Report: U.S. Mobile Gaming A Billion Dollar Industry

A new report from market research group In-Stat claims that the fragmented, oft-maligned U.S. cellphone gaming market is already worth $1 billion. Titled Mobile Applications Series: US Mobile Gaming 2008–2013, the report covers factors necessary to promoting awareness of mobile games, limitation to purchase, the iPhone's impact, and mobile gaming revenue forecasts for the U.S. and global markets through 2013. According to In-Stat's research, continued momentum in the global mobile gaming market is expected to result in revenues topping $6.8 billion by 2013. The report also includes results from the firm's 2008 Consumer Mobility Survey, which shows that of 2,000 respondents, 29.5% have played games on their mobile handsets. Despite its predicted rapid growth, the market still faces significant challenges. "The mobile gaming development industry is highly fragmented due to the wide variety of mobile operating systems, available handsets, and lack of industry standardization," says In-Stat analyst Jill Meyers. She continues: "This fragmentation has resulted in mobile developers and publishers making the difficult decision of spending finite resources developing games on the platforms they believe will have the best chance of success."