Monday, June 26, 2006

Telephia: One-Third of Mobile Game Revenues Driven by Puzzle/Strategy Games, With Tetris, Tetris Deluxe and Bejeweled Leading the Pack: Financi

According to Telephia, "Puzzle/Strategy games drive one-third of the total mobile game revenues." In their most recent report, "four of the top five revenue-generating titles fall into the Puzzle/Strategy category, with Tetris, Tetris Deluxe and Bejeweled securing the top spots. Tetris and Tetris Deluxe secured 5.2 and 3.6 percent of the total mobile game revenue share for the quarter, respectively, while Bejeweled posted a 2.6 percent share. JAMDAT Mahjong and Ms. Pac-Man rounded out the top five with shares of 2.2 and two percent, respectively."

Kanishka Agarwal at Telephia said, "Mobile game purchases continue to grow with more than 8.6 million games bought in April, increasing 60 percent since the beginning of the year."

Table 1: Top Mobile Game Titles by Revenue Share (U.S.)
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Share of
Revenue
Title Publisher Category (%)
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1. Tetris EA Mobile Puzzle/Strategy 5.2%
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2. Tetris Deluxe EA Mobile Puzzle/Strategy 3.6%
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3. Bejeweled EA Mobile Puzzle/Strategy 2.6%
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4. JAMDAT Mahjong EA Mobile Puzzle/Strategy 2.2%
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5. Ms. Pac-Man Namco Classic/Arcade 2.0%
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6. Galaga Namco Classic/Arcade 1.9%
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7. Downtown Texas Hold'em EA Mobile Card/Casino 1.8%
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8. Who Wants To Be A
Millionaire 2005 Cosmic Infinity Trivia/Word 1.5%
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9. Zuma Glu Mobile Puzzle/Strategy 1.4%
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9. Monopoly Tycoon Hands-On Mobile Puzzle/Strategy 1.4%
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9. World Poker Tour -
Texas Hold 'Em Hands-On Mobile Card/Casino 1.4%
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9. Frogger Konami Mobile Classic/Arcade 1.4%
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9. JAMDAT Solitaire Deluxe EA Mobile Card/Casino 1.4%
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10. SCRABBLE EA Mobile Trivia/Word 1.3%
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10. Texas Hold'em by Phil
Hellmuth Oasys Mobile Card/Casino 1.3%
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Source: Telephia Mobile Game Report, Q1 2006
Telephia also found that "Sixty-five percent of mobile game revenue is driven by female wireless subscribers. They are the biggest driver of revenue for the Puzzle/Strategy category; comprising 72 percent of the total share of revenue, while men made up 28 percent. Women dominate revenue generation for all mobile game categories, with the exception of Action/Adventure mobile games, in which men drive 60 percent of the revenue for that category."

Agarwal added, "The casual nature of mobile games provides tremendous appeal to women, who are not traditionally hardcore gamers by console or online gaming standard. The wireless industry has presented a hungry target audience willing to pay premium access to games through their cell phones."

Table 2: Category Share of Revenue and Gender Revenue Share Breakdown 
(U.S.)
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Share of Revenue (%)
Category Share of Revenue (%) Male Share Female Share
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Puzzle/Strategy 33.8% 28% 72%
Card/Casino 18.3% 34% 66%
Sports/Racing 12.9% 39% 61%
Action/Adventure 12.8% 60% 40%
Trivia/Word 11.4% 26% 74%
Classic/Arcade 10.8% 38% 62%
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Source: Telephia Mobile Game Report, Q1 2006