Issues for multiplayer mobile game engines

This study analyzes the different functionalities of Multiplayer Mobile Game (MMG) Engine- that is game engines dedicated to development of multiplayer games on mobile phones. The different functionalities are broadly divided into- core functionalities and extra functionalities. The core functionalities are necessary and essential for MMG development and have been identified as- networking, graphics and animation, inputs management, context awareness, sound and data management. The extra functionalities on the other hand deal with non gaming aspects such as portability issues, deployment and development tools. We illustrate how these functionalities are provided by some of the available MMG engines. The concerned MMG engines are Edgelib, GASP and MUPE. We also throw light on the remaining issues for future MMG engines. This paper concludes by listing key issues related to MMG engines: portability, context awareness, monolithic aspect of current MMG engines, networking, and deployment. Portability has limited research perspective. Other issues offer attractive research opportunities for further development of MMG engines.