NEW YORK (Reuters) - A failure by game publishers to focus on the fast-growing smartphone segment helped dampen demand for mobile games over the summer, Electronic Arts Inc (ERTS.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Chief Executive John Riccitiello said on Thursday.
Riccitiello also cited weakening demand for phones in North America, consumer frustration with downloading and the fact companies made games that were too complex for cell phones.
"The slowing we've seen in the past summer is partly a self-inflicted wound," he said at the Reuters Media Summit.
"Interestingly enough, and I'll never understand how this is possible, virtually every game publisher that's out there who publishes for mobile, ignored smartphones," he said, including his own company in the mix.
Riccitiello noted the growing popularity of smartphones such as the BlackBerry from Research In Motion (RIM.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Apple Inc's (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) iPhone and Palm Inc's (PALM.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Treo.
He expects the gap in the market to be filled, but said the miss was all the more amazing given that smartphones, the most advanced on the market, would be best suited for gaming because of their bigger-than-average display screens.
He also cited misfit products such as a football game from EA that did not work well on phones because it was unsuitable for devices with buttons designed mainly for phone calls.
He said the next growth wave in games for cell phones could come from those that gamers download to computers and transfer via cable or storage card to phones -- known as sideloading.
Such options, rarely available today, would appeal to users who dislike downloading games wirelessly to phones as it means they must buy a favorite game again when they buy a new phone.
"You're absolutely going to see these models flourish. It's easier and better," Riccitiello said.
While he said analysts were unrealistic to estimate mobile gaming will grow to a $12 billion-a-year market in four or five years from about $2 billion now, Riccitiello is still bullish.
"It only needs to get to $6 billion to triple, and triple is good," he said.
(Reporting by Sinead Carew; Editing by Braden Reddall)
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