Pocket Gamer 20th anniversary: The free-to-play transition begins

Hello, there! We're back with Pocket Gamer's 20th anniversary celebrations. We've hit a big year today. It's none other than 2012, which proved a crucial time in mobile, marking a shift from the premium model I still miss to a free-to-play approach. It didn't happen overnight, of course, and what F2P means to us has changed somewhat. But we'll get into that after we've set the scene.

2012 was a year of Olympic fever, particularly in the UK, as London hosted the summer games. I tagged along to the football at Wembley, expecting it to feel like being part of history before realising it'd just be a lower-quality international match. Still, I got to see Daniel Sturridge score a cracking goal and Ryan Giggs nod in a header, which was a rarity in his career. 

Music provided another of the year's memorable moments, with everyone going crazy for Psy's Gangnam Style. And yes, I sincerely apologise if merely reading that has made that song play on a loop in your head. In fact, 2012 provided plenty of earworms, with Gotye's Somebody That I Used to Know, Carly Rae Jepsen's Call Me Maybe, and Fun.'s We Are Young all releasing that year. Album-wise, we had Taylor Swift's almost flawless Red, Lana Del Rey's Born to Die, and Lonerism by Tame Impala. A great year for music, frankly, for lovers of all genres. For me, it was Poets of the Fall's fifth album, Temple of Thought, that struck the biggest proverbial chord, and remains close to my heart even today.

At the box office, it was the moment that superheroes truly began to take over, with The Avengers making the most cash. The Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spider-Man did alright, too. However, it wasn't all men and women in tights. Daniel Craig's grittier take on James Bond in Skyfall made a ton of money as well, proving that a bloke in a great suit and in possession of expensive gadgets could still sell tickets.

In console and PC land, it was an incredible year. We had Persona 4 Golden, Dishonored, Borderlands 2, Xcom: Enemy Unknown (which eventually came to mobile), and Far Cry 3, the last good Ubisoft game. And, even though everyone lost their minds at the ending, Mass Effect 3 was great fun. The multiplayer wasn't bad either. Admittedly, I might be speaking with rose-tinted spectacles, given that it allowed you to play as a Krogan. 

And what about mobile? Well, as I alluded to at the start, it saw the start of a shift. A few well-known games were released, eschewing the premium model and opting for a free-to-play setup. It's not quite the multiple IAPs that we're used to now, but it was certainly a sign of things to come. Let's see what people grabbed from the App Store and the newly launched Google Play, shall we? Spoiler: There are some huge names in here.

Clash of Clans

Needing almost no introduction, Clash of Clans was one among the first to receive the icky freemium label, a term that thankfully doesn't come up as much these days. My aversions to that word aside, it was appropriate. Clash of Clans was – and is, it's still going strong, folks – a genuine strategy experience you could play on the go with a serious competitive scene backing it up. Even diehard PC players couldn't help being pulled in by its allure. Whether or not you believe it's maintained that quality level is, of course, a matter of opinion. Whichever side of the fence you fall on, you can't deny its initial importance and ongoing success. 

Kingdom Rush

While Clash of Clans has been a stalwart winner for Supercell, Kingdom Rush has found its place on mobile as a series, with a sixth entry on the way. The original forged a path partly thanks to its delightful art style and sheer variety when it came to dealing with those pesky foes trying to invade. It provided a real challenge, too, something that mobile was often unfairly accused of lacking. I could go on about Kingdom Rush's legacy. I won't, though. Instead, I'll point you towards Will's ranking of each entry.

Plague, Inc.

Despite the slightly macabre premise - creating a disease and making it spread across the globe - Plague, Inc. proved incredibly popular when it arrived in 2012. The reason was simple. Darkness of the concept aside, it brought something that felt brand-new to the strategy genre. You weren't building armies and battling for territory. You were sneaking through airports to give the world the sniffles. Okay, it gets a bit more serious than that, but I was trying to keep it light!

Subway Surfers

Though it didn't truly take off until 2013, Subway Surfers did launch in 2012, and I'm sure every single one of you is aware of it, even if you haven't played it. Much like Temple Run, it found success by being an endless runner that simply felt great to play, thanks to immediately responsive controls. And like Clash of Clans, it's served Sybo well over the years, with a sequel only recently released. 

Candy Crush

Yes, King's world-dominating match-3 puzzler came out in 2012. Apparently, it was just the year of long-standing series coming to mobile. Candy Crush is one that's often mocked and maligned because of its casual nature, and I totally get why. If you're someone who takes games seriously, it's not going to register as being worth your time. However, given its target demographic, it's almost faultless. It's deliciously colourful, enjoyable in short bursts and has been painstakingly designed to provide constant dopamine hits. While many scoff and say how easy it is to make a match-3 puzzler, no one else has achieved the same success as Candy Crush. 

And since so much fantastic stuff came out in 2012, I'm going to give a quick shout-out to a few others. We also got Rayman Jungle Run, Punch Quest, and Heroes Call. Truly, it was a great year for mobile gaming, and undoubtedly one of the most important.