It wasn’t long ago that smartphones were new, and game companies rushed to adapt their popular games for these devices. While many of these mobile versions were poorly made and relied heavily on expensive in-app purchases, some developers took a smarter approach. Around the time of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, we started seeing mobile apps that genuinely added to the experience of playing games on consoles and PCs – they felt like useful additions instead of just attempts to make more money.
And then they started disappearing.
Like features such as the Kinect, DualShock 4 touchpad, and motion controls, mobile companion apps have largely disappeared. I realized this recently when I tried to use the Battlefield Companion app. It used to be really helpful for checking stats and customizing weapons, which saved time and let me jump into games like Battlefield 4 and 1 quicker. I really wish Battlefield 6 still had this feature, because now I have to either pause matchmaking or mess around with my weapons at the start of a match, potentially annoying my team.
Battlefield 4, despite being buggy when it first came out, had a unique feature for tablet users. Players with tablets could act as commanders, seeing a full map of the battle as others played on consoles and PCs. While not crucial to the game, it was a welcome addition that has since been removed, seemingly just to save money and effort.
Call of Duty tried something similar with its app. While games like Call of Duty: Mobile and the now-discontinued Warzone Mobile are popular, they offer a similar experience to the main console and PC games. A companion app isn’t meant to *replace* those games, but to enhance them. When you’re away from the game, you often think about how to improve your setup – why not quickly test out new weapon attachments or loadouts directly in the app instead of just making notes?
These companion apps weren’t just for competitive shooting games. Many different types of games, including action-adventure and role-playing games, experimented with them at the time. For example, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag had an interactive map and, a feature I especially loved, unlocked pirate songs that you could play after discovering them in the game. Mass Effect 3: Datapad let you access the game’s lore on the go and even strategize for the final mission with its Galaxy At War feature. I remember spending weeks preparing my squad on my commute to school, but unfortunately, newer players don’t have that option anymore.
One of the biggest missed opportunities in gaming is with sports titles and their companion apps. For example, even now, when playing competitive football games like Madden locally, players often rely on the honor system to call plays. It’s strange, considering everyone has a smartphone. Adding a playcalling feature to the phone app wouldn’t be a simple novelty; it would create a fairer and more realistic competitive experience.
Instead of limiting your choices to a few options and worrying your teammate will guess your play, you’ll be able to choose from your complete set of plays.
The increasing popularity of smartphones may be why we’re seeing fewer companion apps for games. As cloud gaming becomes more common, many titles can now be played directly on phones. It makes you wonder why bother with just checking stats or changing settings when you can play the full game anywhere! While there are still some good reasons for companion apps, they don’t seem to be a priority for developers. Plus, services like Xbox Cloud Gaming aren’t limited to phones—you can play cloud-based Xbox games on consoles or smart TVs while still using your phone. If Microsoft continues to focus on making games available on more devices, as they seem to want to do, this trend will likely continue.
Companion apps aren’t always successful, and not every game needs one. Nintendo learned this the hard way with the Switch. They decided to put voice chat in a separate app, the Nintendo Switch Online app, instead of directly in the games. This made things more complicated and few players actually used it. While this did prevent younger players from hearing inappropriate language, it also blocked older players from using voice chat altogether – a solution that addressed one problem while creating another.
Honestly, I’m hoping we’ll see companion apps make a comeback. It feels like the industry gets fixated on the next big thing, but sometimes the simple stuff is best. Even with all this talk of AI and the metaverse, companion apps *should* be cool again. Think about it – blasting a sea shanty in public while showing off your Assassin’s Creed skills, or tweaking your weapon attachments at 2 AM because, why not? That’s the fun part of gaming, those little extra touches that make it special, and it’d be a shame to lose them.
Read More
- Gold Rate Forecast
- Katanire’s Yae Miko Cosplay: Genshin Impact Masterpiece
- Wizards Beyond Waverly Place Season 2 Episode 6 Release Date, Time, Where to Watch
- Brent Oil Forecast
- FCC Chair Brendan Carr to Testify Over Jimmy Kimmel Suspension Controversy
- HBAR Bulls Face $30M Tragedy: A Tolstoyan Tale of Crypto Woes 😱
- Marvel Zombies Loses #1 Streaming Spot, Beaten Out By Disney’s Biggest Flop of 2025
- Valorant Agent 29 Veto: Abilities and everything we know
- 10 Years Later, ‘Rebel Ridge’ Director’s Near-Perfect Action Thriller Hits Free Streaming
- Two brand-new games arrive on Xbox Game Pass today. One draws on cultural works, the other is an „industrial” RPG
2025-10-16 17:40