At the Leipzig GC Developer Conference, I-Play’s Stephane Labrunie claimed that mobile phone games will outsell console software by the end of 2006.
Speaking at the conference in Leipzip, Stephane Labrunie was bullish about the mobile market, claiming that mobile gaming “is the definition of a true mass market; it’s not a niche market, as is console gaming.” He went on to forecast that by 2010, paid downloads to mobile devices will hit 1.7 billion, with gross revenues of over $5.9 billion. In the more immediate future, Labrunie claims that more mobile games will be sold in 2006 than console titles.
There are still concerns, despite the strong forecasts. Labrunie noted that around 33 per cent of mobile phone owners don’t know they can plays games while 50 per cent only play demos included on the devices. Only 5 per cent of owners have actually downloaded a game to their phone. “Some have no more credit on their pre-pay card, some do not have time, some don’t know how to download games … Trust is a very important factor, because you need to buy in a safe environment,” he said.
Thanks Gameindustry.biz.
