GDC08: Fast facts we learnt from GDC Mobile
Crib notes for those who weren't there
Even we didn't make every speech at the GDC Mobile Conference, so combining what we learnt from those we did attend with the notes provided for those we didn't, here's a handy bluffers' guide to key facts any visitor should have come away with.
Michel Guillemot, CEO, Gameloft- Mobile gaming revenues will be flat in 2008 but the market has the potential to grow two or three times
- Gameloft sells two games per second
- Gameloft delivers around 50,000 SKUs (or versions of the mobile games for different handsets, languages and operator) every month
- Nokia has sold over one billion mobile devices
- 50 per cent of early adopters (aka Technology Leaders) use Nokia devices
- Of that group, voice communications accounts for 12 per cent on time on the device; gaming for 4 per cent of time
- GPS-enabled handsets with navigation software are expected to achieve an annual sales volume of more than 96 million units by 2012
- Carriers [operators] are retail monopolists and impact on games more than hardware does
- The market value of mobile gaming in 2008 is estimated to be $4-6 billion
- 85 per cent of Series 60 consumers are playing pre-installed games
- 50 per cent of new application installations on Series 60 devices are games
- N-Gage Arena is the world's largest global mobile gaming community, with over 500,000 users
- Tetris accounts for around 8.5 per cent of all mobile games sold in North America
- While the number of game downloads in North America in Q3 2007 (July-Sept) rose from 21 in Q2 to 22 million, the total game revenue over the same period dropped from $187 million to $173 million
- Since its November 2007 launch, the Fat-Free site for iPhone games has had 100,000 unique iPhone visitors, has 6,500 registered users, over 200 simultaneous players and serves around 40,000 adverts per day
- When it introduced micro-billing to its RPG The Chronicles of Inotia, Com2us increased sales revenue by 97 per cent
- The cost of adding 3D graphics hardware to an integrated chip has dropped 85 per cent since 2004
- All mobile game development conversations end in a bar
Jon Jordan
A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon can turn his hand to anything except hand turning. He is editor-at-large at PG.biz which means he can arrive anywhere in the world, acting like a slightly confused uncle looking for the way out. He likes letters, cameras, imaginary numbers and legumes.