EA estimates global mobile games market will be worth $3.4 billion this year

Mobile Entertainment has reported on an interesting valuation of the mobile games market by Electronic Arts where its estimates it could be worth as much as $3.4 billlion this year, rising to $4.5 billion in 2013.

EA attributes $1.7 billion of mobile revenues to Asia – inclusive of all the gaming industry, not specifically EA – with European sales amounting to $0.7 billion and $1 billion in the US.

Smartphones will play a large part in the rise of mobile gaming revenue with EA estimating that the devices will usher $1 billion of sales, with feature phone revenue amounting to $0.7 billion. In the next three years, EA sees the $1.8 billion of the $2.3 billion of US/European mobile games revenues coming solely from smartphones with only $0.5 billion coming from feature phones.

EA has been busy acquiring social gaming companies, purchasing gaming firm Playfish for $400 million in November. It also moved further into mobile gaming, acquiring Angry Birds publishers (not creators) Chillingo, a sure sign it wants to be there to take a large share of the figures it estimates.