Gameloft was the best mobile games publisher of 2008

Gameloft was the publisher making the consistently highest quality mobile games in 2008, according to the PocketGamer.biz Quality Index.

The Index tracks ratings across major review websites, including Pocket Gamer, IGN Wireless, AirGamer, Mobile Game FAQs and Handy-Player.

Gameloft scored an average of 7.95 out of 10 across 145 reviews of its games. In second place was EA Mobile, with a 7.68 average from 102 reviews. Making up the top five were RealArcade, Digital Chocolate and I-play.

It's not good news for Capcom, which takes bottom spot in the chart with a 6.51 average. However, the caveat is that since the very worst mobile games don't tend to get reviewed, this isn't suggesting that Capcom is the worst mobile games publisher.

The full chart is below:
 

Pos	Publisher	Reviews	Avg Score
1	Gameloft	145	7.95
2	EA Mobile	102	7.68
3	RealArcade	26	7.63
4	Digital Chocolate	78	7.60
5	I-play	72	7.52
6	Player One	23	7.47
7	Glu Mobile	111	7.43
8	HandyGames	44	7.41
9	Disney Mobile	72	7.40
10	Vivendi Games Mobile	46	7.17
11	Namco Bandai	26	7.16
12	THQ Wireless	76	7.05
13	Hands-On Mobile	52	7.00
14	Player X	31	6.99
15	HeroCraft	24	6.94
16	In-Fusio	32	6.86
17	Twistbox Games	47	6.63
18	Capcom	26	6.51

 
To qualify, publishers had to have at least 20 reviews of their products during 2008 as a whole (this is based on the minimum of five reviews to qualify for our Quarterly Index). We've gone back through our Q1, Q2 and Q3 data with a fine toothed comb to make sure every game was attributed to the right publisher.

It's worth sparing a thought for Fishlabs, whose average of 8.73 would have put them at the top of the chart, but it was based on only 15 reviews. Still, the minimum entry barrier worked in their favour at other times, allowing them to scoop the Quarterly title in both Q3 and Q4.

To see the publisher rankings for Q4 2008, click here. We've also published our chart of the best mobile games for 2008, and outlined the most disappointing titles.