#179 Bharti SoftBank jumps in mobile gaming

Bharti SoftBank , a joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and Japan-based SoftBank, forayed into mobile gaming with launch of Tiny Mogul Games and is targetting an overall user base of more than a million by this year-end. 


Kavin, the son of Bharti Enterprises chairman Sunil Mittal, stated that the company is targetting the youth and aiming to capture 10% of the 12 million smartphones users by the end of this year. 

The games, which are free of cost, are currently available on the Android platform via Google Play Store and Hike, BSB's free messaging service. It, however, plans to make them available on other platforms like Windows, Blackberry and iOS in near future. 

Asked about the revenue generation strategy, Mittal said the games will be free, but people will be charged for virtual goods such as acquiring additional powers to progress in the game. 

Mittal said BSB is also the first to launch in-app purchase of virtual goods and premium downloads through telecom carrier billing. The company has tied up with Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular.