Telephia: More Than Half of Games Played on Mobile Phones Are Downloaded

According to Telephia, "downloaded games comprise 53 percent of all games played on mobile phones, while 39 percent of games played are pre-existing on the subscribers' phone. The remaining eight percent are played online on the mobile web. In addition, 71 percent of all downloaded mobile game revenues are generated from on-portal game purchases, while 29 percent come from off-portal purchases."

Kanishka Agarwal at Telephia said, "The large share of pre-existing games reflects an opportunity for carriers and content providers to generate more revenue by converting that game play into downloaded, pay-for-play games."

Share of Games Played by Game Type (U.S.)
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Game Type Share of Games Played
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Downloaded 53%
Pre-Existing 39%
Web-Based 8%
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Source: Telephia Audience Measurement Survey, April 2006

Telephia found that "four out of 10 mobile game downloaders cited familiarity with titles through other gaming platforms, such as PCs and consoles, as a critical factor when purchasing mobile games (see Table 2). This was third only to price (59%) and free-trials (48%), underscoring the price-sensitive nature of mobile phone purchasers."

Agarwal added, "Cohesive marketing across all platforms -- PC, console and mobile -- is critical to a mobile game title's overall success."

Most Important Purchasing Criteria for Mobile Game
Downloaders (U.S.)
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Game Purchasing Criteria Percent of Game
Downloaders
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Price 59%
Free trial -- Demo 48%
Familiarity with the game through other gaming platforms 43%
Graphics 35%
Difficulty 18%
Friend recommendation 18%
Popularity 18%
Brand name 12%
Consumer Reviews 8%
Expert Reviews 7%
Published recommendation 5%
Other 6%
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Source: Telephia Audience Measurement Survey, April 2006