There are a lot of things that make it difficult to qualify mobile games as esports. First of all, the debate still rages among the public about what qualifies an esport – or sport for that matter – and tossing mobile gaming into the mix raises quite a few eyebrows However, with the massive strength of mobile gaming – it accounts for about 42% of all gaming – probably not much can stop these powerhouses from entering esports, even if it does seem silly to some fans.

As esports rapidly grow, so too is the interest in becoming a part of them. 2017 was a pivotal year for esports with the Blizzard finalizing its teams for OWL and League of Legends announcing the enfranchising of the NA LCS. Money came pouring in, but other things in esports were happening as well, somewhat quietly.

Before Blizzard had finalized their deals and long before Riot had announced enfranchisement, Clash Royale – a mobile-tower mobile game – was winning a BAFTA for the “esports audience award”. That’s right, a game that many esports fans have never heard of won an award that many people have never heard, and they won it for esports. Full disclosure, it so happens that the vice president of games at the BAFTAs – the British Academy of Film and Television Arts – just so happens to be a huge investor into Clash Royale. However, even disbarring the corruption behind such an award, Clash Royale has pulled some serious viewership numbers for being an aspiring mobile esport.

The King’s Cup II Finals boasted a Youtube viewer count of 1.3 million, which is twice the number that tuned in to the League of Legends Worlds finals on Youtube (but pretty paltry compared to the 57 million that tuned in across other platformers). Clash Royale has also offered prize pools as high as $1 million, and they at least have the appearance of being popular (though hard statistics are hard to find).

This is also being followed by games like Angry Birds, which has recently partnered with Rovio to create Angry Birds Champions, a game which they think could qualify as an esport. To Rovio’s credit – as much as people may mock them – they are quick to point out that 12 years ago they hosted a televised tournament with a $1 million dollar prize for solitaire. Most of us wouldn’t consider solitaire a game anymore than we would Angry Birds, but Jeremy Shea of Skill Games, had something to say to that.

It may be easy to shoot down these aspirations – especially since most gamers don’t even consider mobile games as proper games – but that doesn’t mean there won’t be a market for them. After all, darts, bowling, pool, and poker are all considered traditional sports no matter what critics or other sports fans think of them. Granted, the barrier of entry into esports is, as of right now, incredibly high. While many companies can find the cash for a large prize pool, having consistent viewership for these tournaments is a different story altogether, and being able to generate a profit is harder still.

Even Riot – who has sold out the Staples center for tournaments – has been running their esports brand at a loss for years. So it isn’t the fans that will determine if mobile games can make it into esports but the profit centers. Looking at Clash Royales recent tournament numbers – it’s hard to say they will survive, but mobile game developers will certainly have the money to keep trying for years to come. And Angry Birds Champions is certainly taking inspiration from Clash Royale for what is possible.