ADAG fiirm signs $100 million gaming deal with Man United

Mobile games development company Jump Games, a subsidiary of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group's Reliance Entertainment, has signed an exclusive three-year deal with Manchester United Football Club, one of the world's richest soccer clubs.

The $100 million deal, one of the largest in the mobile gaming space, will involve Jump Games designing, developing and distributing mobile games with Manchester United, which jointly tops the English Premier League tables with London rivals Arsenal.

While Rajesh Sawhney, president, Reliance Entertainment, refused to comment on the deal value, he said, "Jump Games' tie-up with Manchester United brings us a step closer to our core focus on providing quality entertainment to audiences across the globe."

"With Manchester United on board, we can look forward to setting global standards in the mobile entertainment space," he added.

The first game, "Manchester United Word It!", will be launched in March and the second game, based on soccer, is expected in April or May.

After that, Jump Games will introduce a new game every two months.

"We are committing to developing at least six games each year for Manchester United. We also plan to expand our portfolio, since this is a very catalogue-driven business," said Salil Bhargava, CEO, Jump Games.

The mobile games will be available globally and the price points will vary from market to market.

For instance, in India Jump Games will operate in two models "" pay-per-play and perpetual download.

The first model will cost Rs 5 and the session will last for half an hour to an hour. The second will cost between Rs 50 and Rs 99. In Europe, the game could cost in the range of ¤3-5.

Bhargava estimates that the tie-up will contribute 10 to 15 per cent of Jump Games' revenues in three years.

The game developed by Jump Games will be available globally through local network operators. To this end, Jump Games is said to be in talks with leading telecom service providers both in India and overseas.

The revenue-sharing terms between Jump Games, Manchester United and telecom operators will vary from country to country.

In India, the company's share is expected to be 30 to 45 per cent, in Japan 90 per cent, in Europe 50 to 60 per cent and in other Asian countries 50 per cent.

In India, Jump Games has two developing centres based in Mumbai and Pune, of which Pune is the larger unit with 100 game developers.