San Mateo, CA, February 26th, 2007 (BUSINESS WIRE) Digital Chocolate, Inc., a leading publisher of high-quality, original software for mobile phones, closed 2006 as the industry's top-rated mobile publisher based on review scores from the leading independent North American and European mobile gaming review outlets, IGN and PocketGamer.
The table below reports the average scores of publishers with a minimum of 10 products reviewed in 2006:
| Rank | Publisher | Games Reviewed | Score |
| 1 | Digital Chocolate | 25 | 7.8 |
| 2 | Glu Mobile | 27 | 7.6 |
| 3 | Gameloft | 43 | 7.6 |
| 4 | Disney Mobile | 11 | 7.2 |
| 5 | EA Mobile | 26 | 7.1 |
| 6 | Real Arcade | 12 | 7.0 |
| 7 | I-Play | 21 | 7.0 |
| 8 | Namco | 10 | 6.8 |
| 9 | THQ Wireless | 21 | 6.6 |
| 10 | Hands On Mobile | 18 | 6.5 |
| 11 | Vivendi Universal | 11 | 6.4 |
| 12 | Infospace | 11 | 6.3 |
"Digital Chocolate puts an emphasis on developing games that will 'wow' consumers, and our scores from the world's leading mobile game reviewers validate our commitment to quality,' said Gary Schofield, president, networks for Digital Chocolate. 'Consumer churn has been a challenge in the mobile games industry, largely due to disappointing games. We believe that one of the best ways to drive industry growth is to create games that consumers want to play and and tell others about. It's a 'win-win-win' situation for developers, consumers and operators."
Among the highlights for the company in 2006, IGN awarded Digital Chocolate with nine of its 17 annual awards, including 'Best Developer' and 'Wireless Game of the Year' for Tornado Mania!TM which made IGN history as the first mobile game to earn a perfect score. PocketGamer named Tornado Mania! as the #1 wireless game in its annual The Mobile Games Festive 50, a ranking of the best mobile products of 2006. Additional Digital Chocolate products to make the Festive 50 include Tower BloxxTM (#4), Rollercoaster RushTM (#9) and Mafia WarsTM: Yakuza (#13). In the top 50, Digital Chocolate products collectively ranked higher than any other publisher worldwide.
The analysis averaged the scores of all products reviewed during 2006 by IGN and PocketGamer. Combined, these sites reviewed nearly 400 products from more than 80 publishers.
About Digital Chocolate
Digital Chocolate is a leading developer of original, high-quality games and applications for mobile phones. Based in San Mateo, California and founded in 2003 by software gaming pioneer Trip Hawkins, Digital Chocolate offers some of the world's most popular and top-rated games, already earning over 20 Game of the Year Awards and over 50 Editor's Awards by top gaming press. In 2006, it was named Best Games Developer at the Mobile Entertainment Awards, decided by a voting panel of over 300 mobile company executives including leading Operators, OEMs, Publishers and Developers. It was also named a 2006 Fierce 15 emerging wireless company for its innovation around community, networked and social games with products like award-winning MLSN Sports Picks, and newly released AvaPeepsTM: FlirtNation. Since its inception, Digital Chocolate has secured relationships with more than 200 carriers and partners, including Verizon Wireless, Sprint, Vodafone, T-Mobile, Cingular, Orange and 3 and its products are available in over 60 countries around the world.
