A Brief Overview of Mobile Games Industry

So this week it is my turn to post to the Bight Games developer blog. I’ve spent most of the week trying to decide what to write about, having only been here about 5 months it seemed wrong to write some embarrassing stories. So as in all times of uncertainty I did what any good Englishman would do and went to the pub for a pint and some inspiration.

Unfortunately I’m unable to tell you about the latest game we have just completed so I eventually settled on a very brief overview of the Mobile Games industry and where we are today. I’ve been in the Games Industry since 1998 and moved to Mobile in early 2004. Since then I’ve found Mobile a fascinating and frustrating place to be.

When I first joined mobile it was very much in its infancy. There was excitement about developments taking place and the potential growth of the industry. When you consider the amount of phones on the market there was a huge potential for gaming sales. In 2004 colour screen handsets were fast becoming the norm and 3D mobile gaming became a possibility, the future was rosy.

Unfortunately the industry became stagnant pretty quickly. The quality of titles over the past 5 years has undoubtedly improved and there have been some awesome games on the market. Innovation however became lacking, there are numerous reasons for this which I won’t bore you with here. One I will mention is that from a Publishers point of view it was extremely hard to make money due to increasing development costs, increased handset support and deployment costs, operator and licensing fees.

With less of a return on investment publishers didn’t want to take a chance on a new idea and opted for tried and tested formulas. So for a number of years now it has been a bit doom and gloom with few highlights. Thankfully now though there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that light is the iPhone.

With the iPhone and the App Store there has been a refreshing amount of original IP and new gaming mechanics that have given Mobile gaming a boost. As a gaming device the iPhone is a good bit of kit and holds its own with the PSP and DS Lite. From looking through the App Store we see a number of quality and innovative games.

At Bight Games we have been blessed with strong Design, Art and Code teams which has allowed us to develop a number of strong titles like Big Top 10 and Puzzlings. As we move forward we have a number of exciting projects entering development now both licensed and more of our own IP which I’m sure will be every bit as successful as our recent releases.

The future looks rosy again.


Daryl Bibby
Producer
daryl.bibby@bightgames.com