Blue Planet Software, Inc., the company that manages the exclusive licensing rights to the Tetris® game, and EA Mobile™, a division of Electronic Arts Inc., today announced at a press conference at the EA Montreal studio that Tetris has reached over 100 million paid downloads on mobile phones since 2005, making it the pre-eminent game for the platform. Since becoming the exclusive mobile publisher for Tetris in 2006, EA Mobile has brought a number of Tetris games to almost all mobile platforms including the App Store^SM.

“Tetris on mobile will never go away,” said Henk Rogers, CEO of Blue Planet Software. “As mobile devices get into the hands of more people, so does Tetris. People are always looking for ways to fill their time — be it in waiting rooms or on the bus — and with the advent of touch screens and improved platforms, our eyes are opened to a whole new way to develop games. After Tetris’ success with the Game Boy in 1989, we always hoped that potential would carry over into today’s mobile devices. It’s a testament to the game’s staying power that it remains popular on today’s most modern technology.”

Over its 25-year history, the Tetris game has been sold on almost every gaming platform. Currently, the game’s greatest growth is occurring on mobile platforms.

“Tetris is the biggest franchise in mobile gaming, which speaks to the evergreen nature of the brand and the fact that it translates to any platform,” said Adam Sussman, VP Worldwide Publishing for EA Mobile. “Our strong relationship with Blue Planet Software has enabled us to optimally adapt Tetris to the ever evolving handset market while keeping the true spirit of the game alive. 100 million paid downloads are testament to this.”

Created in 1984 by Russian-born mathematician Alexey Pajitnov, the Tetris game has become a worldwide success model for the gaming industry. Tetris was first available on mobile in 2001, the product of collaboration between Rogers and Takeshi Miyaji of Japan’s G-mode.

“Tetris provided the crucial building blocks for our company when we started 10 years ago,” said Miyaji, president of G-mode, the exclusive distributor of Tetris in Japan. “Just this past year alone our ‘Tetris League’ game in Japan has been played nearly 100 million times. As G-Mode and Blue Planet Software grow alongside each other, we hope to continue our contributions to Tetris’ recognition and popularity.”

In addition to reaching this mobile milestone, the Tetris brand has created numerous headlines in the past year. It is currently celebrating its 25^th Anniversary, which officially kicked-off in June 2009 at an event attended by thousands of videogame enthusiasts and journalists from E3 in Los Angeles. And in September 2009, a scientific study published by BMC Research Notes showed that participants who played the Tetris game over time had increased efficiency and a thicker cortex in areas of the brain linked to critical thinking and coordinated movement.

By Gabriel Madway

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – As the iPhone becomes a popular mobile gaming device, large game publishers with deep pockets are going head-to-head with smaller developers who found early success on the Apple Inc phone.

With name recognition and financial resources, publishers like Electronic Arts, Gameloft and Glu Mobile have a huge advantage. But up-and-coming companies such as ngmoco, Digital Chocolate and Tapulous have proved adept so far at building their brand.

Apple’s App Store is crowded with about 13,000 games — many from tiny developers — and gaining the attention of consumers is a challenge. Download rankings are key to success since users trawl the most-popular lists for games.

“Although the top iPhone games are made by independents today, the big publishers will strike back,” said Jeremy Liew, a managing director at Lightspeed Venture Partners, a venture capital firm that has invested in social gaming companies.

“The iPhone only offers one way for games to get discovered today, and that favors the cash-rich big publishers.”

The big players “have a full marketing budget … the minute an app starts dropping in ranking they’ll go ahead and start pouring money into advertising to push that ranking up,” said Krishna Subramanian, co-founder of analytics company Mobclix.

In contrast, smaller publishers tend to offer more free or 99-cent games to help push up download numbers.

Since its launch a year ago, the App Store has given birth to an entire industry of software developers. Stories of entrepreneurs working out of a garage who have gotten rich with an iPhone app have added to their mystique.

And there is financing to be had, most notably a $100 million iFund established by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. The venture fund has invested in app developers like ngmoco.

Tapulous, creator of the popular “Tap Tap Revenge” game with 10 million users, has obtained angel investor funding and expects to be profitable by year’s end.

“I think there’s an opportunity for companies such as mine. If we can build a distribution channel and a brand, we can do well because we are more nimble,” said Tapulous Chief Executive Bart Decrem.

GROWTH MARKET

Apple has sold more than 40 million iPhones and iPod Touches, with more than 1.5 billion apps downloaded. According to Mobclix, the average price paid for a game download is$1.79.

Electronic Arts claims to have the largest market share by revenue of any iPhone game maker, led by titles like “Tetris” and “Scrabble.” EA said its iPhone business is profitable.

Adam Sussman, vice president of worldwide publishing for EA Mobile, said the barriers to entry on the iPhone are low but the real challenge is “accessibility and discoverability.”

In June, EA launched the latest version of its blockbuster “Sims” game franchise simultaneously on PCs and iPhones, ensuring hype. Priced at $9.99, Sussman said the game went to No. 1 on the iPhone within 18 hours.

Gameloft spends $200,000 to $300,000 to develop a game, far more than what a small publisher might invest, said Greg Ballard, the company’s departing CEO.

“One title will come and go fairly fast. So to have a real presence and to establish a brand in the mind of consumers, it takes more than just a single title,” he said.

Ballard said smaller publishers will continue to have hits, but few will be able to turn them into a viable business.

“There’s this random chance thing where somebody will come up with a great idea … but that lightning doesn’t typically strike a small publisher twice,” he said.

(Reporting by Gabriel Madway; Editing by Derek Caney)