Mobile Market Monitor: Games Q4 2010

By
Jack Kent

March 14, 2011

The two leading Western mobile games publishers, EA Mobile and Gameloft, reported record annual revenues of $215m and $187m respectively. For both publishers, the strong 2010 performance was largely driven by the continued success of their games for Apple's iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch devices). IHS Screen Digest research indicates that Apple's App Store took 91% of games revenues from application stores in 2010.Third-placed Western publisher, Glu Mobile, continued its decline; it reported total 2010 revenues of $64.4m, down from $79.3m in 2009. Freemium and social mobile games, already successful in Japan, started to make an impact in Western markets in 2010 and will be a major driver of growth in 2011.

Games for Apple's App Store continued to be the main driver of growth for leading Western mobile games publishers in Q4 and throughout 2010. EA Mobile maintained its position as the number one Western publisher with Q4 revenues of $59m and 2010 revenues of $215m. Second-placed Western publisher Gameloft saw its Q4 revenues grow to $54m and its 2010 revenues grow to $187m. Glu Mobile's Q4 revenues dropped to $15.6m in Q4 2010 (down from $19.1m in Q4 2009). Glu's annual revenues were $64.4m, compared with $79.3m in 2009.

Glu has outlined its plan to focus on smartphone, freemium and socially-focused mobile games throughout 2011. Freemium and social mobile games, already successful in Japan, started to make a major impact in Q4 2010, with in-app purchases accounting for more than one-third of US App Store games revenues at the end of Q4. IHS Screen Digest expects this trend to continue throughout 2011, with in-app purchases and socially-focussed mobile games driving growth in games revenues across most mobile platforms.

Highlights:

EA Mobile and Gameloft reported record annual revenues of $215m and $187m respectively
Apple's App Store takes 91% of application stores' games revenues
Mobile social games make impact in Japan
Zynga looks to mobile for revenue growth

In this report:

2010 mobile publishers' results
EA Mobile's 99c strategy
Gameloft's premium focus
Glu Mobile focuses on social, freemium, smartphone games
Apple takes 91% of application store games revenues
Mobile social games make impact in Japan
Zynga's mobile strategy
Q4 2010: top publishers' get holiday boost
Q4 2010: mobile games funding and M&A

Tables and charts included:

Publishers' annual mobile games revenues 2006-2010
EA Mobile Q4 2010: new title releases
Gameloft Q4 2010: iPhone releases
Glu Mobile: revenues and smartphone %
2010 games app revenue share
Operators' % of mobile games revenues 2008-2014
2010 top publishers' releases by platform/store
2009-2010 total releases
Japanese social network revenues
DeNA company and games revenues
Zynga: Facebook MAUs
Zynga: mobile-related acquisitions
Q4 2010 top publishers' mobile games revenues
Q4 2010 releases by platform
Q4 2010 iPhone releases
Q4 2010 major publishers' new releases
Q4 2010 total releases
Q4 2010 new titles by IP
Q4 2010 mobile games M&A
Q4 2010 mobile games funding

Pages: 15

Tables & charts: 20

Tags:

Countries: Argentina Australia Austria Belgium Brazil Canada China Czech Republic Denmark Finland France Germany Greece Hungary India Ireland Israel Italy Japan Mexico Netherlands New Zealand Norway Poland Portugal Russia South Africa South Korea Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey UK
Companies: Apple Capcom Digital Chocolate Disney Electronic Arts Gameloft Glu Google Namco Nokia THQ

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