Familiarity breeds…success?

Mobile performance measurement firm Telephia has released the results of its recent survey, which show that familiarity with titles through PC/console platforms is a key purchasing driver for the mobile gaming market.

According to Telephia, 43 per cent of US mobile gamers cited familiarity with a game as the most important factor in their decision to purchase mobile titles, ranking it as the third most popular purchasing driver in the US market.

Pricing topped the poll, with 59 per cent, followed by access to a demo or free trial (48 per cent) and graphics (35 per cent). 18 per cent of respondents felt that a game's difficulty was the critical purchasing driver, the same percentage citing a friend's recommendation and title popularity.

Interestingly, brand name was only the most important decision for 12 per cent of respondents, with consumer and expert reviews and published recommendation the least likely decision making factors.

Telephia's report also noted that over half (53 per cent) of the mobile games played in the US market are downloaded, while 39 per cent are pre-installed games on subscribers' handsets. The remaining eight per cent are played online using mobile Internet, the report claims.

Additionally, Telephia notes that 71 percent of all downloaded mobile game revenues are generated from on-portal game purchases, while 29 percent come from off-portal purchases.

If the pre-installed games were to become free trials as opposed to full free games, perhaps offering a taste of a mobile game based on a recognised brand from the PC/console market, publishers and operators could potentially increase both their revenue and the US mobile gaming market by encouraging more downloads.

"The large share of pre-existing games reflects an opportunity for carriers and content providers to generate more revenue by converting that game play into downloaded, pay-for-play games," said Kanishka Agarwal, Telephia's VP of new products.