Operators to target UK for mobile games

The UK and Germany are poised to become booming markets for mobiles games, but operators have been too slow to take up the opportunity, according to Forrester.

Research by the analyst found that mobile games are yet to develop beyond SMS, and that mobile operators see them as a marketing gimmick rather than a revenue generator.

Forrester's report contrasts Europe with Japan, where leading operator NTT DoCoMo claims that 6.3 million of its 27 million i-mode users download games and other entertainment-related content onto their phones. Top titles in Japan include versions of console hits such as Sonic The Hedgehog.

In July Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia, and Siemens launched the Mobile Games Interoperability Forum with a goal to develop a universal mobile gaming platform that lets users play multiplayer networked games running on operators' servers regardless of what kind of device they own.

Forrester says operators should go after Germany and the UK first thanks to the high level of mobile phone penetration and the widespread use of games consoles for entertainment.

The firm says operators lead the way in Germany, but defer to games companies in the UK through partnerships with games publishers such as Electronic Arts.