Mobile game downloads growing, but slowing

The volume of paid mobile game downloads has stagnated across North America and Western Europe, despite a positive response from mobile games publishers and developers to Apple Inc.’s iPhone device, according to research from Juniper Research.
The value of the global mobile games market is expected to rise from $5.4 billion this year to more than $10 billion in 2013, said Juniper. However, growth is being hindered by a combination of limited on-portal revenue share for publishers causing some to leave the market and poor marketing of games.
“The revenue share offered by Apple to games publishers is incredibly attractive,” said Windsor Holden, author or the report. “The danger is that if operators do not respond with a similar business model, publishers faced with low margins may simply exit Java completely, thereby reducing consumer choice in the longer term.”
The report also found that ad-funded downloads have become increasingly popular, but that revenues generated from that model are not likely to provide developers and operators with a sufficient primary revenue stream.