Does a game being 'mobile-first' limit the amount a developer can charge on console?
Some of the biggest titles of the past few years have demonstrated that mobile platforms do not need to be a lesser alternative to a title's home console editions.
Genshin Impact – consistently one of the most popular action-adventure games with gacha elements on the market – was simultaneously released for Android, iOS, PlayStation 4, and PC in September 2020, and for PlayStation 5 a year later. Other titles from major IP holders are now set to have simultaneous releases across both home consoles, PC, and mobile devices.
That is the result of increasing parity in performance between devices, and companies like Netflix investing heavily in bringing games to mobile devices through its app. Games like the upcoming Tales of the Shire are set to release on Netflix on day one, and the recently-released Paper Trail also launched simultaneously on the platform and on PC/consoles.