Mobile Gaming Opportunities Across Europe
2001-11-07 admin
Europe's mGaming success stories don't go much further than SMS.
Operators and media companies have approached mGaming thus far more as a
marketing tactic than a revenue driver.
In contrast, mGaming makes big bucks in Japan. Japanese incumbent
operator NTT DoCoMo claims that 6.3 million of its 27 million i-mode users download games and other entertainment-related content onto their phones. Game publishers like Sega have been quick to offer downloadable console
hits like "Sonic The Hedgehog" to users with Java-enabled phones, sharing revenues in exchange for using DoCoMo's billing platform.
Phone manufacturers lay the groundwork for progress. In July, Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia, and Siemens launched the Mobile Games Interoperability Forum with a goal to develop a universal mobile gaming platform. The
manufacturers aim to create standards that let users play multiplayer networked games running on operators' servers regardless of what kind of
device they own.
To assess how European mobile operators should use mGaming as part of their
service mix, Forrester assembled seven variables that predict mGaming demand. And then weighted the results to determine whether mGaming should receive low, medium, or high priority for operators in 13 countries.
Forrester finds that:
* Operators should lead with mGaming in four countries. In the German-speaking countries and Belgium, mobile penetration reaches 72%, half
of adults own a game console, and 58% play computer games. In Switzerland,
for example, Swisscom should make mGaming the core of a marketing campaign
and build a gaming offering in-house to boost market share among young adults.
* In six countries, operators should defer to game companies. Operators in
the UK, Ireland, the Nordics, and Italy should give mGaming a secondary
role. They should rely on partnerships with gaming heavyweights like Electronic Arts and Nintendo to target young consumers, who use portable consoles like the Gameboy Advance and PC games. In a revenue-sharing model with game companies, operators should offer a mobile-tailored version of a
Gameboy game in which players can earn new skills or items that they can
then use on a portable game console -- players unlock the items with a code
delivered on their mobile phone.
* Easily appealing games will relaunch SMS and set the market for mGaming.
Spain, France, the Netherlands, and Finland don't offer mobile operators
fertile ground for a heavy mGaming offering. Operators in these countries should take measured, tactical steps toward mGaming -- exploiting content with broad appeal by offering, for example, mobile dating games supported
by multi-user SMS chat.
In contrast to operators, game publishers want to know which countries offer them the greatest absolute number of potential mGaming ubscribers.
Forresters advises publishers to:
* Go after Germany and the UK first. In addition to high mobile penetration, Europe's biggest markets boast widespread game console
ownership, a high percentage of people playing computer games, and consumers' strong tendency toward entertainment. These two markets already offer room for game publishers to launch mGaming with a multiple-revenue-stream model: pay per download, online play with operator revenue sharing, and sales of CD-ROMs with mobile episodes of PC games for
game-addicted subscribers.
* Target France, Italy, and Spain next. These three countries have big
populations but don't have consumer bases conducive to mGaming. Here, game
publishers must market games not as ends in themselves but as extensions to other entertainment properties with broader appeal. For example, in Italy,
Electronic Arts should promote a mobile version of the Fantacalcio role-playing game where players could actually integrate their weekly
scoring with penalty kicks played over their mobile phones.
* Focus on promotions for the rest of Europe. In European countries where the population size and mGaming sensitivity both rank low, game publishers
must avoid expensive mGaming marketing that won't deliver many users.
www.forrester.com.
Companies will turn to mGgaming to boost revenues,
say analysts
8 November 2001
European mobile operators struggling with market
saturation and UMTS debts look to mGaming as a killer application to increase their revenue, according to Forrester Research
But actual development remains slow.
The researchers suggest that :
Operators and media companies have approached mGaming thus far more as a
marketing tactic than a revenue driver.
operator NTT DoCoMo claims that 6.3 million of its 27 million i-mode users download games and other entertainment-related content onto their phones. Game publishers like Sega have been quick to offer downloadable console
hits like "Sonic The Hedgehog" to users with Java-enabled phones, sharing revenues in exchange for using DoCoMo's billing platform.
manufacturers aim to create standards that let users play multiplayer networked games running on operators' servers regardless of what kind of
device they own.
To assess how European mobile operators should use mGaming as part of their
service mix, Forrester assembled seven variables that predict mGaming demand. And then weighted the results to determine whether mGaming should receive low, medium, or high priority for operators in 13 countries.
Forrester finds that:
* Operators should lead with mGaming in four countries. In the German-speaking countries and Belgium, mobile penetration reaches 72%, half
of adults own a game console, and 58% play computer games. In Switzerland,
for example, Swisscom should make mGaming the core of a marketing campaign
and build a gaming offering in-house to boost market share among young adults.
* In six countries, operators should defer to game companies. Operators in
the UK, Ireland, the Nordics, and Italy should give mGaming a secondary
role. They should rely on partnerships with gaming heavyweights like Electronic Arts and Nintendo to target young consumers, who use portable consoles like the Gameboy Advance and PC games. In a revenue-sharing model with game companies, operators should offer a mobile-tailored version of a
Gameboy game in which players can earn new skills or items that they can
then use on a portable game console -- players unlock the items with a code
delivered on their mobile phone.
* Easily appealing games will relaunch SMS and set the market for mGaming.
Spain, France, the Netherlands, and Finland don't offer mobile operators
fertile ground for a heavy mGaming offering. Operators in these countries should take measured, tactical steps toward mGaming -- exploiting content with broad appeal by offering, for example, mobile dating games supported
by multi-user SMS chat.
In contrast to operators, game publishers want to know which countries offer them the greatest absolute number of potential mGaming ubscribers.
Forresters advises publishers to:
* Go after Germany and the UK first. In addition to high mobile penetration, Europe's biggest markets boast widespread game console
ownership, a high percentage of people playing computer games, and consumers' strong tendency toward entertainment. These two markets already offer room for game publishers to launch mGaming with a multiple-revenue-stream model: pay per download, online play with operator revenue sharing, and sales of CD-ROMs with mobile episodes of PC games for
game-addicted subscribers.
* Target France, Italy, and Spain next. These three countries have big
populations but don't have consumer bases conducive to mGaming. Here, game
publishers must market games not as ends in themselves but as extensions to other entertainment properties with broader appeal. For example, in Italy,
Electronic Arts should promote a mobile version of the Fantacalcio role-playing game where players could actually integrate their weekly
scoring with penalty kicks played over their mobile phones.
* Focus on promotions for the rest of Europe. In European countries where the population size and mGaming sensitivity both rank low, game publishers
must avoid expensive mGaming marketing that won't deliver many users.
www.forrester.com.
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