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GamesBizWire Online Interview – Babel Media & Mobile Games - Fall 2007
As many people know, Babel Media performs a range of services for PC, console, handheld and mobile game companies. GamesBizWire spoke with Babel Sales Director Keith Russell to find out more about its business geared toward leading mobile content developers and publishers.
 GamesBizWire: Can you tell us a little about the services you offer for mobile game production?
Keith Russell: We focus on the complete post production process, allowing CPs (content providers) to focus on what they do well which is develop new games and publish, so translation, porting, QA, certification and deployment services. So we take 3-4 English reference builds in Brew and J2ME and from there port, QA, translate and upload certified builds on behalf of the CP to all the European and North American carriers as well as a number of the other J2ME carriers around the world, for a recent project 43 of them! Also for many of the larger CPs with mature post production processes we deliver single services, typically QA and certification, that fits into their pipeline, often required because of the scale we can bring, on both headcount and handsets (we have over 3000 handsets).
GBW: How has your business evolved to meet the growing demand for mobile game applications?
KR: We have seen an increase in the number of languages we deal in, a huge increase in the number of handsets, but also the requirement for our newest service – deployment. As each carrier demands different packaging for content, the number of SKUs gets into the thousands, with all the ringtones, wall papers, games, etc. for a major IP, so it becomes a monumental task to package and name all of these correctly and then upload them on time to all the various carrier’s decks. Technology can help, but there is still a large manual task, and often needed only when the spike of deployment work hits, therefore it is an ideal service to outsource, rather than have an in-house team ideal for 50% of their time.
GBW: What are some of the challenges you are facing in bringing games to the current generation of mobile phones?
KR: Firstly, it is a case of scale of handset ranges, so we are now seeing the justified need to increase the number of reference builds, which means a greater upfront development and QA cycle before the titles can be ported. Secondly, it is the complexity of the title, with multiplayer and connected elements, photo upload, high score tables, etc. meaning a title requires far more QA time to cover all the options within. Thirdly, the handset ranges are diversifying constantly as the ever increasing technology war brings richer handset operating systems and features, meaning you can longer bank on developing a single build for a wide range of handsets.
GBW: What would you say is one of the biggest opportunities in the market for mobile game developers?
KR: There are many but a couple spring to mind, firstly, the huge console and PC playing games market and tying the two devices together so that for instance an MMO player can keep score, be updated on what is happening in their world, trade weapons, etc. on their mobile in work/school breaks before returning to their MMO world online in the evenings, or the ability to trade cars, tracks, set up a date for an online race in a racing game, or earn bonus points by playing the mobile version of a console-connected game. Secondly, mobile technology is rapidly advancing and we are starting to see that the emerging next generation of phones is providing the same level of gaming platform as many of the handheld console gaming platforms. This is going to lead to a whole new generation in terms of the type and nature of the games that will be developed for mobile handsets; these will be more complex, more challenging and have improved playability.
GBW: What is your opinion of the US mobile gaming market versus mobile business in Europe and Asia?
KR: The gaming market has gone from way behind to ‘on par’ in a rapid space of time (with Europe anyway). CPs have matured rapidly in their buying habits, their content delivery methods, even their post production methods, learning many lessons from other geos on the way. The Brew – J2ME split still makes delivery more complex, but each has their own benefits, so a complex world it will stay!
GBW: How do you expect to grow your business in the mobile games market over the next five years?
KR: Rapidly, as it has over the past 4 years, but driven by the clients! We didn’t talk about deployment two years ago because it wasn’t a problem. It is a huge problem now, so we’ll see what the next pain point is for CPs and then we can devise a service line to take that pain away.
GBW: Is there anything else you would like to add?
KR: It still surprises us how many CPs take little time QA testing their application before submission to a carrier and are then amazed when it all fails and they miss their market launch date. It is a lesson the PC and console publishers learnt some time ago, but too many CPs try to skip this only to fail and blow a large chunk of their profits by missing the film release or sports event to which the game was targeted!
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