The iPhone and other smartphones became the most popular gaming platform for developers for the first time this year, according to a study by the industry trade body Tiga published on Thursday.
British developers are increasingly choosing to release their games as apps on smartphones and Facebook, rather than traditional players such as the PC or games consoles.
Almost half of UK developers now produce games for mobile devices and social networks – with two-thirds opting for Apple's iPhone – according to the survey of 104 businesses by Tiga.
The shift to a new generation of mobile phones and websites comes as gamers have flocked to Facebook for titles such as Farmville and Cityville, and Angry Birds has dominated the market on smartphones.
Of the 47% of developers who self-publish – rather than the work-for-hire model behind popular games such as Call of Duty and Fifa 12 – almost a half make games for the iPad and a third for Facebook.
More developers make games for the iPhone than they do for the PC, according to the study.
"This trend is an overwhelmingly positive thing, because it allows developers to cut out the publisher and sell directly to the consumer," said Dr Richard Wilson, chief executive of Tiga. "Because smartphones are increasingly prevalent, used by large proportions of young middle aged people – as well as the increase in internet connections – the market for video games has increased and is increasing."
In 2008, 71% of British games developers told Tiga that their most important customer was the publisher, such as Activision or Electronic Arts. This year that figure dropped to 37% – almost half of what it was three years ago – with another 37% declaring the gamer their most important customer.
Wilson pointed out that in 2008, 58% of all games were so-called "for hire projects", when large publishers pay for the manufacture and marketing of a production. That figure dropped to 44% this year as Britons' appetite for Facebook and smartphones continued to boom.
"That demonstrates the huge change," Wilson said. "There's a huge amount of experimentation taking place with regards to business models [of self-publishing developers], and the model is still being worked out."
Wilson added that the shift to self-publishing was partly due to unrewarding tax breaks handed by the government to firms making games overseas.
A third of those surveyed said they felt held back by these tax breaks, with a fifth reporting that employees had left to work for developers outside the UK. Two fifths of developers reported difficulty accessing funding for games.
