Mobile games are an afterthought, and they shouldn’t be

There’s a huge amount of choice regarding the selection of games on Android. The best games on Android include everything from award-winning mobile indie exclusives to ports of some of the biggest PC games, like Total War: Medieval 2.

However, beneath the surface of this stellar library lies a platform filled with shoddy ports, games missing crucial features, and lazy descriptions that confuse those looking for a new game to play. This lack of effort regarding Android games has been occurring for years, and recent examples still show that Android gaming is still regarded as an afterthought by many developers.

Android games are regularly missing features

Companies cut corners on Android versions of their games

At Android Police, we regularly review new games, and thanks to the ever-increasing capabilities of our phones and tablets, we’re seeing more ports of console and PC games arrive on our devices. However, this is often a frustrating experience, as many games are shoddily ported over, missing features present on other platforms, like controller support.

Even if controller support isn’t a priority for you, there’s still a chance the touchscreen controls are poorly implemented. Doom is a perfect example of this; controls are unresponsive, and when they do respond, they tend to exaggerate your inputs, making it hard to interact with objects or aim at enemies.

There’s also no way to adjust the controls, so you’re stuck with this half-baked effort that makes the game nearly unplayable. Its saving grace is that it supports physical controllers, but there are many reviews on the Play Store complaining that the game won’t detect them.

Doom isn’t the only case of a shoddy port on mobile. Square Enix is notorious for releasing broken ports on Android; despite some good releases in the last couple of years, the company has garnered a reputation for leaving games broken for months or removing them without warning from the Play Store.

Android games take second place to their iOS counterparts

There’s no good reason for Android games to fall behind like this

One of the most frustrating examples of Android games missing controller support is Genshin Impact. The game does actually have controller support, but only on iOS devices. This feature was added in the 1.3 update in 2021, but there’s no news of controller support on Android.

iOS is considered a priority by developers, which makes sense. iOS offers developers a more stable platform than Android; the number of different Android manufacturers means it’s practically impossible to test all currently available Android phones and tablets. Therefore, games tend to launch on iOS first, with the Android release coming months or years later.

Unfortunately, this means many exclusive mobile features are copied straight to the Android version’s description, with iOS terms used to describe Android features. Look at Dead Cells; the Play Store listing boasts “MFi external controller support,” but MFi stands for Made for iPhone, which is irrelevant for Android. Nowhere in the game’s description does it clarify that the Android version supports controllers through HID, yet it clarifies that the iOS version does.

This is a fairly minor example of developers passing over Android in favor of iOS, but it’s easy to find more egregious examples. And, yes, while the recent spate of AAA games launching only on iOS can be due to Apple’s exclusive deals, other examples are not so clear-cut.

For example, Hades, Supergiant Games’ award-winning hack-and-slash roguelike, launched exclusively on iOS through Netflix Games despite neither Supergiant Games nor Netflix having any contracted deal with Apple.

More attention must be paid to Android games

We deserve better quality

Android gaming has grown in quality over the years, but most developers still regard it as an afterthought, preventing it from garnering the same reputation as iOS. While Apple has polished the gaming experience on iOS to a mirror sheen, Android ports are left broken for months, and missing features are rarely added.

The best Android ports are great examples of what should be the standard, but equal effort must be made for mobile-only games. As in the case of Dead Cells, iOS-specific terms make Play Store descriptions confusing and unhelpful; this copy-and-paste approach to Android development frustrates everyone and makes choosing where to spend your money more difficult.

Overall, while the best Android games continue to show that mobile gaming has as much potential as PC and console gaming, it’s clear that developers still regard Android gaming as an afterthought.