Europe is leading the way, says Gameloft CEO

Gameloft CEO Michel Guillemot has gone on record to offer insight into the evolution of the Western mobile gaming market, and why he believes Europe is currently leading the way.

In a recent interview with Modojo, Guillemot said the reason for the slow take-up of mobile gaming in the US in the late 1990s and early 2000 was largely attributable to the lack of suitable handsets. Technology available at the time mostly involved black and white screens that supported neither Java or BREW, making game downloads impossible.

The few handsets that were equipped to play games were basic at best, and in black and white. Guillemot stated that the first real change began around 2002, when coloured screens and more gaming enabled handsets began to emerge in the US market - the same point at which Gameloft entered the market in the region. As attitudes began to shift, he went on, and more consumers began to think of the mobile phone as more than a voice-communication device, it was simply a matter of time before the technology caught up with the vision.

"Europe embraced mobile gaming a lot earlier than the US. Again that had to do with the availability of mobile applications and how the mass market responded to it," Guillemot said.

"At the point when cell phones were spreading in the US, text messaging was already employed in Europe and became a very common communication channel between people. There is a correlation between the global growth of mobile gaming and handset penetration."

Generating revenues of USD 46.8 million in 2005, Gameloft continues to note a geographical difference in the popularity of mobile gaming - its breakdown by territory revealing that 29 per cent of revenue is generated in the US, compared to 57 per cent in Europe and 13 per cent in other global regions. Whilst Guillemot admits that "the US has closed the gap relatively fast within the last couple of years with the development of 3D games and high end handsets capable of superior graphics," the EU still leads the way both in perception and acceptance of mobile gaming. "Europe has been playing games a lot longer than US audiences, so there is more acceptance and openness to gaming there," he stated.

According to Guillemot, US gamers are still wary of the platform - he believes they're under the impression that action and strategy titles are too involved and too complex to work well on a mobile handset, instead steering their attention more towards the casual games market as they test the waters of the mobile gaming world. But the future growth and development of the industry is un-related to regional preferences or advancements in technology, Guillemot said.

"The greatest growth opportunity within the mobile space isn't of question of geography, but lies with every person who owns a cell phone. The majority of handsets out there have gaming capabilities whether it's 2D or 3D games. Therefore, each person is able to challenge the misconception that cell phone games aren't as fun or challenging as console games."

"Whether you are a novice or hardcore gamer, I think it just takes one try. After that if you're still not convinced that mobile gaming provides entertainment, challenge and fun then fair enough, but I believe that each person will be pleasantly surprised by the gaming possibilities available on their phone."