Nokia and Sun Microsystems are working together to simplify development and delivery of mobile multiplayer Java-based games.

Nokia's Scalable Network Application Protocol (Snap) mobile applications are to be integrated with Sun's Java 2 Mobile Edition, Java wireless toolkit and Java Systems Content Delivery Service.

The Snap protocol will also be integrated with Sun Java Enterprise System running on Solaris, for carrier-grade system deployment.

To justify its move into this market Sun quoted estimates from analyst IDC that multiplayer mobile games generated $587m last year, double the previous year.

Games manufacturer Sega's mobile division will use the JavaOne conference to demonstrate its multiplayer Reversi and Blackjack games, created using Nokia Snap.

Sega said Sun's commitment to integrate multiplayer features in Snap demonstrated the superiority of the protocol in an otherwise fragmented and immature market.

Sun described Reversi and Blackjack as "the world's first casual Java multiplayer, community-enabled games".