An Analysis of Success Factors of Mobile Game for Decision-making of Publishing Business

Abstract

South Korea has led the global online game markets successfully in the mobile game platform based social network service with commercialization and showed the potential of the mobile game market. Currently, Korea s game industry is accelerating the global expansion for the mobile game market based on online game technology and mobile infrastructure. However, recently as mobile games attract attention in the mobile business and digital entertainment markets, the competition grows so fast. Cooperation between game developers and publishers have important implications in mobile games as well as online games for competitiveness through selection and concentration. This study was designed to support decision making at the outsourcing for publisher and the development of mobile games with key success factor analysis. The key evaluation factors of the mobile game were extracted through the literature review and expert groups, and then the relative importance between each factor was derived to take advantage of the AHP, Multi-criteria decision method. Differences between the online game and mobile game were analysed in this evaluation process. Also we were able to verify this evaluation model by applying the released mobile game. As a result, accomplishment and gambling in the mobile game was found to be a key factor. Also differentiation factors from online game were social factor, scalability, reliability. Unlike the previous studies which have been focused on online games, this study offers the guideline of the decision making for the business success in the mobile game development and the sourcing, the most important steps in publishing business.