Mobile Meetings Series: Mobile Fun: Enhancing the user experience for mobile gaming

With the rapid evolution of consumer lifestyles, the modes of playing games have increasingly become digital. Technological advances coupled with a growing demand for “anytime-anywhere” gaming experiences have made mobile devices the next frontier in digital gaming.

With roughly 5 billion mobile users globally, the market potential for mobile gaming is enormous. However, several fundamental barriers have to be overcome before mobile phones can offer a ubiquitous mobile gaming experience to consumers. The difficulty consumers encounter finding, purchasing and downloading mobile games are the most pressing challenges currently faced by the mobile gaming industry.

From a political point of view, ongoing General Data Protection Regulation trilogues present a number of benefits and challenges. Studios will need to take extra care when designing their games to ensure that mechanisms are in place to ascertain the age of the player. Studios will also have to ensure that a player explicitly accepts the studio’s privacy policy before any data processing is carried out by, or on behalf of, the studio, for instance, before the player downloads a copy of the game or accesses any of its content.

The GSMA has developed a standardised mobile wallet architecture to support the efficient deployment of secure and interoperable digital commerce services, including mobile games. Mobile wallets enable the user to manage a broad portfolio of digital commerce services and are designed to manage information securely via the SIM card in their device. Hence, they are well positioned to improve the user’s access to mobile gaming while addressing important privacy concerns.

In the context of ongoing discussions on the GDPR trilogues, Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, Child Protection Systems Public Consultation, the Consumer Sales Directive Consultation and the Consumer Rights Directive Implementation, the high-level roundtable meeting will focus on:

• How can game publishers, mobile operators, handset suppliers and app platforms work together to improve the experience in mobile gaming?
• What role can Mobile Wallets play in enabling access for users to the growing business of mobile gaming?
• What is the potential role for European policy in resolving challenges related to data and youth protection in mobile gaming?

Event Summary