Mobile game sales stagnating

Via MocoNews, I found this report  detailing the stagnation of mobile game sales, as measured by survey. In a nutshell, the report says that “pricing, choice and lack of interest were the top reasons cited by players of downloaded games in the U.S., U.K. and Germany as the reasons they did not buy another game in the month of March” People are not finding games that appeal to them -- and they think the games are too expensive. The report also supports the oft-cited idea that women play mobile games as much as men, but are much less likely to buy them. Much good data in the report, so check it out if you're in the mobile games industry.

Personally I also think that the interface for mobile games is a BIG reason why people don't buy more. It's totally ridiculous that you can't conveniently try out games before you buy them. Yeah, many phones come with a few pre-loaded demos - but you should be able to easily try out ANY game and see if you like it. PLUS, it's just too darn hard to figure out how to purchase and download a mobile game. I'm a total geek, and even I get confused when I try to download a mobile game. Combine that with subscriptions that are impossible to figure out how to unsubscribe from, and you've got a sector that's filled with consumer barriers.

This is why I don't have all my eggs in the mobile game basket. I'm still doing  mobile game design & development, and I've got some great projects going - but I'm also working on Web projects, and even a next-gen console game. Just call me the multi-platform mama :-)