Gameloft has announced a global strategic partnership with fabless semiconductor manufacturer MediaTek that will see the publisher supporting the chipset maker's mobile platforms.

MediaTek's newest single chip solution, the MT6255, come preloaded with Gameloft's Asphalt 6: Adreneline, as well as trial versions of Block Breaker 3, Assassin's Creed Revelations, and Brain Challenge 3: Think Again, at no cost to the manufacturer.

"I see our new partnership with Gameloft as a major breakthrough for the industry," said MediaTek's president Ching-Jiang Hsieh.

"With MediaTek’s strong platform customisation and Gameloft’s cutting-edge game development capabilities, together we will be able to bring even more value to mobile phones, thereby increasing the competitive edge of our customers among the mobile phone industry." 

Lofty ambitions

The move is the latest step in Gameloft's big push into China, with the company allocating development teams in France and Vietnam as well as in China itself to developing games for MediaTek's mobile platforms.

In explaining the partnership, Gameloft cites figures from IT research firm SuperData suggesting the worldwide mobile games market is set to more than triple to around $7.5 billion by 2015.

The same research found that Asia is already the largest territory for mobile gaming, with a 40 percent share of the total sales. That could imply a $3.2 billion Asian market by 2015.

"Gameloft has been present on the Chinese market for over ten years with strong business and creation teams, and we are thrilled to increase our [ability to bring] our games to the billion phone users in China," said Gameloft Senior Vice President Gonzague de Vallios.

"In sync with Mediatek’s philosophy, Gameloft’s mission is to provide a good experience to the mass market at a very reasonable price. Together we share the vision of leveraging our mutual technology and experience to serve the needs of the public in the broadest way possible."

Gameloft has just come off the back of a successful Q1 2012 in which sales jumped 14 percent. Smartphones and tablet games were responsible for 40 percent of the company's $60 million revenue for the quarter.