The Impact of Progressive Web Apps on the Gaming Industry

Over the years, the growth of the gaming industry has gone hand in hand with innovations and developments in digital technologies.

Most recently, Newsweek wrote about a possible revolution in the world of mobile gaming, a significant shift away from the duopoly held by Google Play Store and Apple's App Store in regards to mobile app distribution.

Newsweek details the Apple-Google duopoly over the mobile gaming market and how new technologies may disrupt the way mobile games are developed, distributed, and played.

One key technology highlighted throughout the article is the rise of Progressive Web Apps (PWA), which allow users and developers to circumvent the App Store and Google Play Store by accessing “apps” through their mobile browser.

Despite being URL-directed pages accessed on a browser, these apps boast a user interface and experience that are virtually indistinguishable from traditional apps.

Because of Apple's volatile App Store fees and regulations, the rise of PWA can lead the way for an expansion of the mobile gaming community, allowing newer and more independent developers to reach the mobile gaming market without paying unnecessarily high fees to the Apple-Google duopoly.

Below, we'll take a closer look at how PWA works, what kind of games are being developed via PWA, and how PWA impacts other gaming segments like esports:

What is a Progressive Web App?

Progressive Web Apps are built using web platform technologies, but function and provides a user experience like that of a platform-specific app. In recent years, PWA have become increasingly popular among website and game developers.

Based on data from Grand View Research, the global PWA market size is anticipated to reach $9.43 billion by 2030. Market researchers also expect a compound annual growth rate between 2024 and 2030.

Compared to traditional apps, PWA are designed to work on any device with a modern web browser, making them highly versatile. This makes the development process much easier for developers, as the cross-platform compatibility afforded by web browsers reduces the need for separate development bound to different operating systems.

For the gaming industry, this paves the way for smaller and independent developers who want to get started in the industry.

PWAs and mobile gaming

As explained above, PWA is a useful innovation for any app that can be used, accessed, and developed on a web browser. However, gaming remains one of the more prominent use cases of PWA. Mobile game distribution platform Dotplay recently raised raised $1 million in pre-seed funding to further its web-based mobile game technology platform.

The funds will also be used to onboard more game developers and hire additional engineers, empowering more game creators and rekindling innovation in the mobile ecosystem.

Dotplay is one of many entities pushing for mobile web to compete with app stores for distribution. Through PWA, developers can look to a future of off-store monetization and distribution, leading to instantly playable mobile web games and making mobile gaming more accessible for players and cost-effective for developers.

Based on numbers from the CEO and co-founder of Dotplay, mobile web user acquisition costs are at least 40% lower.

However, the path for PWA to fully thrive in the world of mobile gaming is not without its obstacles. Early this year,  Apple reversed a previously announced decision to cease support for PWA on iPhones in the EU. As of March 1, 2024, EU users will continue to be able to install and use PWA on iOS going forward.

This is in line with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a new EU regulation that requires companies like Apple to open up their core platforms to spur competition in the market. This included Apple allowing alternative marketplaces to compete with the built-in App Store for app distribution on the iPhone.

Today, popular PWA games for mobile devices range from virtual Rubik cubes to Pacman. Other classics like Snake, Sudoku, and Tic Tac Toe are also perfect PWA adaptations due to the simplicity in gameplay. Mobile PWA games will likely grow in complexity and genre variety as technologies continue to develop.

PWA for gaming and esports tools

Aside from being used for games specifically, PWA can also make helpful gaming and esports tools more accessible. For example, lots of gaming-related websites can be added to the user's homescreen and accessed as apps.

This can range from gameplay tracking websites that help track in-game progression, boss fights, and hidden levels, as well as websites for other gaming purposes, like esports.

Today, the mobile gaming industry has also established its respective esports communities. While popular mobile esports titles like Call of Duty: Mobile, Free Fire, or Mobile Legends aren't exactly as adaptable as PWA yet, there are a variety of general esports tools that can easily be accessed thanks to PWA.

For esports betting enthusiasts, the crypto betting platform Thunderpick can be installed as PWA to allow users to stream live esports games or tournaments and bet on their favorite players and teams in real time. Thanks to the versatility of PWA, having accessible platforms like Thunderpick can help bettors keep track of their bets, odds, and live scores of ongoing esports games.

In a previous post, we highlighted how even short-form video platform TikTok‘s fully functional web client can be used as a PWA for desktops.

Likewise, other video viewing and streaming platforms can potentially be used to easily access esports games and tournaments on the go, making them a more lightweight alternative to traditional streaming apps and platforms that may otherwise take up too much space on devices like smartphones, tablets, and computers.

The future of PWA and mobile gaming

Ultimately, it's important to acknowledge that PWA game development is still in its early stages. While we're still starting out with simple PWA adaptations of gaming classics like Snake and Sudoku, there's no telling where innovations in mobile gaming technology and PWA development will take us.

According to market research from SkyQuest, the global mobile gaming market size was valued at $100.96 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach $417.99 billion by 2031. Aside from the potential of PWA, the growing popularity of social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram has led to the significant development of innovative mobile games.

Likewise, the continuous rise of esports, social gaming, and cloud-based gaming also further the market growth. This allows for minor games from smaller developers to stack up against bigger titles from more established game studios. In the future, we may even see PWA adaptations being played professionally and bet on like their esports counterparts.

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