U.S. Mobile Gaming Market Overview: The World is Flat.

The number of people downloading mobile games in the United States has hovered around 6 million since the end of last year, according to M:Metrics, claiming that investors were being caught flatfooted by the seasonality of mobile game sales.
The article goes on to claim that carriers and publishers have “missed the mark” by trying to position handsets as a new venue for console games, pointing out that most of the games played on mobiles are puzzle games.
“Nearly half (45.6 percent) of the titles offered by the major U.S. operators are in the sports or action/adventure categories, but more subscribers downloaded arcade puzzle games like Tetris than they did action/adventure and sports titles combined. It seems illogical that only 12.9 percent of titles offered are of the arcade puzzle and card game genres.”
I think there’s a number of reasons for this…first, console-like games are seen to have more individual value — ie, each game will sell for more. These games are also more likely to have an ongoing revenue stream, whether through a subscription model or interactivity or mulitplayer or the chance to purchase new levels. A lot of these are possible with puzzle games, but they’re seen to have less scope for that.
A second factor is differentiation — Tetris is Tetris, Pacman is Pacman. Games that involve eliminating blocks by joining colors are all pretty much the same. Big brand games — whether from console tie-ins or movies — offer carriers the chance to boast about exclusivity.
A third factor is one that is addressed from a different angle in the article: The problem of seasonality. “Carriers and media companies need to find new ways to spur consumption of mobile entertainment”. The fact that you can still play the Tetris game you bought 20 years ago and still be entertained by it points to the fact that it’s a great game — but it doesn’t do much for sales. Carriers and publishers probably see action/adventure games as a way to reduce the seasonality of game sales, along with sim-style games. They’re looking for games that people get hooked to but which need (or at least benefit by) regular updates of fresh content.
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