Score with mobile this World Cup!

NEW DELHI: And now, soccer mania is gripping the mobile world. With soccer related content becoming the latest buzzword on mobiles globally, in the wake of the FIFA world cup, Indian mobile gaming companies and telecom service providers are looking to score through it big time.

Soccer-led games, contests, ring-tones, wallpapers, animation, screensavers, latest updates and match scores, exclusive trivia on the cup and soccer stars are just few of the things you can expect to see on your mobile screens during the next one month. That’s not all, internationally, mobile operators are using the world cup as a testing ground for experimenting with mobile TV.

On home turf, Reliance-owned mobile gaming company, Paradox Studios, which had roped in Baichung Bhutia earlier this year, is releasing ‘Baichung Bhutia Football Pro’ next week to capture the soccer spirit. Along with this, Paradox Studios has developed and powered a Coca-Cola sponsored advergame called Superfooter.’ As of now, this soccer game is available to customers for free on Reliance Mobile and Hutch.

“Since, Coke is the official sponsor of the FIFA World Cup, we have tied up with them to launch this game last week. The advergame is available both online on Coke’s website myenjoyzone.com and on mobiles. Winners of the game get a chance to win Apple iPods, beside other goodies,” says Salil Bhargava, CEO, Paradox Studios.

Another content provider, mobile2win, has launched a soccer WAP portal to latch on to the soccer fever and acquired rights to distribute games around the Spanish soccer league. The soccer portal stocks soccer images, quizzes, national anthems of popular teams as ringtones amongst other generic soccer stuff.

“Last week, we launched a multilevel game on Cafu, the Brazilian captain, to become part of the football frenzy. We expect around 14-20,000 downloads in the next one month,” says Rajiv Hiranandani, country head, mobile2win. The game is priced at Rs 99 per download.

Other gaming companies such as Nazara Technologies are publishing a range of content on soccer, which includes games as well as graphics and animation. Amongst 10 mobile games on soccer, there is one on the Argentine soccer legend Maradona.
Airtel is also doing its bit to garner additional revenues during this time, by putting soccer on the forefront.

“We have created an animated character out of a football called ‘Poncho Football’ and built videos, screensavers and games around this animated character. We expect around 50,000-1lakh downloads for all our soccer related games,” says Nitish Mittersain, CEO, Nazara Technologies. He expects to generate revenues of around Rs 40-50 lakh, excluding the service provider’s share from soccer led games during the world cup.

In the meantime, Indiagames has tied-up with Nokia to provide them with varied content on soccer, including some 14-15 games to cash in on the world cup. Says an official spokesperson, “We are distributing multiple content on soccer at various price points.”

Airtel has launched a mobile game, is running contests, showcasing previews, live updates and scores, in tie-up with the official broadcasters ESPN Star Sports. Hutch, too, would provide regular information and updates on match scores, but has not planned any specific content for the world cup.