'Android isn't monetising well' claims Glu

"Android isn’t monetising well," he tells Mobile Entertainment. "It doesn’t have the billing infrastructure of 100 million iTunes accounts or carrier billing, and it’s not a mature experience – it’s a difficult browsing experience compared to iTunes."

However, de Masi is confident that Google's platform and store will be more lucrative for games firms going forward.

"What works is the tight integration of store plus software plus hardware, and everyone has got to make that magic formula work. They will – the challenge is not if, but when."

de Masi's comments reflect similar criticism made by Gameloft CFO Alexandre de Rochefort last November, although his company reaffirmed its support for Android a few days later.

Meanwhile, Glu is in the middle of a strategic shift towards smartphone gaming, but also towards new kinds of content and business models.

"We’re not designing any new games that don’t have a heavy persistent philosophy to the fore, as well as freemium and social features from the start," says de Masi.

"We’re being very pro-active about how you find the monetisation of these models."

For the full Glu Mobile interview, click here.

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This story originally appeared on our sister site Mobile Entertainment.