26 July 2006 - With the rapidly growing demand for mobile games, top publishers such as Capcom, Hands-On Mobile and Codemasters are seizing the opportunity to engage directly with gamers around the world with the help of Bango.

Many of the most popular titles such as Street Fighter, X-Men 3 and ToCA are now being actively promoted direct to mobile phone users along with other branded content such as ringtones and wallpapers.

Fuelling this uptake of the mobile games market is the exciting gaming experience offered by over 80% of the mobile phones being sold today. MIDP 2.0, second generation mobile Java, is now widely supported on handsets such as the Motorola RAZR V3R and Samsung D-500. It provides the full 3D graphics and multimedia capabilities that turn the phone into a great mobile gaming device.

"The mobile games market has always promised to be big and now we are really seeing a rapid take up of popular titles available on mobile phones," said Anil Malhotra, SVP Marketing & Alliances at Bango. "It is estimated that the mobile games market will be worth over $11.2bn by 2010*."

Games publishers are increasingly launching their own branded sites on the mobile internet to build a direct interactive relationship with their customers alongside the benefits they get from being in a mobile operator's portal. As well as additional revenues from selling games, logos, music and cheats or tips, they build a much closer two-way connection with their gamers.

Bango enables immediate world-wide access and payment for games and other items. Brands are also building mobile communities using viral mechanisms such as "Tell a friend" that allow users to pass on recommendations of games they enjoyed - even across different operators. These mobile internet games sites also harness the power of Yahoo! and Google mobile search and enable mobile advertising opportunities that have a high and measurable return on investment.

Hands-On Mobile, a leading global publisher of mobile lifestyle, games and personalization products, has developed the Marvel Mobile portal which offers a host of top games from popular Marvel characters including X-Men 3, Fantastic 4 and Spider-Man. Users send a simple text message - GO MARVEL to 83055 in the UK to access the site and buy the content. (message costs £1.50 for use against purchase)

"We recognize that the mobile games opportunity is growing from different channels," said Karen Smith, Marketing Manager - Direct to Consumer at Hands-On Mobile. "To capitalize on the current trends we wanted to make sure we had a direct relationship with our customers to extend the Marvel brand experience into mobile and promote customer loyalty."

Other games publishers exploiting this opportunity to sell their content direct-to-consumer are Capcom and Codemasters.

The newly launched Capcom mobile site features top games such as the world renowned Street Fighter and Resident Evil. Other game titles from Capcom include, Solitaire Fighter, Megaman Pinball and Street Fighter II Rapid Battle with at least one new title released every month. Users simply visit capcom.wap.com on their mobile or text GO CAPCOM to 83055 in the UK to access the site and download their chosen games (message costs £1.50 for use against purchase).

Meanwhile Codemasters recently rolled out its mobile service with popular games such as ToCA Race Driver and Sensible Soccer Skillz. Promotion of its mobile service has been through advertising delivered when games are sold to console users around the UK and Germany. Users can simply text GO CODIES to 83055 to download their chosen game (message costs £1.50 for use against purchase).

* Source: Informa Telecoms and Media