wraggster
February 11th, 2010, 16:22
Mobile games firm I-play appears to be the latest mid-tier publisher to abandon the Java and BREW markets.
A rumour published on Mobile Games Blog today suggested that the company - a subsidiary of Oberon Media - has started informing developers of its plans not to release any more J2ME or BREW games after Q1 this year.
ME contacted I-play for the official line, and the company sent us this statement, from its global VP of sales and marketing for mobile Keith Adair:
"I-play remains very excited by the potential growth in the mobile games market. We are actively scaling investment into our games development for 2010, specifically across new high-end smartphone platforms offering premium quality gaming with cross platform socially connected capabilities."
We're assuming that's confirmation of the J2ME/BREW pullout then.
I-play is certainly ramping up for Android. Yesterday, the publisher revealed that it's releasing 20 games for Android this year, with Adair telling MocoNews that it expects numerous mobile operators to launch their own versions of Android Market.
For that reason, today's news shouldn't be read as I-play abandoning the carrier world. Instead, it's shifting its focus to smartphones in the expectation that the operators will also be ramping up their efforts in this area.
http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/36002/I-play-pulling-out-of-J2ME-and-BREW-gaming
A rumour published on Mobile Games Blog today suggested that the company - a subsidiary of Oberon Media - has started informing developers of its plans not to release any more J2ME or BREW games after Q1 this year.
ME contacted I-play for the official line, and the company sent us this statement, from its global VP of sales and marketing for mobile Keith Adair:
"I-play remains very excited by the potential growth in the mobile games market. We are actively scaling investment into our games development for 2010, specifically across new high-end smartphone platforms offering premium quality gaming with cross platform socially connected capabilities."
We're assuming that's confirmation of the J2ME/BREW pullout then.
I-play is certainly ramping up for Android. Yesterday, the publisher revealed that it's releasing 20 games for Android this year, with Adair telling MocoNews that it expects numerous mobile operators to launch their own versions of Android Market.
For that reason, today's news shouldn't be read as I-play abandoning the carrier world. Instead, it's shifting its focus to smartphones in the expectation that the operators will also be ramping up their efforts in this area.
http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/36002/I-play-pulling-out-of-J2ME-and-BREW-gaming