Business of Esports TV: Mobile to PC Converts

(Livestream 136)

In this segment, we discuss a report from HP that 37% of mobile gamers want to shift to PC.

The Business Of Esports brings you news, debates, and all the information you need to know about the gaming sector, the world’s fastest-growing market. With Paul “The Profit” Dawalibi leading the charge, and a variety of special guests, BoE TV is the only place to find insider information on the esports industry!

Check out the full livestream here:

Paul Dawalibi 23:18
And the headline here is 37% of mobile gamers want to shift to PC. And this is data from a survey done in India, and the HP did okay, and about one in three PC users preferred gaming features on the PC. So it says A new study by HP reveals that 37% of mobile gamers want to shift to a PC. And as per the HP India gaming landscape report, 89% of respondents believe that a PC offers a better gaming experience than a smartphone. Foreign 10 also indicated that they would migrate to PCs for better gaming experiences. If you’re buying Krafton on the premise that mobile is the future mobile in India is the you know the dominant form of of entertainment and the way to game does this report scare you at all? Does it change your your thesis at all?

I don’t think they’re mutually exclusive. Right? You’re gonna have mobile gamers that are gonna game on PC when they’re home and they’re mobile when they’re out in the street or you know, at their friend’s house. I just think that’s positive for the overall gaming market in India, especially the PC market, right? You’re gonna have these mobile gamers that are going to continue to gain on mobile, and then they’re also going to play on PC. I, I just read that with optimism and like, Man, that’s great. Don’t bring them over to the bring them over to the dark side.

Jeff Cohen 25:03
One reason why I might disagree a little bit is just for the shooter game like you would think that kind of style of play, people probably aren’t playing it as much on the go. were like, I think they are doing the experience of sitting there and playing it like they would a PC. So I think you know, Paul, profit is right segment because I know this has been Paul’s thesis about mobile. So he’s finally found some data that seems to validate it. Had to find some random study in India to find it. On that poll,

Jimmy Mondal 25:39
right, in terms of like, accessibility, you look at India, like I think like a lot of these gamers were skewing younger. And as they grow up, they’ll you know, purchase these PC things. And I think that’s how the progression will continue to look across the world like younger gamers into mobile into PC gamers.

William Collis 25:56
This nobody think and this is kind of a stupid question. But like, I’m gonna ask it anyway, just because why not the livestream, I can ask stupid questions like, does nobody think that at some point, the division here goes away altogether? Like, remember when you just couldn’t game on laptops, because laptops were junk? And you absolutely had to have a premium desktop PC to get that. And now like, you can like, yeah, you’ll get a cheaper thing on a PC and the top end components be faster. But like you can game on a laptop, no problem today, does everything we get to a point where like the distinction between because consoles are a little bit different consoles are publisher created ecosystems around exclusivity and control. But like, Did we ever get to a point where there just is no difference between gaming on mobile and PC? Like, they’re just the same? It’s like, it’s just like, like, using your controller. All the other stuff, just like if I’m going to game on my laptop, I’m going to plug in a headset, and maybe, you know, a mechanical keyboard. And I’m certainly using an external mouse and not like a plug in all the other stuff. Right? Like, and you probably even plug your phone in, you know, but like, I just I kind of wonder if we don’t overstate the divide today a little bit. You know, I know it’s a long time before mobile catches up all the way. But I think we’re getting to that world.

Jimmy Mondal 27:10
Right, right. I mean, they’re already using like the most elite mobile players are using their phones as computers basically. Right? That’s Yeah, the only purpose they serve. Like they’re plugging in the dongles for the mouse and the keyboard and the external displays and everything anyway, so I think, yeah, and a couple of years, it will just be a mobile PC that you then plug into. And then

William Collis 27:31
plenty of mobile games can be played on PC now. Like emulators, mobile users and stuff also have PC

Jeff Cohen 27:38
so just like I always thought that is like that is just like a is it sort of just two sides of the same coin? Where it’s like if if you’re literally using your, your phone as if it’s, you’re plugging in all these things? It’s not like are we? Is that even quote unquote mobile gaming at that point? Or is it just that’s the processor that you’re using? Like, portable I think that’s not touchscreen? Like what do we write the tiny little computer?

Paul Dawalibi 28:05
I thought you guys were going in a totally different direction with this. Because to me, this this confirms this. This makes me somewhat more at ease, because I’m worried about a future where everyone just wants to play on mobile right. That was my that’s what I when I have nightmares, that’s what I have nightmares. Right. But but this seems to confirm that mobile and what I always suspected is that mobile is just kind of a gateway drug. And eventually people want to move more upmarket,

William Collis 28:34
it’s more than that. Because I think these titles you can play Mobley, right? And so like, it’s not quite it’s like, it’s nice. Like, imagine if let me give you an example. Paul, right. Imagine if you’re doing writing and wow. And you’re stuck on a long train and you’re stuck in a long I don’t know, like car ride or something or train ride or something. And like, imagine if you could play kind of bad Wow, on your phone. You’re still advancing your character? No, it’s not as good right? You know, you can you know, the full keyboard to chat You know, you’re like, sorry, guys am on mobile, but like, it’s still Wow, when you can still play but you know, when you go home, you’ll get the real experience. Like, I think there is an advantage. I think mobile’s a little bit different and it’s truly everywhere portable, which adds a lot of value, right? Like,

Jimmy Mondal 29:15
I just can’t tell you how much I love my switch. Because I literally like can take it even in my house dude, like a plate in bed, a plate in the basement. Like it’s just super useful. Even games that are designed primarily for a PC, I find myself playing more on the switch if it’s available, like Diablo 2 resurrected, I’ve played that on the PC exclusively. But when it comes out on the switch, I’m gonna play the heck out of it on the switch

William Collis 29:39
hardcore switch. And it’s just there’s something to be said for like, I think consumers are willing to take less good gaming experience for more convenient form factor. And what mobile does, at least in the mobile gaming working buddies, it lets you offer the whole spectrum. If you want to kind of have some sloppy play from your bed, go for it. If you want to be nailing it, head to your desk. can plug in all your peripherals and go you know, like but i i like that the game feats fits all those use cases and I think it is a bit bigger than we realize just because of how the switch is overtaken my gaming and it’s easily the least hardcore game everything I own. You know

Paul Dawalibi 30:17
when you asked me a question your points an excellent one I’m the wrong person to ask is all right. Like, I don’t even like writing an email from my phone. I actually don’t like I just because I think it’s a suboptimal experience. I wait till I’m back at my desk, keyboard big screen, you know, like, and so I definitely even wouldn’t play like bad. Wow, I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t. Oh,

William Collis 30:37
I dispute that. Sorry. Just like you’re telling me you wouldn’t log in and do some auction housing from your phone in bed. Okay, it’s

Paul Dawalibi 30:44
like for me, it’s the escape, right? Like, it’s not like I need 10 minutes of distraction here. Beside me gaming is like, is the experience I sit down? I’ve carved out a couple of hours. I don’t have to think about anything else. Like, to me the snackable stuff doesn’t do anything for me. See, I’m I’m just as that’s just me, I am not extrapolating that to some broader market trend. I know. That’s just me,

William Collis 31:08
I’m totally okay with. And I’ll give you a great example of this. The external content around games, a lot of times me snacking a game, you know what I mean? Like, I wish there was a snack, like, for example, like, I mean, when I was playing Bloodborne, I wish I could have played on my mobile device and just farm some blood echoes. Like I get that I’m not I’m not gonna go out to the hardest boss, you know, but I’ll run yharnam and, you know, get enough to get another, you know, strength pointer, whatever, you know, like I, I think there’s value more value than we realize and the switch, I really just urge you guys, if you’re not gaming a lot on the switch, it’s scary how much it takes over your gaming because of how convenient it is. So

Paul Dawalibi 31:43
I think to further validate Williams point is with my own anecdote, and I had an ex that said this about me, she Oh, he’s playing video games when he’s not playing video games. Because when I’m sitting in front of my Xbox, when it used to be console gamer, if something was loading or downloading, I would just whip out my mobile and start playing while I’m waiting for like this cutscene. Yeah, so maybe I had a problem, I don’t know. But again, the mobile experience for something snackable in between other gaming experiences certainly was the case. For me. That’s how I use it at least.