Mobile phone gaming is growing into a multi-billion dollar market, with increasing advances in technologies pushing the industry further in terms of revenue growth.
According to eMarketer’s new
Mobile Gaming brief, world-wide gaming revenue reached $2.5 billion in 2005, with James Belcher, senior analyst and author of the report, saying the industry is “not a fad.”
eMarketer claims that Japan is the largest mobile market in the world, due to established phone standards and wide penetration of technologically advanced phones.
Recent figures from market intelligence firm, IDC, show revenue from sales of mobile games in the US forecast to reach $1.5 billion in 2008, up from just $600 million in 2004.
Commenting on mobile phone gaming in the US, Belcher said: “The US is at a serious disadvantage relative to other mobile markets. Multiple wireless protocol and handset technologies make it difficult to create games, which work reliably on all phones. This is one factor that has made simple puzzle games the most popular type in the US so far. These games have low technical requirements and run on a wide variety of phones.”
eMarketer shows that puzzle games account for nearly half of all free mobile game downloads, and over a quarter of all mobile gaming revenues.
Belcher added: “The market is currently dominated by simple puzzle games, but more sophisticated games are becoming available on newer handsets. While getting consumers to pay for the new games may be difficult, the potential value of the mobile gaming market goes far beyond the dollars to be earned from sales of games themselves.”
Mobile gaming is already an accepted technology, with research from NPD Group showing that 27% of users play games on their handsets (see Mobile Game Downloading On The Rise).
Informa Telecoms and Media confirms this rising popularity, estimating total global revenues from games on mobile phones to reach $11.2 billion by 2010, increasing by a massive $8.6 billion from $2.6 billion this year (see Global Mobile Games Revenues To Hit $11.2 Billion By 2010).
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