PCs and consoles. Games like Fortnite, PUBG Mobile and Vainglory have proven that mobile games can be just as full-featured as their PC or console counterparts without having to compartmentalize or limit the gameplay itself. But at the same time that the potential and hype surrounding mobile gaming is reaching new heights, the entire gaming industry is embracing the mobile micro-transactions and the "free-to-play with micro-transactions" model — with mixed results. AAA games and micro-transactions

Over the same time period that Angry Birds took over the world, we've seen a massive shift from other juggernauts in the gaming industry itself. Five years ago, Rockstar released GTA 5 for the Xbox 360. GTA 5 remains the last major release in the series, because Rockstar discovered the lucrative cash cow that is GTA 5's Online Mode — generating more revenue for Rockstar via regularly released DLC content and micro-transactions than ever could through the old model of releasing a brand new game every few years as was the case throughout the 2000s. Fortnite is another great example. In development since 2011, Fortnite was designed with two game modes in mind for the final version — but it's best known for it's free-to-play Battle Royale mode that's accessible and fun — and caught on with streamers and other gaming influencers like wildfire last year. For the mobile release, Epic Games decided not to bother with the co-op "Save The World" mode because it's simply not worth the time when gamers crave nothing more than the Battle Royale mode and there's so much money to be made via in-app purchases for cosmetic character upgrades. Meanwhile, we've seen AAA games that should be amazing like Star Wars Battlefront 2 marred by controversy because surrounding the micropayment model that relied on crates and cards to upgrade your class. It's the same micro-transaction system you'd expect from a free-to-play mobile game — except built into a full-priced AAA game. It looks and feels like a money grab because it is. Thanks, EA! Finding it hard to buy into all the hype