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SAN JOSE, Calif. -
March 31, 2010
Niko Partners, the leading market intelligence firm on China's video
game industry, today announced preliminary results from its upcoming
Annual Review & Five-Year Forecast on China's video game industry,
citing $3.57 billion in revenue from online games in 2009. The annual
review and forecast on online gaming and Chinese gamers shows strong
growth by Chinese online game operators, despite a harsh regulatory
environment particularly for foreign games, and a gamer base that has
become increasingly discerning about game quality. Niko had forecasted
2009 revenue to reach $3.65 billion. For 2010, the firm predicts that
the online game market will reach $4.5 billion and enjoy a healthy CAGR
of 20.9% over the next five years with revenue reaching $9.2 billion in
2014.
"While the global economic
downturn hurt video game publishers in much of the world, China's online
game industry reflected no pain in 2009 and gamers continued to embrace
online games as the best inexpensive source of social entertainment
available," said Lisa Cosmas Hanson, managing partner of Niko Partners.
"While the era of online gaming is generating lots of interest and
growth opportunity in the West, China is one of the countries where
online gaming is a well established market segment that extends its
reach to more and more Chinese consumers every year."
Niko's upcoming report will
include data and analysis on all segments of China's video game
industry, gamers, Internet cafés, developers and regulations. Key
insights about online games and Chinese gamers in the report include:
- Chinese gamers prefer the
Free-to-Play (F2P) model of online games in which online operators
generate revenue via the virtual economy, rather than the
time-based model in which access is provided for a fixed number of
pre-paid hours.
- 63% of gamers surveyed
increased their spending on online games in the past year.
- Social Networking Sites
(SNS) games have gained popularity among Chinese consumers, and 88%
of the gamers Niko surveyed claim to play SNS games.
- The primary reasons
gamers with PCs at home go to an Internet café are to be social
with their friends and to participate in gaming competitions.
- At least 65% of gamers
use Internet cafés at least part of the time.
- There were 68 million
online gamers in China by our definition at the end of 2009 and by 2014
the number should reach 141 million, a 15.5% CAGR.
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ABOUT NIKO PARTNERS
Niko
Partners is the leading research firm focused on providing specialized
market intelligence on China's video game industry. Founded in 2003, the
firm conducts syndicated and custom research studies on Chinese gamers,
online games, offline games, consoles, handhelds, regulatory issues,
piracy, development, online operators, distribution, and retail. Niko
Partners also offers consulting services including focus groups,
partnership selection, market opportunity analysis, custom surveys in
cities throughout China and customized data analysis. The goal of the
research and strategic advisory services is to help understand the
market, strategically enter or expand market share, and continue to
profitably grow within China. The company is based in Silicon Valley and
Shanghai, and its clients include worldwide leaders in game software,
hardware, and services, as well as hedge funds, media companies, trade
associations, and management consulting firms, all of whom have a vested
interest in a thorough understanding of China's video game industry.
The company launched DFC-Niko
Emerging Markets in
partnership with DFC Intelligence in February 2010 to extend its
expertise and be able to cover 10 additional countries. Visit Niko
Partners online at: www.nikopartners.com
# # #
Contact:
International
Digital Entertainment Agency
Sean Kauppinen
+1-415-299-2156
sean@ide-agency.com
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