Chinese Online Game Market Exceeded $2.8 Billion in 2008, says Study

Pearl Research today revealed that the Chinese online gaming market reached $2.8 billion in 2008, an increase of roughly 63 percent over the previous year. In their "Games Market in China" study, they also predict that the market will reach $5.5 billion by 2012. 

"Trends to track in 2009 include the growth of social networking sites in China, with over 55 million users, and their cross-pollination with games," said Allison Luong, Managing Director of Pearl Research. "One overall concern is the lack of diversification with many game operators relying on a single title for the bulk of revenues. In addition, a glut of content with more than 200 games on the market, makes releasing a breakout hit increasingly difficult."

Optimism pervades the Chinese gaming industry, as the small unit sales of gaming have not been cut back on during the economic downturn. Tencent, Changyou, The9, Netease, Shanda and Giant all surpassed the $200 million revenue mark, with Fantasy Westward Journey netting 1.8 million peak concurrent users, followed by Zhengtu Online with 1.5 million, Dungeon and Fighter at 1.2 million and World of Warcraft at 1 million. Roughly 70 percent of China's 298 million Internet users are under the age of 30, which Pearl believes will be the main drivers in the online gaming market.