SkillPod Media and Integrat launch Play4Games mobile games porta
SkillPod Media and Integrat launch Play4Games mobile games porta
Convergence investees SkillPod Media and Integrat have launched their joint mobile games portal, Play4Games.co.za, which supports all the most popular smart phone handsets. The site has been branded as Play4Games and forms part of Integrat’s mobile entertainment brand Play4. The platform makes use of the Integrat High Gate mobile payments platform and the SkillPod Media mobile games platform.
Gaming is increasingly moving from the console and PC to the smartphone. This trend is driven by factors including the higher penetration of smartphones, the affordability of these devices, easier access to app stores, increased penetration of Flash on mobile devices and the ever growing installed base of the Opera Mini browser.
In the past smartphones were targeted at business users, but this trend is steadily changing and today it’s become a trend for the youth to be seen with their smartphones.
Research figures show that worldwide mobile game sales will reach- €7 Billion by 2013 (Source: BuddeComm). This will be fuelled by greater penetration of new generation handsets, cheaper data costs and increased connectivity speeds, fuelled by increased network speeds and access to wireless networks. The mobile web is on the increase and in South Africa more users access the web from their mobile phones than from computers.
Web browsers play an important role in this growth, as they are striving to improve the functionality, user experience and speed of the mobile web. Opera’s iPhone browser was downloaded more than 2.6 million times, during April, creating 70% of user growth in the month for Opera’s mobile browser. In June alone more than 26.4% of cellphone browsing has been done through Opera’s browser, according to Web analytics firm StatCounter.
In conclusion it is safe to say that mobile gaming is here to stay, both locally and internationally and it remains an incredibly popular form of entertainment and technology is driving the growth from a multitude of angles and across multiple devices.