"The $2.5 billion in worldwide mobile gaming revenue for 2005 confirms that it is not a fad," says James Belcher, eMarketer Senior Analyst and author of the new Mobile Gaming brief.
Japan is the largest market in the world, thanks to established phone standards and wide adoption of technologically advanced phones. In any market where GSM is the dominant protocol, developers can make games that they know will work on the majority of handsets in use.
Recent IDC
numbers show revenue from sales of mobile games in the US rising from $600 million in 2005 to $1.5 billion in 2008.
"In fact, the US is at a disadvantage relative to other mobile markets," says Mr. Belcher. "Multiple wireless protocols 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."
The popularity of simple mobile games in the US holds the key to understanding the future of this market. Puzzle games like Tetris account for nearly half of all free mobile game downloads, and over a quarter of all mobile gaming revenues.
"The market is currently dominated by simple puzzle games, but more sophisticated games are becoming available on newer handsets," says Mr. Belcher. "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."
As location-based and multiplayer capabilities develop, advertising to wireless gamers will be an exercise in precision targeting. This will drive the value of mobile gaming beyond the revenue associated with game sales or subscriptions.
"Powerful branding opportunities arise with the potential to reach a highly-targeted audience wherever they happen to be," says Mr. Belcher, "including, for the first time, places outside of home and work.
To see why mobile gaming is about to grow completely out of hand, purchase eMarketer's new Mobile Gaming brief today.