Adam Sussman, EA Mobile's VP of worldwide publishing, takes the questions from our Goa correspondent.
Why do you think the mobile games market has repeatedly failed to hit critical mass?
I think it’s important to recognise that whilst the mobile gaming market is still in its relative infancy, it’s already a big business globally. Although we’ve come a long way, mobile gaming needs to overcome a few key hurdles to achieve the critical mass being enjoyed by the current consoles, for example.
Until relatively recently, mainstream devices haven’t really been capable of delivering genuinely immersive gaming. Phones are communications devices first and foremost. The iPhone and the latest Nokia models, however, are designed with entertainment very much in mind and incorporate the kind of screen and processor technology necessary to develop games of a quality never before seen on mobile.
Mobile gaming has also had to contend with complex and lengthy purchasing mechanisms, consumer fears of overcharging, and limited opportunity for people to ’try before they buy’. However, this is also changing thanks to new purchase and discovery opportunities on N-Gage and Apple’s App Store. Then there's the cost of mobile data. The internet didn’t go mass market until flat rate broadband was prevalent; flat rate mobile data charges are going to be key to the incremental adoption of mobile gaming.
Have the iPhone, G1 and/or the N-Gage helped to invigorate this market by giving power back to the developers?
They undoubtedly offer great merchandising coupled with richer gaming experiences. As such, they afford developers greater scope to make bigger, better and more imaginative games with great features such as touch or motion control.
Have the operators given enough support (marketing etc) to the growth of mobile games?
The recent upsurge in the popularity of mobile games has certainly brought about a shift in operator attitudes. Apple has done much to bring about this change with dedicated marketing campaigns around gaming such as Spore: Origins. The iPhone has made operators sit up and take note of the potential in mobile gaming. We expect to see far more marketing effort dedicated to games for mobile in the near future.
Is the triopoly of EA/Gameloft/Glu good for the industry? If so, why?
Like many creative industries, mobile gaming consists of a number of dominant organisations within a broad proliferation of smaller developers. If you look at industries like movies, TV or music, you find a similar market composition.
Smaller developers can benefit from the presence of larger organisations that drive awareness for the industry. However, as the industry matures there will be consolidation as smaller companies are acquired by organisations with the scale to offer the channel a more attractive overall package.
What do you think will be the next big thing in mobile games?
We expect significant advances in the retail experience for consumers. Improvements to discovery and the buying experience are becoming increasingly important for consumers and manufacturers alike. Another trend of great interest is the integration of mobile gaming with social networking.
Also interesting is the evolution in billing models and service provision. In-game ‘micropayment’ - something that has revolutionised the PC gaming industry - is a revenue model that is beginning to make inroads in the mobile gaming space.
* Monty Munford is an industry legend, author of the weekly Monty's Indian Outlook email column. His latest article about the market appeared in the Guardian newspaper on May 21. Read it here.
To read Part Two of our Mobile Games Focus, click here.
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