Partnering with brands enables you to go really mass market as long as you focus on quality, says Gameloft SVP de Vallois

Gameloft is undoubtedly one of the most recognisable names in the mobile gaming space, and that celebrity is in no small part down to its constant association with big brands.

Barely a week goes by that Gameloft isn't adapting a Marvel movie or Ubisoft console title for smartphone screens.

Let's face it, games such as N.O.V.A. and Modern Combat 3 trade on their close association with certain triple-A console titles.

And just last week, Gameloft announced its plans to partner with two more, globally recognised brands Hyundai and Playmobil.

To find out more about these new agreements, and about branding and games generally, we caught up with Gameloft's SVP of publishing Gonzague de Vallois.

What makes Hyundai and Playmobil good partners for Gameloft to work with?

Gonzague de Vallois: Gameloft has a strong track record for partnering with great brands that help create an assortment of rich universes for players.

Playmobil and Hyundai are a perfect fit to help meet this objective for two very different games.

What kind of consumers can Gameloft bring to these brands that they wouldn't otherwise reach, and vice versa?

Mobile gaming is becoming very mass market through the explosion of smartphone and tablets (which enable a rich gaming experience), and the emergence of the freemium business model.

Millions of players interact with our games every day, making mobile a great media and viable option for brands to reach new consumers in a fun and interactive way.

Increasingly, it seems that mobile developers are tying their games into existing brands or trying to make brands of their own properties. What do you think are the benefits of this approach for both devs and consumers?

New platforms are an opportunity to create new brands through great experiences.

For example, if you take a game like Asphalt, which has seen over 50 million paid downloads in its lifetime, you could say that Gameloft has managed to create big IPs on mobile as well.

Beyond that, partnering with great brands is also interesting in that it helps to build the credibility of the platform and attract new consumers. The combination of the two is the perfect mix.

Do players want to see more branding in their games?

Players are very diverse, specifically on such a mass market as mobile gaming.

So, some might search for brands, some might search for new experiences but what they have in common is their search for high quality experiences.

Do you think there's a danger that branded games can leave gamers feeling like they're being pitched to, rather than playing a game?

Once again, quality is key.

As we have seen with the recent successes of our latest high quality branded games such as The Amazing Spiderman and Batman’s The Dark Knight Rises, brands have the potential to please millions of users.

Thanks to Gonzague for his time.