Handset app stores set to dominate mobile games market

Mobile games industry execs think handset manufacturers' app stores will be the dominant distribution channel for their games in two years' time, according to the latest survey from the Multimedia Research Consultancy.

Executives were asked where consumers will prefer to buy their games from in two years' time, and were allowed to choose more than one answer.

78 per cent said handset manufacturer app stores, showing confidence in the model pioneered by Apple and since followed by Nokia and Research In Motion (and, if you stretch the definition, by Google with Android too).

However, as the chart below shows, the operators aren't out of the game yet: 37 per cent of respondents thought that operator app stores will be popular in two years' time, while 31 per cent cited operator portals.



In between those sits the 35 per cent of respondents who said social networking and community sites, indicating a belief that sites like Facebook could become popular ways to sell mobile games.

The predictions were less rosy for D2C services - whether app stores or portals - which were cited by 18 per cent in each case.

"Our research points to the mobile games industry increasingly favouring a more direct route to market, taking out, where possible, the middlemen," says MRC boss Vic Whiting.

"However, as the success of apps stores continues the biggest challenge for games suppliers will be how to secure visibility for their products, as the number of games on each online store grows rapidly. In fact we believe the industry faces a re-run of an earlier conundrum – namely how to attain visibility and prominence on operator decks."

For more details on the report, and to buy it, click here.

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