A recent study by analysts at international growth consultants Frost & Sullivan suggests that Europe is likely to see the revenues from the mobile gaming market leap from $800 million in 2002 to almost $7 billion in 2006--or an estimated 30 percent of the total interactive games market revenue in that year. The reasons for this vast increase are cited as greater awareness of mobile games, ease of payment and delivery options for mobile service subscribers, widening distribution channels, and a higher penetration of sophisticated download-enabled handsets in the market--not to mention the quality games to match. Apparently, while many believe that the sales potential for mobile devices based on voice capabilities has slowed, the interactive mobile content and application businesses--particularly Java game development--are likely to fuel growth for several years to come. However, Frost and Sullivan see limited growth opportunities for real-time interactive multiplayer games during this period.

　　"Operators have also set up revenue share agreements such that games developers and publishers have a solid business model and are, therefore, motivated to continue developing quality games," says Frost and Sullivan analyst Janten Sythoff.

　　Meanwhile, a recent report in the Wall Street Journal suggests that many mobile phone game developers are not easily covering their development and distribution costs, largely due to the fact that mobile service providers reserve the right to between 10 percent and 70 percent of software sales commissions for their content delivery. This, coupled with the usually low selling price of mobile games (many weighing in at around $5), will result in a strain on developer revenues going forward. More conservative estimates of the mobile gaming sector's growth suggest that global revenues (rather than just those in Europe) will reach the $7 billion mark by 2008.