Mobile-game developer Gameloft will still cut investment in Google’s Android platform despite an apparent U-turn on its controversial decision last month to scale back on developing games for the operating system.

Gameloft’s chief financial officer, Alexandre de Rochefort, told an investor conference in November that Android’s limited ability to get Gameloft products to customers had been a deciding factor in cutting investment. "It is not as neatly done as on the iPhone. [Moreover,] on Android nobody is making significant revenue."

The announcement drew immediate criticism, including from Telecoms analyst Peter Boyland of IHS Global Insight, who said: "While the iPhone is undoubtedly the iconic handset of the decade, its status as a ‘must-have’ is waning. While Android is still something of an unknown quantity, Google is fully committed to entering the mobile internet market, and is unlikely to allow the platform to fail without a fight."

Perhaps heeding such warnings, Paris-based Gameloft made a volte-face within days, announcing that it would be bringing out a number of high-definition titles for the second generation of Android handsets and reaffirming its commitment to the current generation.

Yet its investment in Android is still being reduced, and it’s becoming clear that the company still considers the iPhone to be very much where it’s at – at least for the moment.

Read more at guardian.co.uk.

Gameloft, a world leader in the publishing and development of downloadable video games, plans to launch High Definition games on next generation Android phones like the Motorola Droid and the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10.

"The arrival of this new generation of phones will allow the development of High Definition games that make the most of the technological capacity and the speed of execution offered by the new Android phones. Consumers will benefit from a top quality gaming experience," says Gonzague de Vallois, vice-president of Publishing at Gameloft.

Gameloft also continues to support the current generation of Android phones and announces the imminent arrival of titles such as Assassin’s Creed. These titles will be accessible on the Android Marketplace and Gameloft internet sites and will further strengthen our catalogue of Android games already available.

From gamedaily.com:

“Apple’s iPhone may be all the rage these days, but an increasing number of mobile publishers and developers are coming out of the woodwork to support Google’s new Android platform too. Glu Mobile and Namco Networks have each announced games for Android, and now leading mobile publisher Gameloft has announced its support of the open source mobile platform as well.

Gameloft intends to develop more than 10 titles, the company said, and the first title Bubble Bash is slated for launch in Q1 2009.”

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