Mobile Gaming $1Billion Industry, Off-Deck Growing, Says In-Stat

By Reporter Wireless and Mobile News on October 15, 2008 10:58 AM

Though still in its infancy, mobile gaming is already a billion dollar industry in the US, reports In-Stat http://www.in-stat.com . In-Stat believes that mobile gaming will continue to be a key contributor to wireless data usage and revenues due to its momentum. However, the industry has significant challenges.

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

Almost 20% of game-playing respondents to an In-Stat consumer survey report downloading games from Internet sites other than their mobile carrier's site.
Of the 2,000 respondents, 29.5% reported playing games on their mobile handsets.
In-Stat predicts the global mobile gaming market will top $6.8 billion by 2013.

“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 Jill Meyers, In-Stat analyst. “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.”

Recent In-Stat research, Mobile Applications Series: US Mobile Gaming 2008-2013

(#IN0804316MCM), covers the US market for mobile gaming. It discusses the mobile gaming industry, factors necessary to promote awareness of mobile games, and limitations to purchase. The impact of the iPhone on mobile gaming is explored, along with the results of the In-Stat 2008 Consumer Mobility Survey, which compares respondents who play mobile games against those who do not. Also included are mobile gaming revenue forecasts for the US and global markets through 2013.