According to the latest CNNIC report, Chinese youth are avid gamers and may comprise as many as 46% of all gamers. What is disturbing is that nearly half of the gamers under the age of 18 play online games in Internet cafés even though it is illegal to enter a café unless one is 18 or older.  This means that parents are not supervising these minors while playing. There is a push by the Ministry of Culture and the GAPP to reduce the violence in games, but without parental guidance in cafés children can play for hours on end or be seated next to people that perhaps the parents would not favor. Just food for thought.

Changyou's announcement to potentially establish a Korean subsidiary supports the assertion that Chinese online game companies are expanding to foreign markets in earnest. This is right at the same time as the border into China seems to be keeping foreign companies at bay thanks to the heightened regulatory tension and the underlying current that keeps many foreign companies from realizing success there.

The CNNIC report also noted that 61% of Chinese gamers play MMORPGs, and an even higher percentage plays MMO casual games. In the US and Europe, as noted in a new study by Gamesindustry.com, only 15% play MMOs in the US and Europe. The growth potential in those regions is a primary growth factor for online game companies, including Chinese online game operators and developers who are expanding overseas.