china-angle
Latest
China's forgotten gamers
Frank Yu over at Gamasutra wrote a piece recently that didn't exactly slip through the cracks, but was certainly overshadowed by more pressing concerns that affected online gaming in Asia. Yu's 'China's Forgotten Gamers' -- from his China Angle column -- is a look at the invisible population of gamers in the country that industry demographics simply cannot account for. In North America and Europe, subscriptions, registered downloads and box sales provide an accurate picture of who's playing a given title; China is a different story altogether. Credit cards are nowhere near as prevalent among the Chinese as they are abroad; box sales have largely been a failure due to piracy. Added to the mix is the fact that not everyone can afford to play games legitimately, and so some Chinese gamers find ways to play outside of the system. Although the reported numbers of gamers playing the various titles in China are large, Yu says, "In China, we track game players by subscriber or registration numbers, or by the amount of money they spend giving companies revenue. If they don't register or pay money, they are somewhat invisible to the industry or, from the business viewpoint, irrelevant."
Gamasutra's "China Angle" reports on The9, Giant Interactive, NCsoft
To North American and European MMO players, China is more than just a different country; it's a different universe. But it's important to keep an at least one eye on the Chinese market. Gamasutra ran its latest "China Angle" column today. Here's what we learned this time. The9, the Chinese publisher of World of Warcraft, will be responsible for the Chinese version of EA's FIFA Online 2. The9 already operates the original FIFA Online in the PRC, and EA owns a 15% share in the company, so that's no surprise. Newer company Giant Interactive -- who are behind the highly profitable Zhengtu Online -- saw a $38.7 million profit in Q3 2007, and all 800 employees of the company were given actual, real-life gold coins in celebration. The company is also actually awarding stocks to some of its customers. Finally, Korean MMO supercompany NCsoft has selected a new partner company called Shandra to distribute their new title AION. NCsoft opted not to work with their old partner Sina this time. The decision to change may have been influenced by disappointing Chinese numbers for Lineage and Lineage II, two NCsoft titles which were brought to the Chinese market by Sina.
