Top 10 publishers, UK, Mar-04 to Feb-05

Publisher awarded 10 points for a #1 game, nine points for a #2, 8 for #3...
Sources: ELSPA, Mobile Games Analyst.

Mobile Games Analyst examined the mobile-games-download charts of UK industry body, the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), for the twelve months between March 2004 and February 2005. Games publishers were rated on the number of times their titles appeared in ELSPA’s top ten, and their positions on the ladder.

iFone earned its top rank by virtue of the fact that its Tetris title has appeared in the top ten every month for the past 12 months, and was the top-selling game for eight months. The publisher’s Monopoly also performed well, spending four months on the ELSPA charts and hitting the top spot once.

MGA also found that the three top-selling games for the twelve months to February 2005 were iFone's Tetris, Namco's Pac-Man and Iomo's Pub Pool – games which can be classified as "casual" mobile games.

“It’s no surprise that accessible, easy-to-play games have considerable appeal for UK mobile users,” said MOBILE GAMES ANALYST’S Stuart Dredge. “However, what’s really encouraging is the fact that the ELSPA chart has been a mixture of branded and original titles, showing the diversity and creativity that exist within the mobile games market.”

MGA’s research findings also cast doubt on the wisdom of publishers paying inflated licensing fees to secure movie-related brands. Of the 47 games that charted during the 12-month period, just two - Digital Bridges' The Fast And The Furious and Jamdat's Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King - were based on movies, and both spent just a single month on the chart.

Meanwhile, the success rate of console brands was patchy. Some console brands, such as Digital Bridges’ FIFA Football and Tiger Woods 2004, and Gameloft's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow performed well, but others - including Wonderphone's Crash Nitro Kart and Sorrent's DRIV3R - spent just a single month on the chart.

“The poor performance of movie-related brands and some of the console ports indicates that games companies can no longer afford to rely on brands alone to achieve sustainable sales,” says Pamela Clark-Dickson, editor of MOBILE GAMES ANALYST. “Investment in the development of original IP will likely accelerate in the short-to-medium term, particularly with the increased commitment to mobile of video-games publisher Electronic Arts, which has already stated its intention to create original mobile games.”

ELSPA has been running the UK mobile games chart for 12 months, producing a monthly top 10 based on combined sales figures from local cellcos O2, Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone and - since October - 3.

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