The mobile-gaming waters got even more crowded last week as New York-based publisher Vindigo said it will dive in with “a broad selection” of adventure and casual games later this year.
Vindigo, which is best known for a variety of wireless news and local information applications, said its first title will be a mobile version of noted video game franchise Shadowgate to be released in May. Like others in the gaming space, Vindigo hopes to use casual, easy-to-play titles to target wireless users who aren’t traditional console players.
“Our intent has been to bring to market titles in categories that are underserved; to bring content to market that we think is ideally suited for the mobile environment,” said Jason Devitt, Vindigo’s chief executive officer. “The typical mobile-game player is looking for casual games they can pick up and play in a short period of time … rather than the immersive experience that hardcore gamers expect from the console.”
The rate of consolidation in mobile gaming is outpaced only by the number of newcomers coming to market-and the amount of money backing them. Even as well-heeled game-makers flush with investment capital snap up smaller studios, companies both within and outside of wireless are rushing to produce games for handsets.
Console gaming giant Electronic Arts announced plans to bring its wares to cell phones several weeks ago, and InfoSpace officially launched a publishing division earlier this year. It appears the stampede may be well founded: according to statistics from Seattle-based consumer data measuring firm M:Metrics, gaming is the fastest-growing category of mobile data services.
Analysts say they expect the field to continue to grow substantially as investors and businesses rush to cash in on the booming market.
“Everybody’s getting into mobile gaming,” said Michael King, a principal analyst with Gartner Dataquest. “The bottom line is, that’s where the money is. Everybody jumped into ringtones because that’s where the money was; now, the money’s sort of slowing in ringtones, so they’re getting into gaming.”
Shadowgate, an adventure game that enjoyed success as computer gaming began to gain traction in the late 1980s, was chosen because it easily lends itself to mobile play, Devitt said. The title will feature simple controls and will access the network during gameplay, requiring little handset memory.
“It will do that in the background while you’re playing,” Devitt said. “Players rarely notice it’s hitting the network; we can go, grab the stuff we need and disconnect.”
Devitt declined to elaborate on how many games Vindigo plans to release this year, or to reveal other scheduled titles.
Vindigo may be particularly well positioned to take advantage of the gaming market. The publisher has established relationships with every tier-one U.S. carrier, and has a stable of branded titles from agreements with The New York Times, The Sporting News, Mapquest and Vibe. The company also delivers mobile marketing campaigns for more than 100 advertisers, including Cadillac and MasterCard.
And Vindigo, which was acquired last year by Japanese content provider For-side.com for $36.5 million, hopes to use its parent company’s relationships and experience to tap markets in Asia and elsewhere with an all-encompassing portfolio of content offerings.
“We’re going to carriers and ultimately to consumers and offering them a very broad selection of content that runs the gamut,” Devitt said. “We think that gives us a tremendous advantage.”
Where Vindigo may have trouble, though, is with a lack of branded titles, said King. Shadowgate may be vaguely familiar to wireless users, but it isn’t likely to have the drawing power of EA titles featuring names like John Madden and Tiger Woods.
“Gaming is a whole lot about brands, and EA understands that,” said King. “Wireless experience can be bought.”
