September 19, 2012

Freemium and social games for smartphones and tablets continued to drive growth across the mobile games business. Leading South Korean publishers such as Com2Us and Gamevil, Western publishers EA Mobile, Glu and Gameloft and major Japanese games communities GREE and Mobage (owned by DeNA) all reported strong year-on-year growth in freemium and in-app purchase smartphone revenues.

EA Mobile maintained its lead in the Western mobile games business with 21 per cent year-on-year growth, despite a quarterly decline. Gameloft and Glu also performed well, achieving 20 per cent and 33 per cent year-on-year growth respectively.

The impact of new regulations surrounding freemium games in Japan saw growth slow for a number of Japanese companies, but overall revenues continued their upward trajectory.

Korean publishers such as Com2Us and Gamevil have seen rapid growth from smartphone games that now account for the vast majority of revenues. 

Highlights:

• EA Mobile reports 21 per cent YoY growth with $69m Q2 revenues 
• Gameloft up 20 per cent year-on-year 
• Best quarter for Glu since 2008; new strategy pays off 
• Konami growth stalls, Capcom maintains growth 
• Korean publishers report smartphone success 

• Facebook focuses on mobile monetisation 

In this report:

Top Western publishers' Q2 mobile games revenues

Konami and Capcom Q2

Korean publishers' smartphone success

Zynga's mobile activity grows

Facebook focuses on mobile monetisation

Games dominate app stores

iPhone leads Q2 releases

Hardware outlook: H2 2012

Mobile games funding and M&A activity

Tables and charts included:

• Western mobile games publishers' revenues ($m)
• Capcom and Konami mobile and social games revenues ($m)
• Korean publisher mobile games revenues ($m)
• Gamevil: smartphone games revenues ($m)
• Com2uS: smartphone games revenues ($m)
• EA Mobile: smartphone/tablet vs. feature phone revenues ($m)
• Gameloft: smartphone and tablet revenues ($m)
• Gameloft: revenues by region ($m)
• Glu Mobile: smartphone and tablet revenues ($m)
• Glu Mobile: Monthly and Daily active users (m)
• Glu Mobile: original and licensed IP share of revenues (per cent)
• GREE and DeNA: mobile games revenues ($m) and users (m)
• Zynga: mobile and PC-based Daily Active Users (m) - DAUs
• Zynga: mobile titles Q2 2012
• Facebook: total and mobile users (m)
• US iPhone App Store: Games per cent of top 100 grossing apps
• UK iPhone App Store: Games per cent of top 100 grossing apps
• US Google Play store: Games per cent of top grossing apps
• Top mobile games publishers' new titles by platform/store
• Volume and value of mobile games funding deals
• Selected mobile games funding deals
• Selected mobile games M&A deals

Pages: 13

Tables & charts: 23

Tags: