Why is Gameloft releasing so many mobile games?

Rival publishers have a lot to say about Gameloft, ranging from its huge headcount through to its perceived use of similar engines for its action-platform games.

But one of the most common questions is over the publisher's roadmap, and specifically, why it's releasing so many mobile games.

As part of a wide-ranging interview with senior VP of publishing Gonzague de Vallois, we asked him just that. He confirmed that Gameloft is scaling back slightly, from its planned 60+ releases this year to around 40.

But he also explained the rationale behind that number, which is still more than the company's rivals.

"We think this is a mass-market industry, and we want to be a one-stop shop," he says.

"In every genre, we want to have the best game there. But that means 80 different genres: chess, backgammon, solitaire, sports, arcade and everything else. And if we want to renew each genre every two years, it makes sense to release 40 games a year."

It's a logical argument, but the point expressed by Gameloft's rivals is often 'the carriers won't take that many games'. Vallois takes that head-on.

"It's true that on a carrier portal where there is often one guy and limited resources, they may only be prepared to have one game for each publisher per month," he says.

"But this is not the way we will grow the mobile games business. It's true that we benefit more from this [Gameloft's strategy] when we have our own D2C channel than on a traditional deck where there is limited space. But we think this is a long-term good bet for the growth of the business."

So there you have it. Stand by for the full interview, which will cover everything from Gameloft's expansion onto other games platforms, its views on the iPhone, and why Vallois believes operator outsourcing is harming the industry.