Gaming currently accounts for only a small proportion of European mobile entertainment revenues but it is a growing sector that will be worth â‚Ź3 billion by 2008, according to a report by Analysys.
Analysys predicts that mobile gaming revenues will grow from â‚Ź200 million in 2002 to almost â‚Ź3 billion in 2008, equivalent to a fifth of the total wireless entertainment market. N-Gage, a new gaming phone from Nokia, is a sign of things to come and an increasing number of downloadable games are available on the web.
Rachael Beale, the report’s lead author, said: “Java handsets have become more widely available over the last 18 months, and mass market interest in mobile gaming has grown strongly as a result. Users are swapping Snake for arcade simulations and film tie-ins, and the release of new devices optimised for gaming, like Nokia’s N-Gage, is likely to encourage take-up further.”
Revenues from mobile device gaming will reach almost $7 billion worldwide by 2010, according to Informa Media Group (see Gaming Revenues To Hit $7bn By 2010, Says Informa).