BWild |
September 4, 2013
Bharti SoftBank launches its first mobile games
Bharti SoftBank, a joint venture between India’s Bharti Enterprises and Japan’s SoftBank, has begun its foray into the world of mobile games. This week, the company launched two mobile games that are targeted at a general demographic that has exhibited interest in such games in the past. The two games, called Songquest and Shiva: The Time Bender, are currently available on the Google Play store. Bharti SoftBank expects to have a total of five games in its portfolio by March of next year.
Company takes aim at young consumers
Like other game developers and publishers, Bharti SoftBank is taking aim at young consumers. This particular demographic has shown a strong interest in mobile games and most of these young people have mobile devices of some kind. Bharti SoftBank’s current goal is to capture approximately 10% of the 12 million smartphone users that exist in its chosen market.
Games to include microtransactions
The games released by the company are free to play and are currently only available for the Android platform. These games will be made available for other platforms in the near future in order to engage a wider audience of mobile consumers. Like other free mobile games, those offered by Bharti SoftBank will allow players to purchase additional features in-game. This will be how these games generate revenue, but the company will have to find a balance between its in-game transactions and the content it offers for free lest it alienates consumers.
Companies show more interest in mobile games
Mobile games have become quite popular in India and other parts of the world. These games have also become a very lucrative sector for the global game industry. Large development studios and publishing companies are becoming more involved in the mobile sector in order to take advantage of the popularity of these mobile games. Consumers, however, have shown concerns that many of these games are nothing more than cash grabs from these companies, citing an obsessive focus that companies seem to have on in-game purchases.
EA puts mobile games before PC titles
The global game industry has been seeing some turbulence recently as profits fell below expected levels for many developers and publishers around the world. This downturn seems to be restricted to console games, however, as the PC gaming market has been seeing a relative boom. A recent report from the PC Gaming Alliance shows that the PC gaming market grew by 8% in 2012 and this is supported by the latest financial report from Electronic Arts, one of the world’s largest game publishers. Despite the apparent success of the PC gaming market, Electronic Arts has only modest plans to pursue PC titles. Instead, the company is looking to focus more on mobile games.
Game industry evolving to embrace mobile titles
Mobile games have become a major part of the game industry in a relatively short amount of time. Developers around the world are beginning to focus more heavily on mobile platforms because of their popularity among consumers. Indeed, many consumers have shown a great deal of interest in gaming from their smartphones and tablets. The value of mobile games is not lost on Electronic Arts and the company has been working to establish a more formidable presence in this sector in recent years.
EA to focus on next-gen consoles alongside mobile games
While mobile games have become a major focus for Electronic Arts, the publisher’s top priority is next-generation consoles, such as the Playstation 4 and the Xbox One. While next-gen consoles are the priority, the publisher will be looking to support cross-platform games for these consoles as well as mobile devices. Electronic Arts has a chief interest in free-to-play mobile games, which are, quite literally, free to obtain. These games typically include some form of in-game shop that allows consumers to spend real money to unlock additional content.
Major titles likely to have a mobile companion
Electronic Arts intends to make the free-to-play mobile games experience a part of its various franchises. This likely means that every major game published by the company will have some sort of mobile game attached to it. These mobile games will include a cash shop that will sell virtual content to gamers. Typically, games that are overtly cavalier when it comes to in-game purchases are not well received among consumers.
