The Impact of AI on Mobile Gaming Development
Abstract
Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies have transformed, and continue to change, virtually every aspect of modern life. Video gaming is no exception. With the popularization of smartphones that offer a relatively unified programming environment, numerous aspects of mobile gaming have been transformed. AI algorithms and libraries have become easily accessible and applications of AI within game contexts have multiplied. These factors all combine to influence the game design itself, the quality of the player’s experience, and the ways game developers and designers think about video games. This essay will consider AI technologies in the context of mobile gaming. It showcases some of the underlying circumstances that have rendered the integration of AI relatively straightforward. This includes an overview of the SDK landscape that has fuelled the development juggernaut in that field. The research project will also consider how AI is being used in a selection of local mobile games. As mobile games exist over a continuum of possible lengths, complexities, and game design requirements, particular attention will be given to Action and Simulation subsections. These subsets are chosen because they are disparate and bracket various options in regards to action and genre design. However, they are also united in their curiosity in how technologies might influence gameplay mechanics and user interaction. Furthermore, these case studies are also encompassed within the outer investigation of broader game design strategies and how AI can serve to drive innovation in mobile gaming. Finally, it will consider what AI technologies mean in the broader scope of mobile gaming and how they are poised to drive a new generation of personalization in gameplay design and player engagement. The essay features a broad scope of considerations, all regarding the current and evolving ways games are engaged with and thought about. At its core, games remain a channel of culture, experience, and co-operation; this exploration of AI technologies is meant to extend that experience and interaction in ways foreseen and unforeseen.
Keywords AI, mobile gaming, game development, player experience, SDKs, action games, simulation games, innovation
