Is there any future for pureplay mobile game publishers? Not if you check the strategies of existing firms both large and small.

Let's run down the list. EA Mobile is a division of a certain large console publisher you might have heard of. Gameloft has diversified into DS, PSP, PC, iPod, Xbox Live Arcade and WiiWare.

Glu? It's not multi-platform yet, but that's only because recent acquisitions distracted Glu from plans to release games on DS and PSP.

I-play is now the publishing brand for Oberon Media, across mobile, web, PC and iTV. Digital Chocolate is doing PC downloads and Facebook games, and Hands-On Mobile has launched a web version of its last World Poker Tour game.

HandyGames is doing DS games, while some of the most talented mobile game developers (Progressive Media, for example) are also eyeing up Nintendo's handheld. Meanwhile, Distinctive Developments' new pool game debuted on Facebook, not mobile.

And everyone else is seemingly either part of a larger console or casual publisher, or would like to be if the price were right.

It's making me wonder if, even a year or so down the line, there'll be any pureplay mobile game publishers left. And in any case, why should there be? If you're a mobile firm – particularly one generating original IP – why not take that IP to as many gaming platforms as possible?

There are challenges, of course. Saying, "We're moving to DS / PC casual / Facebook," is one thing, but succeeding at it is another.

These different platforms have different business models and value chains that may be trickier to solve than the different technologies. Not to mention the fact that nobody is quite sure how and when you'll make money from Facebook games.

Even so, here's a thought: the pureplay mobile game publisher is on its way out. In its place, we'll have an array of multi-platform game firms, with more or less of a console or casual focus, depending on their roots.

That's not to say pureplay mobile developers are on the way out – they may be more in demand than ever for their knowledge of how to make the most of mobile platforms (including new ones like iPhone, Android and N-Gage).

But when it comes to publishing, it seems certain that companies' horizons have already widened in order to prosper.

If that means some of the great own-IP mobile games that have performed poorly on the operator portals get a wider airing on other platforms, that's surely a good thing.
Is there a future for pureplay mobile games publishers? Post a comment with your views.