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Top Four Mobile Games Developers Consolidate Lead
The worldÃ's top four games publishers are taking an ever bigger share of the market for mobile games, according to the latest report from media analyst Screen Digest. EA Mobile, Gameloft, Glu and THQ Wireless have seen their global market shares increase from 11 per cent to 22 per cent in 2007 and the figure is rising, particularly in Western Europe.
By consistently producing good quality titles and focusing on increasing its catalogue, Gameloft has created strong company growth. In comparison, the current market leader EA Mobile has faltered. On 31 March 2008, Gameloft reportedly earned $40m, only $1m less than EA Mobile. Screen Digest expects Gameloft to usurp EAÃ's leadership position during the remainder of 2008 and then to retain its position as the leading mobile games publisher for the foreseeable future. GameloftÃ's next challenge will be conquering the all-important US market, where revenue shares are better.
A €2.6bn market value by 2012
Screen Digest anticipates that the mobile games market will generate an extra €1bn in the next five years to reach a total value of €2.6bn by 2012. Historically, Asia has been the biggest market in terms of industry revenues with over 37 per cent market share in 2007, but Screen Digest predicts that from 2009 onwards, North America will become the largest market.
North America has been experiencing continued growth, generating an average of €125m every year for the past four years. We expect this revenue growth to continue and double the market value to just over €1.1bn by 2012.
Ad-supported games market still evolving
Whilst ad-supported games represent only a tiny proportion of total mobile games downloads, multimedia plug-ins such as Flash Lite, installed on many handsets in Japan and now increasingly in Western countries, may provide a platform for web-based games that rely on display advertising. Screen Digest believes that the future for advertising in mobile games will be through integrated campaigns, whether through multi-platform gaming specialists or as part of larger mobile advertising.
Ronan de Renesse, Senior Mobile Analyst says "Whilst the current demand for games that can be played on the iPhone is giving the mobile gaming industry a much needed boost, there are a number of issues that will need to be addressed by games developers. They need to overcome technical challenges to deliver more enticing games to a wider audience of gamers - and they need to do this fast. So whilst in the short term the iPhone is boosting sales of mobile games, the favour wonÃ't be returned until the iPhone can support a major blockbuster title - or two."
Posted to the site on 31st July 2008