Touting its strong performance on both smartphones and tablets, Gameloft has announced consolidated sales of €39.5 million ($58.6 million) in Q1 2011.

The figure is up 20 percent from the same period last year, with Europe accounting for 33 percent of all sales made across the quarter.

Percentage play

That puts the region narrowly ahead of North America on 29 percent, though Gameloft noted that sales in emerging countries were a major factor in its recent growth.

"Recent and future releases of high-performance smartphones and tablets, from such companies as Apple, Google, Samsung, Nokia, LG, Sony-Ericsson should continue sustaining Gameloft's growth in the upcoming quarters," the firm said, delivering the figures.

Game downloads on all smartphones and tablets grew by 56 percent year-on-year, representing 28 percent of total consolidated sales.

"Additionally, the release of new gaming platforms, such as social networks, smart TVs and next generation set top boxes allows Gameloft to continue its diversification on other devices and provides the company with strong growth opportunities."

Price wars

As a result, Gameloft sees continued growth for the rest of the year, with the publisher pinning much of its hopes on the performance of the Facebook version of N.O.V.A. Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance: Elite.

Building on its existing trait for experimenting with pricing models, the publisher has also just launched its first iPhone MMORPG Order & Chaos, employing a monthly subscription model.
Order & Chaos will be subscription free for the first three months, before reverting to a 99c per month, $1.99 for three months and $2.99 for six months pricing structure.

[source: PR Newswire]