“State of the Art of the European Mobile Games Industry” D3.1 Mobile Game Arch_D3 1_09012013_PU.doc Version: 3.1 Last Update: 09.01.2013 Distribution Level: PU Distribution level PU = Public, RE = Restricted to a group of the specified Consortium, PP = Restricted to other program participants (including Commission Services), CO= Confidential, only for members of the GameArch Consortium (including the Commission Services) Partner Name Short Name Country JCP-CONSULT JCP FR European Game Developers Federation EGDF SE NCC SARL NCC FR NORDIC GAME RESOURCES AB NGR SE Abstract: The authors of this paper started to compile an accurate overview of the mobile games industry as of the fourth quarter of 2011. The facts, observations, and analysis in the first version of this document were intended to feed the discussions for the first Mobile GameArch Workshop, held in Paris on December 6, 2011. This version has been updated with the findings of that public workshop, which gathered important representatives of diverse stakeholders in the field. It is the authors’ intention to continue this work with, hopefully, a growing number of knowledgeable contributors. “The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 288632” Mobile Game Arch Page: 2 of 53 FP7 – ICT– GA 288632 Document Identity Title: Mobile Games Architecture: State of the Art of the European Mobile Games Industry Subject: State of the Art document Number: File name: Mobile Game Arch_D3.1_09012013_PU.doc Registration Date: 31.11.2011 Last Update: 09.01.2013 Revision History No. Version Edition Author(s) Date 1 1 0 Maarten Noyons 31.11.2011 Comments: Initial version 2 2 1 Caroline Rute (JCP-C) 21.12.2011 Comments: Updated formatting 3 3 0 Erik Robertson 05.12.2012 Comments: Updated after Paris workshop, with conclusions 4 3 0 Kristaps Dobrajs 07.12.2012 Comments: Proof-reading 5 3 1 Erik Robertson 09.01.2013 Comments: Conclusions re-edited 6 Comments: 7 Comments: 8 Comments: 9 Comments: 10 Comments: 11 Comments: 12 Comments: 13 Comments: 14 Comments: 15 Comments: Mobile Game Arch Page: 3 of 53 FP7 – ICT– GA 288632 Mobile Games Architecture: State of the Art of the European Mobile Games Industry Mobile Mobile Game Arch_D3 1_09012013_PU Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 6 1.1 PURPOSE OF THE PAPER ............................................................................................................................. 6 1.2 MOBILE GAMEARCH ................................................................................................................................. 6 1.2.1 Timeline 2011 - 2013....................................................................................................................... 7 1.2.2 Methodology .................................................................................................................................... 7 1.3 VALIDATION OF THIS STATE-OF-THE-ART SURVEY ................................................................................... 9 1.4 IMPACT ON THE MOBILE GAME ARCH PROJECT ......................................................................................... 9 2. EVOLUTION OF THE MOBILE GAMES MARKET ......................................................................... 10 2.1 MARKET TO 2007 .................................................................................................................................... 10 2.2 MARKET FROM 2008 ............................................................................................................................... 11 2.3 HOW APPLE CHANGED THE MARKET FOR DEVELOPERS ........................................................................... 12 2.4 FINDINGS OF THE WORKSHOP .................................................................................................................. 14 3. BUSINESS ISSUES ................................................................................................................................... 15 3.1 THE FRAGMENTED MARKET ..................................................................................................................... 15 3.2 ROLES IN THE VALUE CHAIN .................................................................................................................... 15 3.2.1 Developers .................................................................................................................................... 15 3.2.2 Publishers and aggregators .......................................................................................................... 15 3.2.3 Application stores .......................................................................................................................... 16 3.2.4 Middleware ................................................................................................................................... 16 3.2.5 Advertising .................................................................................................................................... 17 3.2.6 Metrics .......................................................................................................................................... 17 3.2.7 Social discovery ............................................................................................................................ 17 3.3 GETTING TO MARKET............................................................................................................................... 18 3.4 GENERATING REVENUE ........................................................................................................................... 19 3.4.1 In-app transactions ....................................................................................................................... 19 3.4.2 Advertising .................................................................................................................................... 20 3.5 BUSINESS ISSUES SUMMARY .................................................................................................................... 20 3.6 THE SUPPORT AND REGULATORY LANDSCAPE OF THE EUROPEAN MOBILE GAMES INDUSTRY ................. 20 3.7 FINDINGS OF THE WORKSHOP .................................................................................................................. 21 4. TECHNICAL ............................................................................................................................................. 23 4.1 ADDRESSING FRAGMENTATION ............................................................................................................... 23 4.2 ANTI-FRAGMENTATION INITIATIVES ....................................................................................................... 26 4.3 BUILDING A MOBILE GAME ...................................................................................................................... 26 4.3.1 The most common choices of technology are described in this table:........................................... 28 4.3.2 Proprietary technology versus established game engine .............................................................. 28 4.4 THE EVOLUTION OF THE HANDSET ........................................................................................................... 30 4.4.1 Screens .......................................................................................................................................... 30 4.4.2 Display hardware .......................................................................................................................... 31 4.4.3 Processors ..................................................................................................................................... 31 4.4.4 Location awareness ....................................................................................................................... 31 Network-based.......................................................................................................................................................... 32 Handset-based .......................................................................................................................................................... 32 SIM-based ................................................................................................................................................................ 33 Hybrid ...................................................................................................................................................................... 33 4.4.5 Camera .......................................................................................................................................... 33 4.4.6 Input mechanics ............................................................................................................................ 34 4.4.7 Sensors .......................................................................................................................................... 34 4.4.8 NFC – Near Field Communication ............................................................................................... 34 4.4.9 Other hardware features and limitations ...................................................................................... 35 4.4.10