Report Highlights Mobile Game Customer Confusion

Officials from mobile games company I-play have revealed results of a survey the company commissioned on mobile gaming behavior, showing that only five percent of consumers have ever downloaded a mobile game. When asked why they did not download mobile games, 17.5 percent of respondents said it was because they did not understand what to do, while others cited problems including multiple clicks to access content, the appearance of confusing messages during the process, the inability to find downloads on their handset and low pre-pay credit balances. "The mobile games market is essentially only five percent penetrated. The good news is that we now know what’s limiting market growth – the industry must improve accessibility to mobile games and more importantly, educate consumers on how and where to obtain mobile games. As a collective industry, we can put the corrective action in place to ensure downloading becomes a simple, straightforward process," said David Gosen, COO of I-play. The research was carried out by independent research agency SKOPOS, and is the result of interviews with more than 2,500 respondents across the U.S., UK, Italy, Spain and Germany. According to the results, when asked: "Can your mobile phone download games?", 30 percent of respondents did not know whether their handset was capable of downloading games. The results did vary by country, though, with 80 percent of Spaniards able to answer the question, but only 60 percent of Germans. 51 percent of those questioned said that better prices would be the most likely factor to encourage them to play more games on their mobile. Continuing on, 49 percent suggested free trials, and 30 percent said a friend’s recommendation was most important. Being able to download games from the Web, as well as making games easier to download, were other frequently cited solutions that would encourage more respondents to try downloading a mobile game.