Wiley.Games.on.Symbian.OS.A.Handbook.for.Mobile.Development.Apr.2008 (779888), страница 9
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The operators can be subdivided into internationalcarriers, such as Vodafone, T-Mobile and Orange; national network operators – such as Cingular and Verizon in the US and DoCoMo in Japan;and other smaller carriers, such as mobile virtual network operators,whom I’ll discuss shortly.MOBILE GAME DISTRIBUTION: ROUTES TO MARKET21Network operators are very powerful in the mobile games industrybecause they stand between the game publishers and their customers.Customers typically do not select a network operator based on the gamesthey offer, so the network operators can use their own policies to determine which games they provide and who supplies them.
The games theyselect are displayed on what are called ‘decks’ on their mobile portal. Thedecks are simply catalogs of different categories of game, such as ‘Puzzle’or ‘Action’ plus other promotional selections such as ‘What’s New’ and‘Top Ten’ bestsellers – a slot in these latter decks is highly desirable,because sales are typically better than if a game is categorized purely bygenre. It’s been reported that more than 70 %, and maybe even as muchas 95 %, of the games purchased are from the main bestseller menus.In general, the operators make commercial demands of the publishersin order to grant them a slot in the best decks. In the US, Alltel runsauctions for publishers to buy the top slots in the deck.
In February2007, it was reported that game publishers were prepared to pay upto 25,000 Euros ($34,000) a month to the French operator SFR. Thispayment secures regular top deck placements for two games a month,and partnering with the operator for co-promotion. The larger publishershave accepted this because they consider the up-front investment giveshigh returns, but smaller companies are unable to compete because theydo not have the funds to pay for deck slots in advance of the game’s sales.For a game to be successful, the publisher or developer company mustbuild a good relationship with at least one network operator in orderto get the game selected for a slot in the profitable decks. Many of thelarge operators have so many publishers and developers wanting to workwith them, that they do not engage with new contacts, but only usetheir established relationships with publishers and content aggregators toprovide content.The operators have individual processes for testing and certifying newgames.
They can each take a significant amount of time and, once agame is complete, a publisher can spend over six months submitting itfor testing and negotiating the results with the operator, before the gameis released on the operator’s portal.A mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) is a company that buildson top of the traditional network operators, because it does not haveits own allocation of the radio frequency spectrum nor the infrastructurerequired to provide mobile telephone service. An example is DisneyMobile, owned by the Walt Disney Company, which offers voice service,handsets and entertainment content such as mobile games.
The riseof niche MVNOs has been predicted, and since these operator typesoffer their own content distribution and billing, there may be scope forgame developers that do not currently have relationships with establishednetwork operators to build partnerships with MVNOs that specialize ingame downloads for a particular market segment.22INTRODUCTION1.8.2 Independent ChannelsSome mobile game sales channels are not owned by network operatorsbut are independent. These channels inevitably have less traffic than theoperator channels, but game developers and publishers still find theyoffer potential for game distribution. Screen Digest estimates that about5 % of mobile game sales are through independent channels.There are a number of software download portals that provide mobilegames as part of their offering, or specialize in them.
Examples includeHandango,20 Motricity, Clickgamer, and MobiHand. These offer a webor WAP site for buyers to browse using their mobile phone and purchasegames for direct download over the air (OTA), with payment made bymeans of sending a premium-rate SMS, which returns them a link fromwhich to download the game.Some purchases, such as those from Handango, can also be madeover the Internet (OTI).
The gamer visits the website on his PC, buysand downloads a game to it, and then transfers it to his phone, forexample, using Bluetooth technology. Over the Internet purchasing offersthe benefit of allowing the user to browse for games using the familiarmedium of the PC, and find information about them, such as screenshotsand reviews. The user can also download larger games more quicklyand without needing the phone to be set up with a data connection,which is an advantage, particularly in regions where it is expensive, orslow, to download large amounts of data to a phone.
OTI downloadalso avoids being charged twice – once to purchase the game (by thechannel), and then to download it (by the network operator). However, anumber of network operators lock down their phones against what theycall ‘side loading,’ which means that applications cannot be installedexcept by direct download to the phone. The lock down ensures thatthe operator retains some profit from application installation, even whenit is not purchased from one of their channels. (Some go further andprevent the phones they distribute from making purchases except fromtheir portals).Even if it is allowed by the network operator, the downside of overthe Internet purchasing is that the user must own, or have access to, aPC, and must know how to connect the phone to the PC to transfer thedownloaded game and install it.Purchasing from the web also requires electronic payment, for exampleusing a credit card, rather than direct billing from the network operator.Not everyone has this option, especially when the target market for many20In 2006, more than 250 new content providers and 3,500 new content titles wereavailable on Handango for Symbian smartphones.
Handango is a key channel for thedistribution of after-market software for smartphones (based on Symbian OS, BlackBerry,Palm OS, and Windows Mobile) and regularly releases sales trends data, which it calls‘Yardstick Data,’ on corp.handango.com.MOBILE GAME DISTRIBUTION: ROUTES TO MARKET23games may be under the age of credit card ownership. The channels workaround this through the use of gift certificates or vouchers.Some phone manufacturers also provide sales portals, such as theNokia Software Market.
The portals are a way for manufacturers to makesoftware available and encourage the uptake of their handsets. Ratherthan decide themselves what these sites provide, the portals often usethe services of a content aggregator, such as Jamba or Handango, to puttogether the content offered.The Nokia Software Market is available for users to buy games (andother applications) OTI (www.softwaremarket.nokia.com) or directly onthe phone using an application called Nokia Catalogs. The Catalogsapplication is a client on the Nokia Content Discoverer system and isavailable for S60 smartphones and also Nokia’s Series 40 feature phones.The application allows delivery of graphics, themes and ringtones, JavaME applications, native Symbian OS C++ applications for S60 devices,videos, music and content developed using Flash technology.Sometimes, a handset may be configured differently depending onwhether it will be sold via an operator or through a different channel.The operators configure the phone’s look and feel to meet their branding requirements and may not include the Catalogs application.
Nokiaprovides the Catalogs application for free download from their site (catalogs.nokia.com) for those who don’t have it pre-installed but wish to useit to purchase content. When a phone is not sold through an operator,the application is pre-installed and ready to access the Nokia portal andpartner channels.Independent channels are usually the preferred route to market forsmall game developer companies because it is easier to place a gamefor sale with them than with a network operator or content aggregator.The portal will take a percentage of each sale of the game, but thisis typically less than a network operator or aggregator, and the portalwill allow developers to set the price of the game themselves. Forexample, the Nokia Software Market, takes 40 % of the sales price setby the developer, with revenue paid every quarter. For more informationabout working with the Nokia Software Market and Catalogs application,please see www.forum.nokia.com/main/software market/index.html orconsult the Nokia Sales Channels section on the main Forum Nokiadeveloper site at www.forum.nokia.com.1.8.3 Content AggregatorsContent aggregators are specialists at gathering content, such as mobilegames, applications and ring tones.
The content is acquired from suppliers, such as publishers or independent portals, and distributed by theaggregators to their sales channels. Content aggregators provide an easyway for businesses to source downloadable material without having to24INTRODUCTIONseek it out and build a relationship with each supplier. An example of acontent aggregator is Jamba (also known as Jamster in English speakingregions), which is one of the largest channels for mobile content and applications. Jamba also distributes content and applications via the NokiaCatalogs client on Nokia devices, which was described in the previoussection. Forum Nokia publishes a comprehensive list of mobile contentaggregators at www.forum.nokia.com/main/go to market/aggregators.html.Some content aggregators can be publishers too, and this can causeproblems to independent developers who do not work with that particularpublisher. If there are two similar games: one from an independent source,and the other published by the content aggregator, it’s clear that theaggregator is most likely to opt to promote his or her own game.
Someaggregators are also channels in their own right – such as Handango.Confused? It’s probably obvious by now that the mobile gamesecosystem is full of complex, and occasionally incestuous, businessrelationships. Breaking into it requires a good understanding of the different roles, and keeping track of the changing ownership of the publishers,channels and developer studios.
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