A Lightweight and Cross-Platform Framework for Real-Time Energy Profiling of Mobile and VR Games

The growing popularity of mobile and virtual reality (VR) games has intensified the demand for high-performance graphics and immersive interactivity, often at the expense of significant energy consumption. This paper introduces a lightweight, cross-platform framework for real-time energy footprint analysis tailored to mobile and VR gaming applications. Unlike traditional profiling tools that are hardware-dependent or computationally intensive, the proposed framework employs low-overhead system-level monitoring to assess the power usage of critical subsystems, including CPU, GPU, network, and sensors. The framework captures dynamic energy consumption patterns during gameplay and presents actionable insights through module-wise analysis. Experimental evaluations across popular game titles on commercial mobile and VR devices reveal a strong correlation between game mechanics—such as rendering complexity and interaction intensity—and energy drain. The results demonstrate that strategic design adjustments informed by the framework, such as dynamic resolution scaling and optimized sensor usage, can lead to substantial improvements in energy efficiency without degrading user experience. This research contributes a scalable and developer-friendly tool for energy-aware game development, promoting longer battery life and enhanced device sustainability. The proposed framework serves as a foundational step toward integrating energy optimization into the core of mobile and VR game design practices.