GTL: China Monopolizes Gaming Worldwide
By Twin Galaxies Editorial Staff ·
Chinese-owned Tencent is the #1 gaming company in the world for the fifth year in a row. The company holds stakes in the studios that brought us games like League of Legends, PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS, and Assassin's Creed: Odyssey. Despite severe government regulations, Chinese gamers are a powerful force. Will American companies like Sony, Apple, Microsoft, and Blizzard be able to keep up?
The gaming industry is growing every year, but in some regions the growth is much stronger. The Chinese gaming market has skyrocketed over the past few years, with developers looking to expand into the region to capitalize on a larger player base than the West. Is the market that easy to break into however, and what happens when Chinese developers want to break into the Western market? On this episode of Game Talk Live, Host Mandie Roman covers these topics and more alongside her panel of experts, this week joined by Lisa Cosmas Hanson, Managing Partner and Founder of Niko Partners, and Luke Stapley, Senior Overseas Marketing Director for Synative.
The panel starts the episode by looking at the incredible numbers surrounding the gaming industry in China, as well as the differences between how gaming is viewed both in China and the West. The panel then looks at the market dominance of companies such as Tencent, and what exactly they have at their disposal.
The topic then turns to how Western developers can break into the Chinese market, with recent changes to how games can be released in the region. With new laws restricting the release of games in China, will companies put in the time and effort to try and tap the growing market? The panel then looks at the prevalence of bootleg games and copies, and how developers can make sure their products are what people play, rather than a copied version.
"Chinese consumers will pay the market price of whatever they want to buy [but] the producers produce a lot of copycats that are either cheaper or more accessible." -@nikochina Managing Partner and Founder, Lisa Cosmas Hanson
— GameTalkLive (@GameTalkLive) June 18, 2018
Live: https://t.co/vDD67TRHJh#videogames #gamedev pic.twitter.com/TWwhCsjqWx
The panel then looks at the many facets of Tencent, and how much control they have in the Chinese scene and beyond. The discussion focuses on the platforms of choice for the Chinese market, and how that affects what games do well in the region. The panel also looks at the difference in preferences between Chinese gamers and Western gamers, as well as how certain game choices, such as loot boxes, are viewed differently in the regions.
"The top 2 factors for Chinese #gamers are competition and completion. In the West,...storyline and art style are much more important."
— GameTalkLive (@GameTalkLive) June 18, 2018
-Lisa Cosmas Hanson of @nikochina on Motivational Based Segmentation Analysis of #ChineseGamershttps://t.co/3M6turagXf#GamersUnite pic.twitter.com/PFQ2v5PKiR
This episode of Game Talk Live has wrapped up for today, but you can catch it in its entirety in the video embedded above. Meanwhile, don't miss out on the previous episode of Game Talk Live in which expert panelists run down through the big stories from E3 2018, here.