Install Interrupted: The Invisible Roadblocks Suffocating Mobile Gaming Adoption

Dec 8, 2023

The Promotional Paradox

Long before installation, marvelously immersive app store listings, social ads and influencer endorsements spark discovery. Yet they often showcase cinematic visuals impossible recreating on average smartphones. This seeds doubt on expected integrity.

Creatives showcase titles requiring 2-4 GB without indicating size ranges. Users hesitate realizing extended, recurrent downloads occupy storage needed for other apps and media.

Discovery thus becomes a double-edged sword promoting unrealistic perceptions later self-defeating conversion upon install triggers.

The Physical Drain

Once committed to installing, downloads consume minutes even on WiFi. Congested cellular connections at merely 25 Mbps, common globally, impose even lengthier waits deleting other apps to free up space first.

It’s a physically draining process flipping between screens, deleting older games, reinitiating stalled downloads, continually monitoring progression. Simple fatigue dissuades especially older users narrowing access.

Lengthy time investments just don’t fit simplification-centric lifestyles with gaming itself competing against work, family and infinite digital entertainment all a fingertip away.

The Glitchy Install

Even seamless downloads don’t guarantee successful installs. Legacy Android fragmentation across 20,000+ device types often introduces compatibilities where installers freeze midway.

Freezing issues plague iOS / Android as well stymieing access. Lengthy installations thus promisingly conclude only to fall disappointingly short right before finish lines adding insult to injury.

The Laggy Launch

Finally installed, initial launches face their own adversity. Outdated phones lag starting apps developed on expensive new testing devices. What plays smoothly for studios feels unbearily sluggish on common mid-tier hardware discontinued from official support.

Poorly optimized engines choke older chipsets as basic features like menu navigation stutter. High-potential users instead get game overs before truly starting especially across emerging regions using affordable devices.

Post-Install Pains

The install hurdles hardly halt there. Whole additional classes of adoption obstacles persist even for successfully downloaded apps spanning retention, re-engagement and revenue vitality itself.

The Fleeting First Session

Onboarding rarely receives gaming investment proportional to significance determining user lifetime value. Yet 65% of mobile players abandon titles after just initial sessions per AppsFlyer data.

Overwhelming introductions overpacking tutorials alongside confusing gameplay entry points squander first impressions. Users orphan games never returning.

Optimizations favoring acquisition funnels above onboarding proper divert resources from what matters most sustaining audience longevity. Without seamless education easing behavioral barriers lowering adoption risks, installations deliver alarmingly little.

The Update Fatigue

Success attracting audiences fast tracks expanding development priorities. Rapid build release cycles continuously add requested features.

But consistent content upgrades bloat app sizes even further – demanding recurring and sizable re-downloads for existing user bases impeding seamless ongoing enjoyment.

For example the last update of Genshin Impact will take up at least 8.1 to 10.8 GB on both iOS and Android. Players who are installing the game for the first time will require at least 30GB of free space.

The Storage Shortfall

Affordability tradeoffs capacitate average user smartphones under 8 GB even on Android hampering housing huge app assets downloaded traditionally. After OS reserve allocations, leftover available storage quickly fills even removing photos, videos and older games.

Without external SD card options, common in regions like India, apps once playable on initial installs months before update themselves off phones entirely. Reviving dormant accounts risks losing players unwilling restarting from scratch.

The Cloud Solution

Nothing2Install cloud streaming solves by not requiring permanent local app hosting at all. After instant lightweight onboarding previews directly showcasing authentic gameplay sans installs, optional downloads retain access.

Seamless cloud delivery channels sidestep numerous obstruction points:

➡️ Eliminates Lengthy Installs
➡️ Streamlines Discoverability
➡️ Reduces Update Burdens
➡️ Circumvents Storage Barriers
➡️ Low-Friction Re-Engagement

The Final Hurdles

Wish adoption barriers ended upon app launches. Reality proves otherwise. Core monetization processes themselves introduce more hurdles demanding elegance.

In-App Purchase (IAP) Failures

Even apps circumventing constrained onboard storage via cloud streaming must monetize to sustain operations. IAP offers crucial conversion opportunities.

Yet clunky purchase flows inside games diminish conversion potential. Hard-to-find digital goods, confusing virtual currency ratios and obtrusive authentication requirements introduce needless friction diminishing IAP success rates.

Google found top grossing titles average under 2% payer conversion signaling revenue left unrealized. Without reimagining fluid in-app commerce, critical monetization upside squanders.

Advertising Disconnects

Advertising powers ascendant hybrid monetization balancing IAP volatility across gaming apps. Case in point – Apex Legends generates over $1 billion yearly from ads despite free-to-play accessibility.

Unfortunately, conventional creatives like video ads damage experiences disrupting engagement velocity through disruptive interstitials mismatched against gameplay tempo. Apex Legends Mobile has been discontinued on 1 May 2023. This was announced by the video game giant EA in a blog post. The game has been removed from the Google Play Store and App Store and the option for in-game purchases has been disabled.

Nothing2Install playable ads sustain positive momentum transparently showcasing titles needing discovery inside gameplay itself. Conversion lift reaches 6X benchmarks as authenticity resolves disconnections between ads and apps.

The Final Verdict

In summary, myriad barriers across the mobile gaming lifecycle – from discovery through onboarding into monetization – obstruct usage volume, session depth and commercial viability.

But Nothing2Install streaming solutions eliminate needless friction with elegance:

➡️ Instant Access Resolves Hesitancy
➡️ Optional Downloads After Confidence
➡️ Playable Ads Sustain Positive Experiences

The app streaming tipping point has arrived removal by removal. Join our cloud gaming revolution enabling billions gaming unencumbered at last by persistent obstruction. The open mobile future beckons.