Gameloft secures Korean distribution deal

Wireless games publisher and developer Gameloft has announced a significant expansion of its distribution network, with the signing of a new distribution agreement with Korea's SK Telecom.

Under the terms of the deal, SK Telecom customers, totalling almost 20 million throughout Korea, will now be able to access Gameloft's extensive and continually increasing portfolio of licensed and original mobile games.

The initial selection of available titles includes Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Lockdown, and Gameloft's top selling mobile game of 2005, King Kong: The Official Mobile Game of the Movie. More titles will be made available to SK Telecom customers over the coming months, giving gamer access to an impressive selection of quality mobile titles, and offering Gameloft a massive increase in its potential audience.

Yongbo Cho, SKT's senior game business team manager, commented: "As the high-end handsets have come into wide use, Korean game users are looking for more exciting quality games. We believe that Gameloft would satisfy our customers with its powerful and qualified branded titles."

Won Cho, Gameloft business development manager, added: "We are very glad to launch this new service though a direct distribution agreement with the leading Korean carrier, SKT. Korean customers have pioneered the way of mobile gaming and we're very excited to introduce them to our first game, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Lockdown on their mobile phones. We're very confident that Gameloft's strong brands and top quality titles will find new users and expand this amazing market."

SK Telecom currently holds a customer base of approximately 19.5 million, granting the company a 51 per cent share of Korea's domestic mobile communications market. The company is extending its operations nationally and internationally through strategic partnerships with publishers and developers both locally and in other territories worldwide.

An international developer and publisher of mobile games and entertainment, Gameloft has a distribution network that operates in over 65 countries worldwide. The company creates games for mobile handsets equipped with Java, Brew or Symbian technology, leveraging partnership agreements with leading licensors and sports personalities to produce a broad range of mobile titles across multiple genres.