Smart rides wave of digital games market, bolsters Phl gaming community

MANILA,Philippines - Smart Communications (Smart) has introduced groundbreaking innovations that will further boost the popularly of online and mobile gaming, part of its strategy to boost mobile data use particularly among smartphone users nationwide.

These innovations include direct carrier billing services for iOS users through the first Pay-With-Mobile service for Apple apps, games and other content. This was also made available earlier to Google Play, which allows users to purchase digital content using only their prepaid load, or charged on top of their accounts.

Smart has also pioneered  revolutionary services such as GameX, an online storefront where PC-based games can purchase e-Pins using their prepaid load or postpaid account. GameX has the most extensive online and PC game partnership in the Philippines.

GameX has now become the go-to portal for gamers around the country, thanks to the most extensive partnership with all leading local and international game publishers and developers. It provides gamers with e-PINS for the hottest  games today, including DOTA2 and League of Legends, among many others.

“Digital games are a big part of our ’Smart Life’ campaign, and we aim to further engage with the growing local gaming community to offer products and services that are relevant to their specific needs, as demand for digital games grows around the world,” said Ariel P. Fermin, executive vice president and head of consumer business at Smart.

“Items for games like ‘Clash of Clans’ (COC), for example, are among the most sought-after in-app purchases since we introduced direct carrier billing on Google Play over a year ago, which clearly shows the high level of demand from local users,” Fermin added.

Moreover, the telco has designed special mobile data packages targeted for gamers through its Big Bytes 50 offer, which includes 350MB of all-access data  that can be used for top mobile games such as Clash of Clans plus 600MB of additional data for other entertainment content on iflix, FOX, and SPINNR, valid for three days.

This strategy is expected to help boost Smart’s mobile data revenues for the year, which has already recorded an astounding 21% year-on-year growth to reach P4.7 billion during the first six months of 2015.

Multi-platform approach

According to Fermin, Smart has taken a multi-platform approach addressing gamers using various devices—casual and professional players alike—in response to the projected growth for games across platforms around the world, and to help grow the $110 million digital games market in the Philippines.

According to gaming research firm Newzoo’s Global Games Market Report for 2015, games accessed on PCs or computer screens present the most lucrative opportunities for growth as the segment posts $33.7 billion in revenues this year, representing 37 percent of the market. This was followed by console games (27 percent share), smartphone games (23 percent), and tablet games (13 percent).

Of these devices, games accessed on personal screens such as smartphones and smartwatches recorded the fastest growth rate, rising by 21 percent year-on-year.

Demand for digital games across various devices is seen to surge across the world in the next two years, with the Asia Pacific region leading growth by 15 percent to reach as much as $43.1 billion in revenues this year on the back of new gaming innovations and high growth for access devices geared at gaming.

Supporting the local gaming community

Aside from offering compelling products and services for local gamers, Smart and GameX are leading the growth of the e-Sports industry in the country by helping stage the biggest and most prestigious gaming tournaments in the country, including this year’s E-Sports and Gaming Summit (ESGS), the country’s biggest eSports and gaming convention in the country.  

Happening at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay from October 24 to 25, the ESGS features eSports competitions and the next wave of products and offers by PLDT Home and Smart for gaming fanatics and enthusiasts, housed at the PLDT Home--Smart Game Hub.

The hub will feature major gaming titles for PCs such as League of Legends and Counter Strike, games for the PlayStation 4 such as NBA 2K16, the latest from Disney Infinity 3.0, as well as top mobile games including Clash of Clans and Hearthstone, among others.

The ESGS follows the recently concluded Philippine Clash 2015 last September 26, which drew more than a hundred “clans,” or groups of COC players, in five separate legs across the country. Smart’s COC tournament has proven to be the biggest and most prestigious event of its kind, with over P2 million in prizes and special guests that included Chief Pat and Galadon, two of the world’s best COC gamers today.

Aside from COC, Smart has likewise supported previous tournaments such as the League of Legends Pro-Gaming and Collegiate leagues; Playpark Allstars and Crossfire Allstars; Rampage 2015; and the Hearthstone Southeast Asian Finals.

“Smart has gone beyond just offering products and services for gamers. Our commitment to the local gaming community extends to supporting the tournaments and events that they are passionate about, allowing them to truly live the ‘Smart Life’,” added Mellissa Limcaoco, Innovations and Product Development Group Head at Smart.

For more information on Smart’s DCB options, visit smart.com.ph/googleplay for Android or smart.com.ph/paywithmobile for iOS. Users can also check out smart.com.ph/bigbytes for updates on Smart’s latest mobile data offers, or www.gamex.ph for various gaming e-Pins.