180 Million Chinese Gamers Enjoying Wider Range of Online Games

Increase in total gamers accompanied by key shift, where paying gamers now are the majority.

SAN JOSE, Calif. - April 3, 2012 - Niko Partners, the leader in Asian Games Market Intelligence™, today announced the availability of its 2012 Chinese Gamers Report with analysis of the vast user base of 180 million Chinese gamers and their gaming behavior and preferences. Based on an intensive survey of Chinese gamers, the report highlights key trends and actionable insights among the changing face of gamers. With the growing importance of "occasional" gamers and changing habits of "hardcore" gamers, companies that want to be successful in this huge market must understand the impact that key market shifts make to their products and strategic business plans.  In this report, Niko provides the key data and detail around key aspects of Chinese gamers, including preferences, platforms, spending, and more.

"In examining the rapidly evolving Chinese games market, we see that casual, social, and mobile games have all captured the hearts of hardcore and occasional gamers alike," said Lisa Cosmas Hanson, managing partner of Niko Partners. "Online games revenues are now more distributed among various platforms and genres than they have been in past years, when MMORPGs compiled the vast majority of domestic revenue." 

Key takeaways from the report based on a survey in 10 cities in tiers 1 and 2 include:

• 64% of gamers in the survey spend money on online games each month - far higher than in other developing countries
• The ratio of hard-core gamers (playing 22+ hours per week) is falling among all gamers in favor of more and more gamers playing fewer hours per week
• The ratio of gamers over age 40 is rising annually, now comprising 10% of our survey sample

The 45-page report is available now at: http://www.nikopartners.com/researchstore or by contacting sales@nikopartners.com, for $3,500. Niko has changed our annual subscription format in 2012 and now publishes 10 deliverables for subscribers, with 5 of those reports available for individual sale upon completion. In April we will deliver China's Online Games Market Size & Forecast Report 2012 to our subscribers. Contact us or visit http://www.nikopartners.com for subscription information. You can also follow us on Twitter or subscribe to our free newsletter analyzing important video game market news from Asia every week by emailing megan@nikopartners.com. 

Niko Partners is the leader in Asian Games Market Intelligence™, specializing in the Chinese and Southeast Asian game markets. Founded in 2002 and celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2012, the firm conducts syndicated and custom research studies on Chinese gamers (including the region of Taiwan), Southeast Asian 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 the Asia-Pacific region 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 and Southeast Asia's emerging markets.

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 the games industry in Southeast Asian and China.