Mobile gaming revenue to reach USD 11.4 billion this year

Major corporations such as Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have newer challengers, he said, citing Wargaming.net and its "League of Legends" play and mobile companies such as King Digital Entertainment with its "Candy Crush Saga" and Supercell with its "Clash of Clans" strategy game.

Firms that develop games for mobile devices can make huge profits, said Marcos Sanchez, a vice president and spokesman for App Annie, a business intelligence firm with offices in San Francisco and Beijing. "One company alone … is actually pulling in over a billion in revenues," said Sanchez, who did not identify that firm. "So gaming, from the mobile-app perspective, is a pretty serious thing and there's some pretty serious revenues associated with it."

Mobile technology is just the latest part of the computer gaming industry’s relatively rapid evolution.  

Early computers were too slow to process the enormous quantity of data needed for realistic pictures, sound and special effects. As the processors became faster and cheaper, manufacturers saw the potential for a large market and developed dedicated game consoles.

"The video games are not just about the console anymore," said Yoshio Osaki, Senior Vice President of the International Development Group, a research firm in San Francisco. "And you see a lot of cross-pollination and hybridization."