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PocketGamer.biz28 Apr 2014

Chris James welcomes you to PG Connects London 2014

Key insights

5 takeaways

01
The mobile gaming industry has transitioned from a niche market of 2D Java games into a multi-billion dollar global powerhouse.
02
Business models have successfully shifted toward free-to-play mechanics, allowing for massive revenue generation despite the absence of upfront costs.
03
Mobile hardware capabilities have evolved significantly, now offering performance levels comparable to traditional PCs and consoles.
04
The industry has expanded from a localized focus on the UK and US to a global ecosystem with rapid growth in Asia, Russia, and the Americas.
05
Commercial success now requires developers and publishers to adopt an international strategy that bridges regional gaps through collaboration and knowledge sharing.

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Transcript

cool good morning good morning have a good morning come on energy it's 9 00 am i know we're 9am ish thanks coming in relatively early this morning um good morning and welcome to the second day of pg connects um we had a great day yesterday and the first day was kind of very much about the games themselves we had a marathon indie pitching session and some workshops but today we're going to kind of focus back in on the serious business side and mobile games is a serious business um we've been covering this industry for the best part 10 years now i know i don't look that old but um i started when i was 15. no but we've back one point game of launch we're writing reviews about 2d java games we're attending conferences where people were bemoaning fragmentation issues they're complaining about the aggregators and the operators and the fact they're only getting 30 percent of revenue and and people were kind of struggling um then

and we were very focused on the uk market the us but suffice to say in the intervening time a hell of a lot has changed um and whilst we definitely saw the potential uh there's no i'd be lying if i said i could predict the scale of the transformation has taken place um the changes that meant today that the games are being played on devices that are you know as powerful as as pcs and game consoles the single games are generating a billion dollars billion dollar games is crazy um despite not charging any money up front i mean who would have thought not charging any money would make so much money um yeah and i wouldn't also predicted that we would talk about such a genuinely global industry where we're it's booming in all corners of the world one thing that hasn't changed though um in the last decade are the brilliant passionate and creative people that we've had the pleasure and honor to kind of work with and to cover and and the pleasure of kind of watching their success um i'm delighted to say that a great good number of people here today um

and we've got brought with us a fair a fair few new friends and they're going to be here sharing their insights with us many of them have flown a fair distance so i'd like to say special thanks to anybody from the americas from asia from russia and india and elsewhere who's come today um to come to our home town of london and i'd like to say a big thank you to london for not raining for two days now this is this is something of a record in january i know that it's a bit chilly but to not have rain this is pretty astonishing um we're becoming a generally kind of global business now in the way that we kind of cover and as a key focus obviously this conference as the title suggests is is east meets west um and we see our role going forward at steel media at pocketgamer as to connect and to unite these nations and to share insight and advice about about the mobile games industry about the local markets around the world um we want to we want to do what we can to help continue to grow this industry um

so and and we also want to kind of talk about a global approach because i think increasingly now to be successful being mega successful certainly you've got to start thinking global it's not enough to just think about your your market so today in the first recession today we're going to be doing just that we're bringing together some of the world's biggest power players to discuss their global approach um and successes the format is going to be to have a series kind of short punchy presentations around 10 to 15 minutes each followed up by a panel to kind of discuss things a little bit more detail and to allow interaction we will take questions during the panel but you can feedback at any point using the dedicated mobile app so basically if you go to event.pg connects.com on your mobile phone um we've got a little app there that's kind of got a little bit information we'll post some stories during the day and we'll be putting up votes and things during the day that we can kind of vote on uh and issues that we're raising the panels

um so i've got to tell you about that um obviously do try and keep your phones on silent you can have them on all day um and uh if the signal's not great you can use the the wi-fi here which is don't fix up there but the wi-fi is bt open zone and the password is is pgc 14 or lower case so hopefully that's all quite straightforward so um without further ado i'd like to kick things off and invite our first keynote speaker at the stage he's a man who's whose games have been genuine global smashes dominating the charts all over the world and who has suits that are almost as legendary so could i have a please a big warm welcome for king's games guru tommy palm

Summary

The mobile gaming industry has undergone a profound transformation over the past decade, evolving from a niche market focused on 2D Java games into a multi-billion dollar global powerhouse. Where early industry participants once struggled with operator-controlled revenue splits and limited device capabilities, modern mobile gaming now features hardware comparable to traditional consoles and PCs. A significant shift in business models has also occurred, as the industry has successfully pivoted toward free-to-play mechanics that generate massive revenue despite the lack of upfront costs.

This evolution reflects a transition from localized markets, primarily centered in the UK and the US, to a truly global ecosystem. Success in the current landscape requires developers and publishers to adopt an international perspective, as the industry now experiences rapid growth across diverse regions including Asia, Russia, and the Americas. The primary objective for industry stakeholders is to bridge the gap between these markets, fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing to sustain long-term growth.

The current industry environment emphasizes the necessity of a global approach to achieve significant commercial success. By bringing together international power players to share insights on market trends and operational strategies, the sector aims to unite disparate regions into a cohesive, interconnected business community. This collaborative focus is designed to help developers navigate the complexities of local markets while maintaining a scalable, worldwide strategy. Through a series of expert presentations and interactive panels, the industry continues to prioritize the exchange of professional expertise to support the ongoing expansion of the mobile gaming sector.