The top six gaming corporations in China (Tencent, Netease, Changyou, Shanda Games, Perfect World, and Giant) pulled in over $2 billion in revenue in the first quarter of this year, setting another record. To compare, at the same time last year, the revenue for the entire Chinese games industry in Q1 last year was only $1.78 billion dollars. China’s game industry is experiencing fantastic growth, particularly among the largest companies.Â
Despite these numbers, Perfect World and Shanda Games actually experienced a year-over-year decline from last year. MMO’s are facing a rough spot in China, creating hard times for Shanda and Perfect World whom are both MMO developers. Perfect World will be releasing Neverwinter in a couple of months to try and rectify this situation, and only recently released the first expansion to their game Star Trek Online which may also have an effect on their revenue in the coming months.
China’s game industry has benefited mightily from regulations that prevent foreign companies from operating directly in China, forcing game companies to seek a Chinese partner. Such licensing arrangements have been a key driver in the growth of the Chinese game business. As Chinese companies reach larger size they are increasingly reaching out to other countries for investment opportunities and distribution of their games. Tencent’s investments in Riot Games and Epic Games have been only the beginning; we will doubtless see more such investments in the future.
Source: Techinasia
