Orange labelled the UK's no.1 carrier for mobile games

Orange has been named the number one UK carrier in terms of dominance of the mobile games market. They claimed a 23 per cent share of downloads and a 25 per cent share of revenues.

Head of games for Orange Neil Holroyd said ‘we’re delighted with taking the top spot for mobile gaming in 2008… we’re making enhancements to our embedded games, and giving our Orange World gaming channel a new look and feel’.

A progressive approach to the market appears to be key, with 30 per cent of Orange’s revenues coming from purchases linked to pre-installed games on key handsets. These pre-installed games usually come from mobile gaming’s big hitters, such as EA and Gameloft, making Orange’s strong relationship with these publishers an important asset.

Orange’s aims for their games portal include making it slicker and more visually appealing, arguably an attempt to hone in on the success of the App Store. Considering the relatively clunky interface of most carrier games portals, this news is welcome.