(UPDATE) Startup enters free, ad-based mobile game market in RP

By Erwin Oliva INQUIRER.net UPDATE: Editor's note: Added video taken by INQUIRER.net technology reporter Erwin Oliva. A FILIPINO startup has announced its entry in the free, advertising-based mobile game market in the country, as it offered at least 800 Java-based downloadable games for free to local subscribers, its chief executive officer told hackenslash Monday. Ubersoft Inc. CEO Vince Yamat said the company was betting on the increasing demand for free mobile phone games that are currently offered at premium prices of about P30 to P50 per game by local service providers. "This is something disruptive," said Yamat, as he pointed out that mobile phone games contribute a significant amount to the total revenues of mobile phone networks. With mobile phone browsing cost going down, the Filipino-owned company believes that advertising-supported games will attract not only subscribers but advertisers wanting to target local mobile phone users. To date, Ubersoft has several international advertisers on board, according to Yamat. The free, downloadable mobile games are accessible via the startup company's Swoopin WAP (wireless application protocol) site. Handsets should be able to run Java-based games to download the licensed titles from the startup. "So our service is really web-based, although it uses WAP," Yamat said. Asked how big the market was for Java-based games in the country, Yamat said the figures for the mobile games were not yet clear because they were often lumped with other value-added services. But he is convinced that this unexplored service in the country will soon fly. Among the games offered are Mobile Aquarium, Rollercoaster Rush, Origami Tulip, Arcade Pool, and Top Gun: Air Combat, plus different versions and difficulty levels of Sudoku, origami, and poker games. Players of these games only need to pay for mobile connection cost while downloading an unlimited number of games. Downloaded games are stored on the phone. Yamat said a similar service was also launched in Japan.