On the third day of Christmas, Pocket Gamer gave to me...

Well, it could have been Chicken Little, but in the end the metaphor broke down on national, not poultry lines, so our three French hens are the three French mobile publishers Gameloft, Vivendi and In-Fusio.

Of course, this being Christmas, there's the odd sleight of hand. Gameloft is definitely French (and high-kicking). As part of the Activision Blizzard deal, we assume Vivendi Games Mobile still counts as French, considering Vivendi has controlling state in the new, combined company (of course, we also assume Activision Blizzard will continue in the mobile sector – something neither Activision nor Blizzard has previously been very bothered about).

The final company, however, is less straightforward. One of the pioneers of mobile gaming with its ExEn technology, In-Fusio was bought out by French mobile company Zenops earlier in the year, having lost its way somewhat as power moved from developers and original games to publishers, aggregators and branded content. Games are still being released under the In-Fusio brand, however.

That's the Frenchness dealt with. The feminine side of metaphor is harder, especially as the masculine – cockrel – is generally associated with the French (i.e. Les Bleus rugby and football teams). There's certainly a deserved cockiness when it comes to Gameloft, which is one of the big three western mobile publishers (alongside EA Mobile and Glu) and to that extent is the only European publisher punching its weight.

But then, three French cocks just sounds rude.