Players: a huge base， a continuing dreamEarlier this year， the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) released “The 25th China Internet Development Statistics Report.” The report shows that the internet game players nationwide in 2009 continued to grow to a scale of 265 million， up by 41.5% comparing with statistics in 2008. What is also worth our concern is that the online game is the only Internet entertainment service which had upward trend in usage， with its percentage rising from 62.8% in 2008 to 68.9% in 2009. The increase of 6 percentage points in just one year provides the conclusive evidence of this fast-growing online game market.CNNIC’s survey also showed that as of 2009， the domestic massive online game users had reached nearly 70 million， while in 2008 there were only 55 million， achieving a growth rate of nearly 25% in one year. The major online game companies all made themselves a huge fortune in the substantial growth in game users.According to experts， there are two main reasons for this massive growth of online game users in 2009. First， web games maintained a sound trend in development， playing a stimulating role in increasing the numbers of the user; second， the SNS (Social Networking Service) game enjoyed a rapid rise in 2009， of which the interpersonal relationships and simple operation established a great platform for users to access to online games.So who exactly are playing those online games? According to CNNIC’s survey， among the online game users in the country， students accounted for 37.2%， topping the list; company employees accounted for 31.2%， ranking second place; freelance or self employed accounted for 11.8%， coming in third. The three categories above accounted for more than 80% in all game users. Although the survey did not provide age data， according to daily experience， students often started playing the online games since their upper primary stage; company employees gradually stayed away from online games while they got older， with the age about 30 years old as a boundary limit. Judging from the above， we can draw a conclusion that the domestic online game users are mainly concentrated in between the ages of 10-30， and mainly consisted of students， company employees， and a considerable number of freelancers or individual practitioners. Also， the mainstream of online game players can only be these people because even if other groups of people want to play online games， their time and energy are greatly limited.At the moment， online games have become the new darling of entertainment for young students and leisure necessary for white-collars. Why are online games so intoxicated and loved by players， even making them stay out all night? The main reason for the obsession with online games can be summarized into the following three aspects. First， they can enjoy the thrill of PK in battles; second， they can appreciate the beauty of graphics and music in the game; third， they are able to make up regrets in real life and gain a sense of achievement and identity.A network management in Huifeng Internet Cafe in Nangang District， Harbin told the reporter that a growing number of Internet users like to play online role-playing games such as “World of Warcraft”， “DNF”， etc. He also provided the reason of this phenomenon. The competition is everywhere in real life， and those who can ultimately come out on top are very few. So people try to get into the illusory world of the Web and through playing the role in intense fighting for final victory to fill the lack of confidence and obtain the pleasure of winning.The network management in Xiaoyao Internet Cafe in Zhengzhou， said that almost all of the currently developed games adopted the new distributed processing technology， and the graphics were all beautiful and dynamic with enchanting music and cool actions. These can be a great enjoyment for those who seek spiritual comfort in the visionary and fantastic online world. The network management in Chuangtianxia Internet Cafe in Shenzhen said in the interview that during the game， players can set their ideas free and unrestrained， and make their dream of becoming heroes to the limit. Players can get completely relaxed while experiencing the joy of success. This feeling of playing online games is so good that it greatly exceeds the joy provided by other entertainment and leisure activities.Companies: more new products and more marketingOver the past few years， due to the strong promotion of the mode “game for free， props charge”， the relevant listed companies in online game industry all gained a gross profit margin of more than 70%. To many people’s great envy， this industry can be “earning even while sleeping”. As of today， it is no longer that easy， and the growth of profits of many companies in the industry starts to slow down. Chen Xiaowei， President of The 9， once told the press that despite the profit margins of the current industry still being regarded as higher than most other industries， the online game industry had been unable to maintain the excessive profits since the above operation mode emerged 5 years ago.Let’s see the crux of the above operation mode. The online game companies have been through the process of pursuing from PCU (Peak Concurrent Users) to ARPU (Average Revenue per User). Although high ARPU would bring great benefits， as time went by， it might form the phase-out effect of “paid users take it all”， making an inevitable loss of low-level users. Then， the game would gradually lose its vitality.While reflecting on the charge mode， some of the giants in the online games industry have found a new way– web games. Prior to this， the majority of the domestic online game companies mainly concentrate on MMORPG(Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games). But now， web games have gradually become one of the new focuses in the development of the industry.“The profit margin of web games is higher than traditional MMORPG， and this may be the reason why giants in the industry start launching projects in this field”， said one industry insider. He pointed out that， comparing with MMORPG games， the threshold for web games was much lower in aspects of development， promotion costs， and the player entrance， etc. There were no client restrictions， and new players could get access to online games more easily.When accepting telephone interview， a network management in Happy Inn Internet Cafe in Guiyang confirmed the rising popularity of web games. He pointed out that the web game was actually played using web browsers， and it did not need to download any client. It could be played in any place at any time， as long as there was a computer with internet access. Besides， its access to games was fast and easy， and there was no problem of insufficient machine configuration. Thus， more and more players began to favor this new type of online game.According to “2009-2010 China’s Online Game Industry Research Report” released by iResearch on April 1 this year， the domestic web game market amounted to RMB 990 million in 2009， up by 97.2%， and this figure will reach 1.47 million in 2010. IResearch analysts believed that the future revenues of web games would account for 5% to 10% of the total income of China’s online game industry.During the past two years， the domestic self-developed online game products showed a good market trend. They had a lot of places worthy of praise， for instance， the popularity of the game theme， and the playability of the game itself， etc. Particularly， there were a lot of good casual games with creativity. So people are having high expectations on getting rid of foreign games， which are currently flooded in China.Currently， the development of casual games is rapid. With its features of relaxing and simple， casual games are widely welcome by working population， with its market growth rate already exceeding the MMORPG games.In the structure of the casual games， the competition among music and dance games show an intense state. There are more than 10 similar types of games in China， of which the most known are “Groove Party”， “5JQ”， “We Dance Online”， “QQ X5” and so on. The success of the Beijing Olympic Games greatly inspired people’s desire for sports. As the perfect combination of sports and online games， racing and sport games become the best option for players. The favorites include “Popkart”，“Super Racing” and “Crazy Racing”， etc.， as racing games; and “Street Basketball”， “Kicking” etc.， as sport games. In addition， there are interesting games which pay attention to the players’techniques， represented by “QQ Speed of Sound” and “BNB”. Those types of games become a new form of game in the industry. They try to raise their playability by their interesting designs and by constantly updating and upgrading their features. As observed in a number of Internet cafes， casual games， although not comparable with largescale online games， are still favored by a lot of players， especially by female players and young players alike.Policy: using strong management to promote developmentOn August 1 this year， the nation’s first online games management rule and norm， the “Interim Measures for Online Game” was introduced， in which special emphasis was made on the protection of adolescents playing online games. The measures have caused a wide range of social debate since its introduction. After all， there are a considerable amount of teenage online games players. Our reporter randomly interviewed some internet cafes in different cities to see their views on this matter.Network management of Times Internet Cafe in Shijiazhuang thought that the Interim Measures had a core principle for the content of games， i.e.， encouraging research and development， carrying forward the fine national culture， promoting healthy， educational and entertaining online games. He believed that the recently released online games had all got the approval of relevant government departments， so there should not be any major problems， and would not impact on young players.The network management in New Concept Internet Cafe in Kaifeng said the Interim Measures had little effect on young players， because the students nowadays had much more academic pressure and their parents were stricter on them. Thus， they already spent a lot less time coming to cafes and playing games than before.The network management in Space-time Internet Cafe in Jinan told reporter that the implementation of the real-name system in the Interim Measures would definitely play a positive role， but there were still many problems unsolved， such as how to protect the safety of the players’ personal information. Until the resolution of those issues， the business Internet cafes would not be affected.From the above interview， it can be seen that the full implementation of real-name system can prevent teenagers playing game in the Internet cafes to the utmost， and greatly reduce the operational risks of Internet cafes. However， it can also cause problems such as decreased attendance and increase the cost of Internet cafes， etc. Solving these problems takes time， and the online games market will not be affected significantly during this period.As the country’s Triple-play Service policy and the maturing of 3G mobile communication technology and network， the mobile phone games can enjoy broader prospects for development. Currently， the interoperability of WAP and WEB has become the trend， and it has already been applied in many advanced technologies. As the more high-end technology， the mobile phone online game is bound to give a broader game market in China.According to statistics released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in June 2010， the number of domestic mobile phone users has exceeded 700 million， of which mobile phone internet users has reached 277 million. However， according to Enfodesk， in 2008， the number of active domestic mobile phone game users has reached 10.83 million， a growth of 100.18% compared with 2007; in 2009， the data was 23.19 million， a growth of 114.13% compared with 2008. Judging only by the date， there is still much room for development， as the number of domestic mobile phone game users is still small comparing with mobile phone users， not to mention there are 700 million mobile users besides that. Along with the state’s technical transformation of the three major networks， i.e.， the telecommunications networks， computer networks and television networks， as well as the popularity of 3G networks， the threshold of mobile phone games will be significantly reduced， and more mobile phone users will likely become supporters of mobile phone games.Since September 1 this year， the three giant mobile operators will carry out real-name system on all of the new subscribers. This is an effective and reasonable means of control， and has provided a guarantee basis for the healthy development of online mobile game. Imagine， the phone system can automatically prompt a message and deduct related expenses in your phone when mobile game players need to pay. This simple payment method not only greatly reduces the threshold for paid player standard， but also provides a broader entertainment channel for those who want to play online games anytime， anywhere.According to Enfodesk， in 2008 the revenues of China’s mobile phone game was RMB 1.365 billion， up 75.18% comparing with 2007; in 2009， the revenues was RMB 2.696 billion， up 97.51% comparing with 2008; Enfodesk predicts that in 2011， the domestic mobile game market is expected to increase to RMB 8.508 billion.It can be foreseen that companies which has had a glorious history in this industry such as Tencent， SNDA， and Netease will surely participate in the competition of mobile games， and thus bring a bright future for this field.The vast domestic market is the source of rapid growth in China’s online game industry. In the next few years， the domestic online game industry will continue to maintain a good momentum of development. IResearch has predicted that in the next 5 years， the overall online game market will maintain a growth rate of 20%. By 2012， China’s online games market is expected to reach RMB 68 billion， accounting for half of the global online games market.
