A matter of size

One of the most interesting aspects of mobile game development is that it offers opportunities to small teams to effectively get into the competition. From a certain perspective, mobile game development recalls the age of early computer games, when a team of few members shipped games that could gain worldwide popularity. Electronic Arts got their start by publishing indie developers' products.

Generally speaking, mobile games tend to have a limited scope when compared to common high budget/high quality (AAA) console or PC titles. Mobile games are designed to be played in small chunks and rely on simple game mechanics that require fewer assets, less programming, and shorter testing and debug time. This means that mobile games require less people for development and can be developed by teams of one or few individuals for every key role.

A good reason to keep the mobile dev team small has very much to do with the progress. Working progress can slow down either if the team...