There's certainly a lot of excitement in the mobile phone industry, particularly with Apple and Google making massive inroads there, and it seems mobile gaming is set for even greater things too. It's pleasing to see that Australia is well represented in that market, with developers such as Firemint, Iron Monkey Studios, and Moket leading the field.
Firemint took out the best mobile game category at the Game Connect: Asia Pacific 2007 conference last weekend, and while they must be happy taking out the title for the third time with The Fast & the Furious: Fugitive 3D, they have to be over the moon that it has sold more than a whopping 9 million units world wide.
Firemint CEO, Robert Murray, had a few words to say about how well Firemint and Iron Monkey Studios are doing in the mobile games industry with big titles such as Ratatouille, Madden NFL '08 3D, FIA World Rally Championship, SOCOM: Mobile Recon, and EA Sports Fight Night Round 3.
From the smh article...
Mr Murray says Australian companies are the "tip of the spear" and represent some of the most successful and talented companies in this sector of the game development industry."There are not a lot of prominent companies here but those that I know of are doing some amazing work," he says.
"Firemint is probably one of the world's top three mobile developers and I genuinely feel that I can justify that statement because that is what we are hearing from publishers and seeing in our reviews.
"The amazing thing is, some of our most significant worldwide competition is just down the road at Iron Monkey Studios. They are doing some stunning 3D mobile work."
1. Robert Murray Wed, 21
I just wanted to make a minor correction, simply because I can :). I don't recall ever saying anything like "tip of the spear". That is a minor error in the original source article BTW, and not in Sumea's quoting. I am not sure what "tip of the spear" means really, but it certainly sounds better than the "battered shield of defense", so I don't mind.
Just to clarify also, if you read the SMH article... The Fast and the Furious franchise has sold 9 million copies on mobile, but that includes 3 previous games in addition to our recent Fast and Furious : Fugitive. Suffice it to say, the game we made has sold a whole lot of copies :).
Thanks for the correction, Robert. The way it was written, it did come across as Firemint selling 9 million copies of FF:F.
"Firemint's notable successes include Fast and Furious Fugitive, which sold more than 9 million units."