Our weekly spotlight of the world’s hottest gaming markets
NOTABLE RETAILERS:
Bailian (Brilliance) Group, Dalian Dashang Group, Gome Home Appliance Group, Nong Gong Shang Supermarket Group, Suning Appliance
TOP DEVELOPERS:
2K China, 5 Minutes, EA Shanghai, Gameloft, NCsoft China, Playfish China, PopCap Shanghai, Spil Games Asia, Ubisoft Chengdu, Ubisoft Shangai, Webzen China, Zynga China
PUBLISHERS WITH A LOCAL OFFICE: Disney, EA, Konami, NCsoft, Tencent, Ubisoft
ABOUT THE MARKET
MOST PEOPLE in the industry are aware that China’s games market is wildly different to that of other nations around the world. The most notable difference is that home consoles have no presence there, having been banned back in 2000. This was introduced after outrage from parents in order to protect Chinese children from “wasting their minds on video games”, according to Kotaku. Ironically, all three home consoles – Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii – are currently manufactured in China, as are Apple’s iPhone and iPad. But the ban hasn’t stopped the industry exploring other avenues, such as online gaming and plug- and-play devices that stream games directly to the TV.
Online gaming has exploded over the last ten years, driven by the huge popularity of MMOs, free-to- play and social network games such as 2008’s Happy Farmby Chinese studio 5 Minutes – the game that inspired Zynga’s FarmVille. The money spent on such titles came in at a whopping $6bn in 2011, making China the world’s largest PC digital games market. This is also one of the more promising opportunities for publishers looking to bring their brands to China. Just last week, Activision announced a new partnership with leading internet service portal Tencent to create Call
42 July 13th 2012 “
Not everyone can afford a computer so a significant portion of gaming is
conducted through the abundance of internet cafes.
of Duty Onlinefor the region. Tencent has long since demonstrated an interest in the games market, most recently buying a minority stake in Epic Games, the studio behind Gears of Warand the Unreal engine. However, because of high prices in China, not everyone can afford a home computer so a significant portion of gaming is conducted through the abundance of internet cafés.
This has created the issue of gaming addiction. Famously in 2007, one Chinese man died after playing online titles in his local internet café for three days running. As a result, time restrictions are often implemented in Chinese games to create an incentive to take regular breaks.
Arcade games also thrive in China, with amusement arcades found throughout the nation. The most popular titles range from action games and fighting games to the occasional unlicensed port of mobile and PC titles, such as Angry Birdsand Plants vs Zombies. Sadly, IP theft is worse outside the arcades – the nation is known for its rampant software piracy. Nintendo claimed that China was the biggest manufacturer of pirated Wii and DS games in 2008. As a result, publishers have been reluctant to release titles in the region.