Dchoc CEO pours scorn on sale rumours as 'billion gamer' Omni Media vision is outlined.
Trip Hawkins has painted an upbeat picture of the mobile games industry, arguing that any current difficulties will be massively outweighed by the potential of social gaming and cross-platform distribution.In a note sent to ME on the eve of his keynote at CTIA today, the Digital Chocolate CEO also moved to rubbish rumours that his company was for sale and that many of its competitors have "never figured out how to make a profit".
He said: "We've been profitable for a while now, which seems a rarity among mobile game companies... we know we are growing faster than our competitors since almost all of them are public companies that report their numbers.
"Many companies have never figured out how to make a profit, and in this economy it is harder to raise money. Hence, the consolidation continues in the industry as illustrated by the Superscape deal and the rumors of Vivendi's exit. We are bucking this trend - we have plenty of cash, are growing and profitable.
"I have read and heard false speculation that we are for sale. I will just say that we are making it on our own and we think we have great opportunities to improve our business and become an even stronger independent company."
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In his CTIA keynote today Hawkins will talk at length about his vision for the future of gaming, specifically something he calls the Omni Media Market. This is described as a 'personal, digital, short-form networked media being consumed by true mass consumers and that will ultimately reach billions of customers'.
Hawkins explains: "You might say that SMS is the first such example, and the primary consumer benefit of Omni media is social contact. Looking specifically at games, the vast majority of consumers do not think of themselves as gamers, but in the last few years they have engaged in many of the following new behaviors: played a free game on the web, installed a Facebook app, personalised their phone with digital content, played Guitar Hero or Wii at a friend's house, voted on American Idol, sideloaded iTunes content, etc.
"My thesis is that for the first time games will reach a billion consumers and that the biggest platform in use will be mobile phones."
You can read Trip's full note to ME here.
