Driven by the boom in Asian mobile game market, market value of the global online game reached over US$80 billion in 2014, up 7.5% to 8% year-on-year, according to China research team of MIC (Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute), a Taipei-based IT research institute. The Chinese online game industry totaled around 100 billion RMB (US$16.13 billion; US$1 = 6.2 RMB) in 2014, fetching the world's second spot. MIC anticipates that China will outperform the United States to be the world's largest online game market by 2016, with anticipated market value of approximately US$ 24.5 billion. And the market will stay on the high growth period from now until then, with momentum coming mainly from mobile and web games.
Chinese Online Game Market Value, 2009 - 2016
Unit: 100 Million RMB
Note: US$1 = 6.2 RMB
Source: MIC, December 2014
Client games refer to game software which needs to be downloaded to PC and each user has own virtual role to take part in games. Games like Half Life, World of Warcraft, and Fantasy Western Journey are examples of client games. Web games comprise of MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) games and social games and no software download is required. To play games, users only need to log in websites to play games directly. Online games accessed by means of a tablet and/or smartphone are known as mobile games, which can be further divided into offline and online games. Games like Temple Run, Candy Crush Sega and Fruit Ninja are examples of offline games. Examples of online games are Parkour Everyday, Turret Legend, and Space Hunter.
While mobile games outrun web games in 2014, client games are expected to still have the lion's share in the Chinese market. Established players in the Chinese online game market include Tencent, NetEase, Changyou, Shanda Games, Perfect World Network Technology, Beijing Qihoo Technology Co., and Forgame. Among all, Tencent is the company possesses a powerful platform to help it gain leading position in all client, web and mobile game sectors. Tencent alone accounts for about 50% to 60% of the Chinese online game market and is hardly to be challenged by any counterparts in the short-run, said MIC.
In accompany with the growing mobile internet, mobile games have become the mainstream and the new driving force behind the global game industry. Mobile games' share in the total online game will expand from 25% in 2014 to 35% in 2015.
In the future, the Chinese online game market will create a new landscape in which client, web and mobile games will have their respective shares. Client games, though still with the highest market share, are entering a maturity phase. While web games are seeing growth slowdown, mobile games however are growing rapidly, with its share expected to reach 35% in 2015, up from 25% in 2014.
To see more about this report, please visit: Chinese Online Game Development Trends, 2014 and Beyond
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About MIC
Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (MIC), based in Taipei, Taiwan, was founded in 1987. MIC is Taiwan's premier IT industry research and consulting firm providing intelligence, in-depth analysis, and strategic consulting services on global IT product and technology trends, focusing on markets and industries in Asia-Pacific. MIC is part of the Institute for Information Industry. https://mic.iii.org.tw/english