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Electronic Arts—one of the top-selling suppliers of games for desktop computers and consoles—wants to become a dominant player in the wireless world as well. That is what the company's Managing Director & Senior VP, Gerhard Florin, outlined during a keynote address at the European Games Network exhibition in London this week.

To achieve this goal, Electronic Arts will make major investments in two next-generation gaming handhelds, Sony's PlayStation Portable and Nintendo's DS, as well as Nokia's N-Gage platform. The company will also build mobile editions of more of its console and PC franchises.

Two such titles, FIFA Football 2004 Mobile International Edition (see image) and EA SPORTS Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 2004, were Top 10 in the mobile charts for much of last year, with over one million cumulative paid downloads in Europe alone. The company plans to release three more titles for mobile platforms in 2004: FIFA Football 2005; Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 2005 and Need for Speed Underground 2. In addition, a mobile phone version of The Sims should ship next year.

To secure distribution for its mobile titles, Electronic Arts is partnering with Digital Bridges—a creator and distributor of mobile entertainment solutions. The agreement extends a current licensing arrangement to a comprehensive deal in which Electronic Arts will make use of Digital Bridges' mobile-specific development expertise, connectivity technology, and multi-channel distribution network to maximize the presence and sales of Electronic Arts titles in the mobile space.

According to Electronic Arts' Florin, "Digital Bridges has a deep understanding of this market, and building on our past three years of working together, they continue to be our ideal partner as the mobile games market moves into its next phase of growth and maturity."