SAN FRANCISCO—As gamers and the gaming industry gather this week in Los Angeles for the E3 2006 conference, Telephia offered an upbeat view of the mobile gaming industry’s growth.
Wireless users bought more than 8.2 million games for their phones in March, up 53 percent from game sales of 5.4 million in January, according to Telephia’s latest report on mobile games.
The number of unique mobile game buyers also increased significantly, said Telephia, from 3.5 million in January to 5 million in March.
Telephia listed EA Mobile, I-Play, Gameloft, Namco, Hands-On Mobile, Glu Mobile, THQ Wireless Inc., Oasys Mobile, Sony Pictures Mobile and Mobliss as the top 10 revenue generators in the space, accounting for three-quarters of mobile-game industry revenue.
Kanishka Agarwal, vice president of new products at Telephia, noted nearly 12 percent of all game downloads during the first quarter were free.
The top-five mobile games during the first-quarter in terms of revenue share were Tetris, Tetris Deluxe, Bejeweled, Jamdat Mahjong and Ms. Pac-Man, said Telephia.
Other E3 2006 news includes:
- Bill Gates outlined Microsoft Corp.’s plans to enter the mobile gaming arena as part of its Live Anywhere initiative, which promises an integrated, cross-platform gaming experience where games, digital content, online profiles, messages and friend lists are accessible through the Xbox Live interface regardless of location or device. Microsoft said its offering will allow customers to try games before purchasing them, provide catalogs of popular bite-sized games locally on their phone and post scores.
- THQ Wireless said it would showcase a variety of games at the convention, including Star Wars Imperial Ace, The Sopranos Poker, NFL Football 2007, Saints Row and a sequel to the Destroy All Humans game.
- Electronic Arts Inc. said it will debut its adventure game Orcs & Elves at the show and also will showcase 2006 FIFA World Cup, Fight Night Round 3, Madden NFL 07, NBA Live 2007, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 and an enhanced version of Tetris.
- Nokia Corp. announced it would install an application into its N-series phones that would allow users to browse and download games to their phones. The company also announced several new games for its S60 devices including Creatures of the Deep, Space Impact and System Rush: Evolution.
- Glu Mobile signed licensing partnerships with Sony Corp. and Microsoft. Glu’s deal with Sony Computer Entertainment America will bring Sony’s ATV Offroad Fury to mobile phones, while the company’s deal with Microsoft will bring Project Gotham Racing to mobile phones.
