No one could have predicted that the most popular genre of software for smartphones would have been games. When Apple launched the iPhone the App Store didn’t even exist, yet now it’s responsible for a sizable chunk of revenue for developers such as Gameloft. During the first half of 2010, the French gaming company scored 76.8 million EUR ($109.2 million) in terms of revenue; 30% of that (23 million EUR; $32.7 million) was from “smart devices”, in other words phones and tablets. This is inline with what the CEO of Electronic Arts, John Riccitiello, said a few days ago in an interview with Industry Gamers. He claims that dedicated gaming consoles make up just 40% of the gaming industry now, compared to 80% a decade ago, and that the iPad is their fastest growing platform. Back to Gameloft, they issued the following statement:
“The expected launch of approximately twenty smartphone and tablet games during the second half of the year should allow solid sequential growth in the third and fourth quarters of 2011. In the long term, the company appears to be in an ideal position to benefit from the rapid emergence of the digital distribution of video games on mobile phones, tablets, social networks, TVs and consoles.”
Some of their franchies, both licensed and in house, that you may be familiar with: Real Football, Asphalt, Harry Potter, Lego Batman, Where’s Wally?, and Order & Chaos. Now when we wrote about the Pokémon franchise coming to iOS, and how Nintendo will be in serious trouble if they don’t fundamentally change their strategy, many of you called us out and said that the mighty Japanese gaming house will never fall. Two weeks after we published that article, Nintendo slashed the price of their Nintendo 3DS by $80 citing poor sales. Hate to say we told you so … but we did.
Anyway, what games have you been playing lately? We’re curious to know. Sound off in the comments!
[Image via Pocket-Lint]