When’s the Apple iGame Coming?

Leopard capped off an incredible year for Apple but 2008 looks like it could be as exciting.

Perhaps the biggest question – at least in many quarters – is when Apple is going to charge into the lucrative video game business. What? Yes, Apple is getting into video game; it’s just a matter of time.

Apple’s strategy goes back to 2005 when it filed a patent application for the iPod that covered a wide variety of applications, including data, text, music, video and computer games. (For an in-depth look at Apple’s patent activity and what it means, check out Core77). For conspiracy theorists or people who believe where there’s smoke, there’s fire, the patent is really Apple’s strategic roadmap.

The rumblings about video games is now being heard within the analyst community, which has started to look at Apple’s prospects for next year.

In a research note earlier this week, UBS Securities’ Ben Reitzes said his financial model for 2008 does not include “potential new products” such as “ultra-portable devices, a pay-per-view service, gaming opportunities and new phone models. We look forward to new products at Macworld in January.” If analysts are starting to talk about “gaming opportunities”, something’s up.

The video-game market appears to be a no-brainer for Apple. It’s enormous – expected to hit $46-billion worldwide by 2010, according to PWC; the demographic that plays video games is similar to iPod users; and the emergence of high-speed wireless networks should make it easier for consumers to download games so they can play on the go.

While Apple has yet to release a game-focused iPod (although the Touch looks like it could be pretty game-friendly), there is a market emerging. Electronic Arts, for example, has added iPod versions of “Sudoku,” “Tetris,” “Sims Bowling” and “Sims Pool” to library. And you expect the number of video games to flourish once Apple releases its software development kit for the iPhone in a few months.

Update: GigaOm and Venture Beat take a look at the $2.25-billion casual gaming market