With over three dozens titles on the App Store, Gameloft has played a leading role in shaping the success of the iPhone and iPod touch gaming market.

Competition is fierce though and as the company looks to react to pressure from rivals such as EA Mobile, as well as a rising tide of indie games, new strategies are being formed.

Vice president of publishing Gonzague de Vallois is confident in Gameloft's position: its ability to deliver compelling games in a crowded market providing an edge.

The company is not without critics though.

The copycat situation

Much of the company's recent success has come from titles such as Modern Combat: Sandstorm and Dungeon Hunter. Yet praise has been paired with snickering from the hardcore gaming community.

For these loyal gamers, derivation - respectively in these cases with respect to Modern Warfare and Diablo - is as much an issue as the games' quality. And the parallels drawn between Gameloft's ambitious N.O.V.A. and console shooter series Halo have brought the situation to a head.

Vallois doesn't shy away from the critique, pointing out that Gameloft is addressing a need in the App Store marketplace.

"People want these games," he observes. "We look at what is going to be successful on iPhone and move forward from there."

Furthermore, he explains the development process includes a thorough examination of competing games whether on iPhone, handhelds, or consoles.

That elements are pulled from familiar franchises and incorporated in new Gameloft titles runs counter-intuitive to the goal of making great games. But were Gameloft not to synthesise the best elements from genre-topping titles, the criticism would concern the company's unwillingness to learn from its competitors.

Gaming evolved

It's a point well worthy of consideration given the high quality of Gameloft's portfolio.

Titles like Let's Golf and Blades of Fury - which clearly take a hint from Sony's Hot Shots Golf and Namco Bandai's Soul Calibur series - deliver compelling gameplay.

And there are plenty of original games too.

Vallois uses Castle of Magic, Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles and Wild West Guns as counter examples that Gameloft is just in the business of mirroring hit console titles.

More are on the way too, with Castle of Magic 2 in development for 2010, and Assassin's Creed II's pending release.

"It's about building a reputation with gamers," Vallois contends. For him, that means actualising on the promise of high quality games in a range of genres.

"On average, only good games will sell in the long term," he says.

New year, new approaches

Expanding Gameloft's publishing reach is part of executing that strategy. The recent release of Rogue Planet, which was created by independent developer Agharta Studios, represents a new direction.

"We're open to publishing thirdparty games, but they must bring value to our brand and possess quality," Vallois qualifies.

Also being discussed is broadening the scope of Gameloft Live to support games not published by the company. "We're looking at opening [it] to third-parties," he says.

The recent rise in competition among social gaming networks on iPhone and iPod touch - Plus+, Open Feint, and others - could be pushing Gameloft to expand the reach of its own network.

Micro-transactions, big risks?

In-app purchasing is another area of interest, though Vallois remains cautious.

Unlike competitors such as ngmoco, EA Mobile, and Namco Networks who are betting big on in-app downloads, Gameloft is being prudent about investing in a young, volatile sector of the marketplace.

Indeed, in June it announced micro-transactions for Asphalt 5, although these didn't materialise.

"We've been looking at in-app purchases since the inception of the 3.0 software," he explains. "It's something we continue to have our eye on, but you must have the right price in the right game for in-app commerce to work."

It's a point sure to resonate with gamers who have felt slighted by recent pricing structures for games like Command & Conquer: Red Alert and Ace Combat Xi: Skies of Incursion.

Gameloft is unlikely to make such brazen manoeuvres, though the potential of extending games with in-app purchases is something that the company is sure to capitalise on in the new year.

Still, while 2010 is mere weeks away, several games await release before the year is out and Vallois is eager to see the response. Avatar, Driver, Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X., and N.O.V.A. will set the stage for another ambitious 12 months.