Gameloft announces Q1 revenue increase

Paris-based mobile games publisher Gameloft has announced revenue for the first quarter, showing an increase of 49 per cent on the previous year and a slight shift in its position within international markets.

The publisher, responsible for a number of big brand mobile games including King Kong: The Official Mobile Game, War of the Worlds and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, posted consolidated sales of EURO 14.8 million, 96 per cent of which were generated from mobile gaming.

Game downloads accounted for 93 per cent of Q1 sales, an increase of 116 per cent on the same period in 2005, firmly establishing a significant and continued growth in the company's core operations.

There has also been a change in the geographical make-up of Gameloft's revenues, with Europe accounting for 46 per cent of Q1 sales, North America generating 38 per cent and Asia, South America and the rest of the world accounting for the remaining 16 per cent.

By comparison, 2005 figures revealed a revenue split between different regions of 57 per cent, 29 per cent and 13 per cent for Europe, North America and the rest of the world respectively, showing a noticeable improvement in the company's international reach in the wireless gaming markets.

Although Gameloft is not obliged to specify its overall profit and loss for the quarter under French regulations, the company noted that the strong sales performance in the first quarter has already placed it ahead of its annual growth objective of 40 per cent.

Gameloft attributes the sharp increase in activity and revenue gain to previous investments in its production and marketing capacity and a continued growth in the global wireless market, boosted by an ever increasing number of Java and Brew phones.

The company is anticipating continued increases in mobile gaming revenue, driven by the introduction of further branded titles and mobile adaptations of games such as Tetsuya Mizuguchi's acclaimed PSP puzzle game, Lumines.