Looking to expand its mobile content internationally, video game behemoth Electronic Arts said Wednesday its mobile games will be available to Indian cell phone subscribers next year through an exclusive licensing deal with Indian mobile game publisher Indiagames.

The deal, which will last one year, is the first time the Redwood City, California-based video game publisher’s mobile games, like the Need for Speed series and The Sims 2, will be available to Indian cell phone subscribers.

EA said its game EA SPORTS FIFA 06 will be released in India this calendar year, while the remaining lineup will be released next year.

The company’s mobile games, which make up a fraction of overall sales, are currently available in the United States and in a few other countries.

The move proves the growth of both the Indian cellular industry and the global mobile games market, which are attractive businesses for EA compared to the console and PC markets, which are seeing slipping margins.

India’s booming $2.5-billion cell phone market is the fastest growing in the world, adding 2 million subscribers every month, and is expected to grow to 75 million subscribers by year’s end, according to Cellular Operators Association of India.

EA’s partner Indiagames (a Red Herring Top 100 Asia Company Winner) already has a booming business from its current licenses like global brandsSpiderman, Bruce Lee, Predator, Jurassic Park, Spy Kids, and Indian Idol—the Indian version of American Idol.

“Indiagames is a key partner for us as we expand our business from packaged goods to mobile content in the burgeoning Indian marketplace,” said Jon Niermann, president of EA Asia Publishing.

Indiagames’ 29-year-old CEO Vishal Gondal said, “We are convinced that thousands of Indian fans will enjoy the opportunity to experience these games on their mobile phones." (See Q&A: Vishal Gondal.)

Slipping Margins

EA’s move also signals the growth of the global mobile game market. According to research firm M:Metrics, 5.3 million subscribers in the U.S. downloaded a mobile game in October alone.

Electronic Arts spokesperson Tammy Schachter said the company formerly outsourced its mobile division to the U.K. company iPlay, formerly called Digital Bridges, but decided to move its mobile publishing work in-house.

Moving the development internally means EA sees mobile as a significant area of future growth for the company.

In recent years, the company has been looking to expand beyond its bread-and-butter console and PC game markets. While the company is still the leading publisher in the U.S., bringing in $3.1 billion in fiscal year 2005, the industries have matured to the point that margins have been getting tight.

Games, particularly for the $21-billion console market, are getting more expensive to develop. With the arrival of the next-generation consoles, games are reaching $10 million to $30 million to create (see Xbox 360 Starts Console War).

The high prices mean that game developers are looking for new areas to keep growth high, with mobile being one of them. Meanwhile, a startup called Multiverse launched Tuesday with the goal of helping independent game developers come up with games more cheaply (see Game Developer Service Starts).