25. May 2009

Meet EL 2011 keynote speaker Mr. Anssi Vanjoki: The promise of mobile gaming

Mr. Anssi Vanjoki, the first announced keynote speaker for the EL Congress 2011, has been a visionary force in Nokia's efforts to address mobility markets. Currently working as the Executive Vice President of Nokia's New Markets Unit, Mr. Vanjoki will be sharing sharing his ideas on the future of gaming, and what lies ahead for the more than one billion Nokia customers.Read more about his ideas below:

Games on mobile devices have truly come of age, and are yet only at the beginning of the possibilities. Gaming communities and connectivity are both key to online multiplayer gaming and the overall gaming experience. Nokia has been at the forefront of mobile gaming since 1997 and provides a comprehensive solution across different platforms.

The mobile phone is *the* consumption platform for digital entertainment in the future, and it is truly global. Hundreds of millions of people who will never own a console or a dedicated mobile gaming device will own a mobile phone. For example, there are currently more than a billion rural consumers waiting to buy their first mobile phone. In developed markets, there continues to be a strong demand for mobile gaming as games continue to be the most popular 3rd party applications that people install on their device. And many of these phones will be as capable as computers and always connected. This will have significant implications for mobile gaming development going forward.

Key trends that are driving the mobile gaming industry are, for example mash-ups and the full spectrum of social networking activities. Venture capital firms are increasingly investing in social gaming. Completely new gaming concepts are created by game developers based on the ability to tap into the mobile device’s phonebook. Also, the mobile devices continue to evolve: on-board memory increases, screens develop further, mobile networks become faster, and more and more operators offer comprehensive dataplans enabling constant connections at affordable rates. These technology improvements will help developers tell better stories and give consumers more immersive experiences.

By making the gaming experience contextual, i.e. in tune with the consumers’ social networks and people they care about as well as the physical location they are in, it will bring a profound level of immediacy and personal relevancy to the gaming internet service. Nokia’s role is to create a compelling experience that enables people to find, try and buy the entertainment they want – whether that’s music, games, videos, lottery tickets or whatever. The next generation media service serves up content pro-actively based on where you are and the consumption patterns between you and your friends.