North America will surpass the Asia-Pacific in 2009 as the biggest mobile gaming market, and by 2012, revenue from games played on mobile devices will reach US$3.4 billion worldwide, according to a forecast from research firm Screen Digest, eMarketer reported.

Additionally, Screen Digest has predicted the iPhone will remain the main driver to mobile gaming revenues in North America, which is expected to exceed $1.5 billion in 2012, up from $930.5 million this year.

Other companies also made optimistic predictions. Gartner Dataquest stated in June that mobile gaming would generate $6.3 billion in 2011, according to eMarketer's Mobile Games report.

In July, Multimedia Intelligence forecast the global mobile gaming market would bring in $6.5 billion in 2011, and $7.4 billion in 2012, eMarketer reported.