Improvements to iPhone and Android phones hardware, from high-definition screens to faster processors and more RAM led to online experiences being possible on mobile, such as Clash of Clans and Honor of Kings in China, which borrows heavily from Riot Games’ League of Legends. It is common for publishers to now have divisions solely responsible for mobile games, which also work on mobile porting for popular PC and console releases. With revenues increasing year-on-year, video game publishers such as Electronic Arts, Tencent, and Ubisoft started to invest heavily in the space. For Candy Crush Saga and Cut the Rope, players can pay to skip levels or purchase more levels, while FarmVille has a time-lapse mechanic which meant users have to wait hours for an item to be ready or pay for instant access.
Candy Crush Saga, Cut the Rope, and FarmVille were all part of this new wave of freemium games, which in some way push the user towards in-app purchases.
