Global phone games market has doubled in value this year, it's calculated.
December 7, 2005
[This unedited press release is made available courtesy of Game Developer and its partnership with notable game PR-related resource Games Press]
Author: Screen Digest
London, 7th December 2005: A new report from Screen Digest, "Wireless Gaming Business Models - Opportunities for publishers, developers and network operators" has also found that Japan and Korea, once regarded as the power houses of the mobile games industry, have seen their position eroded. During 2005, the Western markets of Europe and in particular the US have seen rapid growth - now accounting for 52 percent of mobile games revenues.
Unlike the console or PC gaming markets, the mobile games sector is dominated by specialist players - currently most of the big games publishers don't feature strongly. Jamdat of the US and Gameloft of France accounted for almost 30% of games download revenues in the US and Europe during 2004.
David MacQueen, Screen Digest games analyst and author of the report states: "By examining real company revenues, we have been able to define an accurate market share for mobile games companies in the US and Europe. While no-one in the industry will be shocked to see Jamdat top in the US and Gameloft top in Europe, there are a few surprises, not least the relative weakness of the 'traditional' video games publishers. THQ Wireless is the only company from that space to have carved out a significant slice of the pie."
At the same time, as previously reported by Screen Digest, venture capital has been flowing into the mobile gaming industry at a rapid rate, with 425m being invested in the market since 1999. With worldwide games revenues forecast to hit 7bn by 2010 and games enabled handsets to increase to 2 billion, it's perhaps easy to understand this high level of investment.
David MacQueen also comments: "Mobile gaming has arrived and is delivering results for investors and operators. The worldwide market was worth 850m in 2004, and our data shows that in 2005, the market will have almost doubled to reach 1.7bn in revenues. This is great news for investors, from whom we have tracked over half a billion dollars worth of investment since 1999. As operator voice revenues worldwide have slowed, the importance of mobile data has markedly increased, and games are delivering sizable revenues. The importance of this sector will continue to grow."
Editors' Notes
The data, forecasts and analysis contained in this press release are taken from the new Screen Digest report: "Wireless Gaming Business Models: Opportunities for publishers, developers and network operators."
The report is a comprehensive review of the wireless gaming industry value chain and includes detailed analysis of all the main industry players.
Screen Digest is the pre-eminent source of business intelligence, research, and analysis on global audiovisual media. Screen Digest the journal has been published for more than 30 years and is read in over 40 countries. Screen Digest is primarily a research company and publishes a rapidly growing number of major business reports on media markets. The company also offers continuous online research services providing searchable access to a vast database of global audiovisual market research information. Screen Digest also provides single client consultancy services and has undertaken a wide variety of bespoke projects on behalf of numerous national and international organisations.
For further information on this report or to arrange interviews, please contact:
Fay Hamilton
Tel: +44 20 7424 2820
Dan Stevenson
Tel: +44 20 7424 2820
You May Also Like
