Min-Liang Tan’s gaming hardware company, Razer, recently announced a deal with Team Queso, a mobile-only esports team. (Photo by Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunch)
Your typical mobile phone game is rudimentary. Games like Candy Crush, Flappy Bird or the always-classic Solitaire are fun and addicting, but simple at their core. But thanks to recent advancements in mobile phone technology, more complex games are becoming possible on a mobile platform, including games that are also played as esports.
As esports on mobile continue to gain popularity, it was only a matter of time before an esports organization focused more intensely on mobile. That is exactly what Team Queso is doing, launching a mobile-only esports team and partnering with Razer to use the hardware company’s mobile devices in competition.
“There are about 600 million Gaming Computers in the world, their are more than 4 billion touch devices, the potential audience is incredible,” Alvaro Gonzalez the CEO of Team Queso told SportTechie in an email. “I have been working on mobile gaming communities for 5 years. During all this time, I’ve realized that mobile gamers are as passionate, dedicated and competitive as any other kind of gamers. They love to watch competitive games, to follow tournaments and learn from pro players.
“I realized that in that moment, there wasn’t any team to follow. That market niche was so clear for me that I decided to go a step further and set up Team Queso. We focused on mobile because that is what I play, that’s the community I know and love.”
Historically, esports on mobile are turn-based, like Blizzard’s Hearthstone, or easy to render, like Supercell’s Clash Royale. Lately, mobile games have expanded to include Multiplayer Online Battle Arena’s (MOBAs) — traditionally PC-exclusive — such as Vainglory and Arena of Valor. Two of the most popular PC games right now, Fortnite and PlayerUnknown’s BattleGrounds (PUBG) have both recently expanded to mobile.
The difference between a game like Hearthstone and one like Vainglory is the necessity of frame accuracy and reliable controls. In Hearthstone, you choose a card and you play the card. The depth of the game comes from strategy, reading opponents hands and counterplay. A traditional sports fan might compare it to poker.
If Hearthstone is Texas hold em’, then Vainglory is basketball. It’s a team game which originally had three players on a side but recently upped it to five. The gameplay focuses on teamwork to control points and coordinate attacks. Most importantly, it’s all in real time. Actions per minute (APM) matter, especially in a competitive setting, and gamers can’t afford a lag. Imagine if there was a half second delay between when someone started to drive and when the defender was able to react. In traditional basketball that type of delay is the difference between a turnover and a dunk.
“I still remember when Vainglory was released; I had to buy a new device because my own tablet, being pretty new, couldn’t run the game to the fullest,” Gonzalez continued. “From a competitive standpoint it is essential to be sure to work with the best devices and so the result depends only on player’s skill. This is particularly important in MOBAS such as Vainglory and Arena of Valor where mechanics and quick response from the device can make the difference.”
When that quick response can be the difference between a win and a loss, Team Queso wants to make sure it’s using top-of-the-line equipment. For them, that comes in the form of Razer phones, built specifically with an esports audience in mind. Josh Collins, Senior Manager of Esports and Talent Marketing for Razer, described the display of games on Razer Phones 120 Hz as having “zero lag or stutter, just fluid buttery smooth motion for all your games.
“[Razer] engineered the Razer Phone to help guarantee that high-fidelity mobile games like Arena of Valor, VainGlory, Fortnite and PUBG can be successes in their own right because the experience is optimal in the consumers’ eyes,” Collins wrote in an email. “[To do this required] advancements in screen technology (fluidity, crispness of content), sound and auditory experience (dual speakers), and battery life.”
In addition to the 120 Hz display, Razer Phones also have Dolby Atmos speakers that will be crucial to pinpoint when an opponent is coming down the stairs in Fortnite. The phones feature Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets and 8 GB of Ram, and are backed by a 4,000 mAh battery, because losing competitive games because of a dying phone is never fun.
