14 DAY TRIAL // A recent study details the way in which the Chinese on-line game market is developing and provides a few very interesting numbers regarding money spent on games. The highlight of the Pearl Research study is the statement that in 2010, the Chinese on-line game market will be worth 3 billion dollars.
The Chinese market is best defined as an atypical one, very similar to nearby markets like those in South Korea or Japan. The Western business model for MMOs, which implies an initial boxed buy and then paying a fixed subscription fee, is not well suited to the Eastern markets. The dominant on-line games there are usually free to play in their simplest forms and require money for micro transactions that offer the player better objects or game advantages. Giant MMO World of Warcraft recently referred to this business model as being unfair to players, as it doesn't keep the playing field level for everyone.
The most popular games played in China tend to also be great revenue providers for the companies that manage them. Fantasy Westward Journey had around 1.66 million peak concurrent users, and brought in more than 500 million dollars for creators Netease. Zhengtu Online, produced by Giant, had 1.52 million peak concurrent users and brought 209 million in 2007. Other publishers, like Shanda and The9, also experienced big growth in 2007 and have even better perspectives for 2008. There are also talks regarding initial public offerings for most of the MMO operators on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
The Pearl Research study discovered that the competitive aspect is not the main elements that draws Chinese young people towards on-line games. Most of them admitted that they played the games mainly to form bonds with their friends and flirt on-line with strangers.
With such strong growth in 2007, a very large potential player base and an estimated 3 billion dollars worth in just a few years one must wonder whether or not the future of the MMO market lies with Fantasy Westward Journey rather than World of Warcraft.