UPDATED 12:52 EDT / AUGUST 05 2011

Mobage Gains Carrier Support, Extends Mobile Gaming Revenue Channels

Just before July ended, DeNA company ngmoco announced that its Mobage social games platform for Android has been released in English-speaking countries around the world.  On August 4, ngmoco announced the roll out of its Mobage platform to Android device users via AT&T.

“Games are consistently among the most popular entertainment apps for smartphones,” said Ted Woodbery, vice president, Wireless Data, Voice and Ancillary Services, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. “We are pleased to be the first U.S. wireless carrier to work with ngmoco and look forward to giving our Android customers access to the rich Mobage gaming catalog later this year.”

“AT&T has been a leader in the smartphone revolution in many ways,” said Neil Young, CEO, ngmoco. “We are delighted to bring Mobage to the massive group of Android users on the network.”

Mobile gaming is really hitting big as more companies are pushing for mobile versions of their game, as Zynga did with their games that were previously exclusive to Facebook.  More companies are now focusing on releasing mobile version of their games first before releasing it on social networking sites.  Mobile gaming is opening up a new oasis of revenue for game developers.  Glu mobile have already experienced an increase in revenue of mobile gaming when they released their second quarter report and is still pushing forward as they have recently acquired Griptonite Games and partnered with Blammo to add to their portfolio and further increase their grasp on mobile gaming.  Wooga, the maker of the poplar Facebook game Diamond Dash, has also tied up with Apple to make an iPhone and iPad version of the game.

It’s really not a surprise why everyone is jumping on the mobile gaming boat.  It results in a lot of money as more gamers are leaning to in-app purchases.  It’s hard to find great games as there are literally thousands and thousands of available games in app stores, and it’s quite daunting to go through them one by one, so when playing a game on your mobile device and an ad for a new game pops up, it’s an easy recommendation and an even easier buy.

The added channels of revenue also come from these extended marketplaces, as gaming has a tendency to carve out their own distribution niches.  Carriers in particular are leveraging their position as middle man, as we see with AT&T’s use of the new Mobage network.  Verizon’s also steadily growing its portals to app revenue, while Sony Ericcson is doing the same as a mobile manufacturer.  Even though platform owners like Apple and Google are hoping to control as much of this ecosystem’s revenue as possible, it’s clear that several industry players are grabbing at their own share of this tasty pie.


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