Tech advancements and the future of mobile gaming

The rise of mobile gaming is attributed to technological advancements such as increased processing power, enhanced graphics capabilities, improved displays, touchscreens, connectivity options, and expanded storage capacity. The future of gaming lies in AI-driven innovations, including realistic NPCs, dynamic content generation, and enhanced player experiences.

The world of mobile gaming has witnessed significant growth and transformation in recent years, fueled by advancements in technology. In an exclusive interview with Anku Jain, Managing Director of MediaTek India, we delve into the technological developments that have contributed to the rise of mobile gaming, the role of Artificial intelligence (AI) in shaping the future of gaming, emerging trends in the industry, performance optimization strategies, and the impact of virtual and augmented reality (AR/VR) on the gaming landscape.

Technological Advancements and the Rise of Mobile Gaming

Some of the key aspects that contributed to the rise of mobile gaming include the following.

Processing Power: The advancement in mobile processors has significantly increased the processing power of smartphones, enabling complex and resource-intensive games to run smoothly on mobile devices.

Graphics Capabilities:Of late, smartphones have seen significant improvements in graphics capabilities. Advanced GPUs (Graphics Processing Units) integrated into modern smartphones can handle complex visual effects, high-resolution textures, and realistic 3D graphics, enhancing the gaming experience. Advancements like Ray Tracing can create a wide range of realistic rendering effects such as shadows, reflections, refractions, caustics, ambient occlusion, and global illumination.

Display Technology: High-resolution displays with vibrant colors and wide viewing angles make games visually appealing. Advanced intelligent display technology provides real-time adaptive refresh rate, along with display power control mechanisms and touch detection that automatically triggers display refresh rate changes, providing a noticeably smoother experience across wider use-cases andgreater panel power savings.

Touchscreens and Multi-Touch: The proliferation of capacitive touchscreens and multi-touch technology has transformed the way games are played on mobile devices. Touchscreens provide intuitive and direct interaction with games, while multi-touch support allows for gestures and complex input, expanding the range of gameplay possibilities.

Connectivity: The availability of high-speed Internet connectivity, including 4G and now 5G networks, has facilitated multiplayer gaming and real-time online interactions. Players can connect with others globally, participate in multiplayer matches, and compete in real-time, enhancing the social aspect of mobile gaming.

Storage Capacity: The increase in storage capacity in smartphones allows users to install and store a larger number of games on their devices. This enables gamers to have a diverse collection of games readily accessible at their fingertips.

The Role of AI in the Future of Gaming

AIis poised to transform the future of gaming and has impacted many gaming aspects by making those more compelling, responsive and adaptive by enabling more intelligent and realistic Non-Player Characters (NPCs), dynamic content generation, Machine Learning (ML)-based player behaviour analysis, natural language interaction through Natural Language Processing (NLP), gameplay assistance, and more. AI has the potential to significantly improve the simulation performance in online games, improve aesthetics, and make the games appear and feel more authentic and natural.

AIbrings up even more intriguing methods to increase the immersion and interactivity of video games with the incorporation of virtual and augmented reality technology. For instance, AI upscaling is a useful feature to enhance the graphics of online games and create representations of real-world objects. All this demands a high-performance gaming engine that can process millions of data in a split second. For instance, MediaTek’s AI engines are capable of delivering high-performance smartphone cores that are much more energy efficient and capable of optimizing resources even in extremely demanding gaming scenarios.  

Although all of these present and potential future uses of AI in gaming seem exciting, it's difficult to predict how far AI will advance and what effect this will have on the gaming business. However, given how far AI in gaming has come, it is obvious that AI will continue to develop and produce a wider range of gaming settings and experiences for gamers.

Emerging Trends in Mobile Gaming and MediaTek's Adaptation

The key trends sweeping the mobile gaming industry in the current scenario include the following:

Cloud gaming:  Cloud gaming allows players to stream games directly to their mobile devices, eliminating the need for powerful hardware. This trend enables high-quality gaming experiences on a wider range of devices and expands access to resource-intensive games.

Mobile eSports: Competitive mobile gaming or mobile eSports are being played competitively in organized tournaments, offering substantial prize pools and professional career opportunities. Popular titles like Fortnight, PUBG Mobile, Free Fire, Dota 2, Call of Duty Mobile, and Arena of Valor are being played as eSports in many countries.

Wearable Gaming: The next big thing in gaming, wearables gaming devices give players greater flexibility, thereby improving performance and gameplay experience. Wearables are also good at processing microdata, which proves vital in gaming.

Metaverse: The growing adoption of AR, VR and XR in the gaming industry will soon pave the way for a hyper-realistic Metaverse for gaming. Metaverse can be applied not only in solo games, but also in competitive eSports, and even social gaming. This will create a great opportunity for everyone involved in the gaming ecosystem to develop, publish and monetize a wide range of services around gaming.

AI in gaming: The combination of AI and ML is poised to make a significant impact on mobile gaming in 2023. Leveraging AI, game developers can craft captivating game worlds and intricate characters that emulate human actions. Additionally, by harnessing the power of Big Data and ML, developers can scrutinize player behavior within the game, anticipate market demands, and streamline repetitive tasks. This enables them to gain deeper insights into players and design more immersive gaming experiences.

MediaTek employs a number of AI-based SoC advancements to boost gaming capabilities and overall performance in smartphones. The 6th Gen MediaTek APU has now achieved superior AI performance gains, leading to advances in smartphone hardware – faster and larger resolution displays, increasingly large and complex camera systems, faster always-on connectivity, larger caches, bigger storage, more sensors—all while sharing a limited power budget in a mobile device. MediaTek has developed its own Deep Learning Accelerators (Performance Cores), Visual Processing Units (Flexible Cores), hardware-based, multicore scheduler, and software development kits (NeuroPilot) that make up the core components of its industry-leading APUs.

MediaTek AI-Super Resolution (AI-SR) is a hybrid AI-GPU Super Resolution for Gaming on Android, providing users with both performance and image quality. It combines the capability of the Arm GPU and MediaTek APU together, unlocking resources for more FPS, longer gameplay via power-savings, and intelligent image upscaling that improves perceptible image quality.

Performance Optimization for Gaming Devices

MediaTek has developed an extensive portfolio of gaming chipsets for smartphones. The Helio G Series, for example, features an array of technologies that boost the mobile gaming experience; from vivid visuals and rapid sensing touchscreens to enhancing the connection between the smartphone and the Internet.

MediaTek’s UltraSave technology improves energy efficiency in smartphones. Now in 3rd generation, UltraSave provides up to 10% better energy efficiency on light load applications, and up to 19% power savings on heavy load applications through peripheral and voltage optimizations.MediaTek Adaptive Game Technology further improves power efficiency in popular games at high-frame rates, extending gameplay for longer.

Overall, MediaTek brings 12% power saving in popular MOBA titles and 10% power saving in popular FPS titles, compared to the competitive offerings available in the market.

These enhancements are enabled by competitive silicon technologies such as TSMC 4nm employed in the latest gaming chipsets like Dimensity 7200. With special features like AI-based Variable Rate Shading (VRS) for power savings, CPU and GPU smart resource optimization for better battery life, and other upgrades for smooth gameplay, the chipset is capable of delivering peak performance in demanding apps like games while also saving battery life in a competitive manner.

Impact of Mobile Gaming on Device Lifespan and Durability

Gaming often requires substantial processing power from the device's CPU and GPU. Running graphically demanding games or complex applications can put a significant load on the processor, causing it to generate heat. Gaming consumes a significant amount of battery power, and when the battery is used extensively, it can generate heat.Frequent and prolonged gaming sessions can put a strain on the battery, leading to increased charge cycles, which lead to performance issues. During gaming, users frequently interact with the phone's screen, controls, and other input mechanisms. This also leads to physical wear and tear over time.

MediaTek’s gaming processors are developed with an extensive focus on energy efficiency and performance optimization objectives. Apart from focusing on visual aspects, MediaTek’s performance adaptive technologies work to sustain high frame rates, low latency and responsive actions while also maximizing power efficiency, helping the smartphone to run cooler and extending the playtime on battery for longer.

The hardware also gets regular performance upgrades to meet the evolving demands of gaming users. For example, the latest Dimensity 7200 chipset has the ability to intelligently adjust graphics processing to conserve power without compromising gaming performance. The intelligent resource optimization for both the CPU and GPU results in improved battery life during gameplay. With these enhancements and other upgrades, the Dimensity 7200 chipset ensures smooth gameplay and delivers peak performance, making it a formidable choice for demanding gaming applications while maintaining competitive battery efficiency.

Meanwhile, the latest MediaTek Helio G99 brings 4G gaming smartphones into the next generation. Built on the highly efficient TSMC 6nm production process, this chip is designed to be exceptionally power efficient giving device makers new opportunities to create gaming smartphones that last longer than ever.

The Influence of Virtual and Augmented Reality on Gaming

AR and VR technologies play a crucial role in creating exciting 3D experiences in gaming. AR transforms the real world into a captivating virtual gaming environment, accessible through smartphones and other digital devices.  AR and VR are an integral part of Metaverse, which is being developed to bring a new level of immersion and personalized interaction among users. In Metaverse, players can engage with each other, forming connections and building relationships in a way that transcends traditional gaming experiences.

Metaverse can also introduce the concept of play-for-profit, allowing users to participate in activities that yield real-world monetary benefits, such as trading in-game items. To bring these applications to life, various cutting-edge technologies come into play. Blockchain and cryptocurrency form the foundation of the Metaverse, ensuring decentralized ownership, digital collectability, and seamless asset exchange. The Internet of Things (IoT) enables a more realistic and interconnected experience by integrating real-world data into the virtual environment. Additionally, 3D reconstruction technology enhances the Metaverse by allowing the creation of virtual spaces that mimic real-world locations, providing a truly immersive and engaging experience. By leveraging these transformative technologies, developers can shape the future of gaming, paving the way for innovative and captivating experiences within the Metaverse.

Anku Jain, Managing Director of MediaTek India