In brief: this week's mobile gaming news
More familiar gaming franchises expand into the mobile sector
Our sister site, MobileIndustry.biz, covers all the latest news in the growing mobile gaming sector. Here, we present a round-up of this week's developments.
Blade Interactive, best known for developing snooker titles for Sega, has announced the formation of a new mobile division. The department's first project will be a version of World Snooker Championship for publisher I-Play, due in March. The company also has an original pool and strategy puzzle game planned for later in the year.
Developer Player X has secured GBP 5 million (EUR 7.6m) funding from three venture capitalist companies. This is the second round of investment for the company behind mobile titles Miami Vice and Wallace and Gromit, and will be used for expansion in the mobile TV and video markets.
Glu Mobile is readying a batch of new titles for release before the end of March, with Project Gotham Racing leading the pack. Based on the hit Xbox franchise, the racer is due this month, followed by other familiar names in gaming, including Super Monkey Ball Tip n' Tilt and Brain Lara International Cricket 2007.
Glu has also sold its third-party mobile games delivery firm ProvisionX, to Wmode, a mobile content management service provider, for an undisclosed sum.
Kiloo is working on two new Lego titles - Lego Racers and Lego Bionicle Arena. The first will be published by Hands On Mobile, while Bionicle is due for release under the developers own name.
THQ Wireless has inked a deal with Acme Mobile to expand into South East Asia. Games based on Star Wars, Hello Kitty, MotoGP and Worms will all be distributed via 15 different mobile carriers with access to 160 million subscribers.
And finally, Orange France is trialling a new in-game ads promotion which offers free or discounted games to users. Advertisers already signed up to take part include Coca-Cola, Saab and Travelski, and mobile publisher Filao will supply the games.
For more mobile gaming info visit MobileIndustry.biz, where you'll find up to the minute news and interviews with leading players on the mobile sector.