ELSPA launches mobile game chart; Tetris tops March ranking

Publisher representative body ELSPA has announced the creation of a new monthly chart providing sales data for the most popular mobile games in the UK, using data compiled from the country's four largest network operators.

The chart, which is designed to provide reliable data on the Java download sector, currently comprises information from O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone, who between them are thought to represent some 80 per cent of this market.

The first published Java Download Chart covers the month of March, and reveals that iFone's version of Tetris was the most popular download over that period, with IOMO's Pub Pool in second place, followed by Digital Bridges' version of EA Sports' FIFA 2004.

Classic titles are certainly bankable in the mobile arena at the moment, it would appear - Pac Man (Namco), Worms (THQ), Space Invaders (Digital Bridges) and Bomberman (Living Mobile) all also appeared in the top ten ranking.

"The mobile games chart is a natural extension of ELSPA's existing chart range," according to ELSPA deputy director general Michael Rawlinson. "We are pleased to recognise mobile gaming as an established and ever-growing sector of the games industry, and are confident the chart will prove beneficial for both the industry and consumers alike."