Mobile Phone Gaming Lacks Pull

M:Metrics,the mobile market authority,has found that pricing, choice and lack of interest were the top reasons cited by players of downloaded games in the U.S., U.K. and Germany as the reasons they did not buy another game in the month of March.

M:Metrics found that 4.2 percent of U.K., 2.5 percent of German and 2.7 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers downloaded a game in March,a figure that has remained relatively constant month over month across all geographies. The firm's findings suggest that games purchases are directly tied to handset purchases, and fluctuate in relation to the device sales cycle. A significant portion as much as 30 percent of those who downloaded games in the month were first-time game downloaders. The rate at which new subscribers are being drawn into the market is relatively low, with between 0.5 percent and 0.8 percent of mobile subscribers downloading their first mobile game in the month. The level of repeat purchase is between 20 percent and 30 percent of the universe of downloaded games players.

Despite the growing selection of games on the operators' portals, consumers still are not finding games that appeal to them and are complaining that prices are too high," observed Paul Goode, vice president, product development and senior analyst, M:Metrics. "Faster networks and devices with larger screens will help improve the discovery process, operators and games publishers must do a much better job of marketing and merchandising mobile gaming content."

M:Metrics data shows that men and women are equally predisposed to playing mobile games, but that men are far more likely to download them.

Males 18-34 are the largest audience for game downloads, accounting for 35 percent of the U.S market, 30 percent of the U.K. market and 33.7 percent of the German market.  www.mmetrics.com