For over a decade, mobile games have been frowned upon by the gaming community for its abundance of casual games without the need for high skill ceilings. Comparing mobile games to PC, you can see why long-time gamers ridicule the former. Titles like Mobile Legends and AOV: Arena of Valor are more dumbed-down and streamlined versus League of Legends and DotA 2.
However, some games are an exception to this rule. There are quite several quality mobile games that fit well into the realm of PC gaming. Here’s the ultimate guide to cross-platform mobile games to PC.
The Right Engine
Using the proper engine will yield great results. A most common choice is Unity since its Engine is very accessible to all kinds of gaming platforms, be it PC, console, and mobile. However, the overall speed and performance depend on the coding. But we’re not going to discuss and explain this point since it is more of a general focus on ported games).
However, you may wonder why there are only a few mobile-to-PC and PC-to-mobile games. That is because of their desired target markets and demographics. For example, Moonton does not plan to port Mobile Legends on PC because it’s primary demographic is low-end mobile players.
You should know what game you want to create and who you are catering to. If it involves lots of button prompts, your best choice should be PC and console. If it is a 2D RPG with simple turn-based strategy controls, mobile and PC are the best picks.
The Proper Software means Proper Game Creation.
There are tons of open-source software that lets you create games besides Unity. Unreal Engine is among the strongest picks, GDevelop is more complex yet has a robust selection of game creation, and GameMaker, a simple engine to create excellent 2D RPGs.
Most of them can run on both mobile and PC – it is just a matter of how you execute these games. Just make sure that they are optimal for both mobile and PC so you can cater to more audiences.
Optimization is the Most Optimal
The key to an excellent mobile to PC port lies within optimization. You must make sure that your game is smooth on PC as it is on mobile and vice versa. The developer that made this a great possibility is miHoYo – creators of the Honkai Impact 3. Many people demanded that they create a dedicated PC version because of its amazing graphical fidelity that so happens to not run properly on older phones.
However, the PC is usually more powerful, so it is no surprise that many players wanted a PC version. The fans got it in December 2019, and the game indeed runs smoothly on the computer with better graphics, the possibility of 4K resolutions, and seamless frames per second that can rival the best of J-RPGs on the platform.
It also showed that miHoYo was capable of porting on their latest game, Genshin Impact – an open-world RPG that took massive inspiration from Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Of course, an open-world game means a requirement for more RAM. This is why the developers thought it would be best to release the game on mobile and PC (and the PS4). The result? A smooth game that plays so well on a high-end phone and a mid-end PC.
So, how do they do it? Optimization. They made sure that every texture, every file size, and every component of the game will not slow down any three consoles. They use their Engine, which doesn’t come from Unity or Unreal, making it more amazing.
Lesser File Size, Better Gameplay
Let’s be real; nobody likes to install a game that takes up a huge chunk of your hard drive. Remember when Call of Duty Modern Warfare amounted to a terrible 200GB? All because the developers were too lazy to optimize the game? Yeah, that resulted in a massive player count due to many people forcing to uninstall the game for its colossal storage consumption.
Optimization is associated with file size; the better optimization, the smaller the file size. More graphics and sounds mean more file size, which is why 2D games like Among Us have minimal memory consumption. That makes a win-win for both mobile and PC players.
Knowing the Basics Means Better Port
Follow the general guides above, and you can create a game or emulate a game properly to the PC. Programs such as Bluestacks and Games.lol have spent years ensuring that handheld gaming feels like proper PC games. And yes, it works even without an official release from the games’ developers.
