Asian Game Markets and Game Development

This is an excerpt from the Article

Asian Game Markets and Game Development – Mass Market for MMP Games
by Adi Gaash

The Main Players – Who Does What

First of all we have the game developers: small, medium and large-scale companies that design both graphics and story and that program the games as well. The games are usually based on an existing game engines and communication technology. The companies support the game product throughout its full life cycle: from the early stage of the game's development and up to its final implementation, support (patches, etc.) and development of future versions.

Most of the successful developers are local companies. This is not surprising, since they cater to the preferences and tastes of the local end users much better than foreign companies. The aesthetic differences are evident when you examine content and graphic design, for example Manga titles vs. Walt Disney titles or Shrek. Games in China are based on local mythology and historical events (such as The Three Kingdoms) which have great appeal to the local gamer. There are a few hundred local companies that develop exclusively for this MMP industry. Some of them try to export their games, but most of them are meant to be sold inside the Asia market.

The central place for game studios is Korea. Some of the Korean studios also have branches in other Asian countries, but generally most of the content comes from Korea. Some of the prominent companies in the local industry are NCsoft, Nexon and Webzen...


Next, we have the service providers. Unlike the standard developer-publisher food chain, here the Internet service provider takes the place of the traditional publisher. Business-wise this makes a lot of sense, as promotion for new content can be easily carried out by online platforms. For example, Chinese companies SINA and NETEASE provide e-mail and web hosting services, but by looking at their web sites, one can see that those companies' main business is massively multiplayer role-playing games (MMP RPGs).

The companies buying the local rights handle most of the service and support issues, and of course get most of the revenues. For funding, check NASDAQ for updates on some of the service providers. If this business is new to you, you will be surprised by the numbers and by the dramatic change this online Asian market has brought to the global market.

Last but not least, we have the Internet cafés. Unlike the common use of Internet café in the West, in the East an Internet café functions most of the time as a "gaming café," with most of the activities being focused on games. One can say that they have replaced the 80s' and the 90s' arcades with regard to computer gaming.

As this option for online gaming use became easier to implement, chains of Internet – gaming café quickly gained in popularity. You can find a franchise as easily as you can find a fast food joint. In some cases, Internet café chains function as service providers with regard to publishing new games; my previous development firm negotiated directly with them for the rights to the game we have been developing. One of the major Internet café chains may be equivalent to a major service provider in helping a game become popular and achieve market penetration.

Communication Infrastructure to Support Your Game!

The fast Internet infrastructure situation is promising, as most of the houses in the main cities are already connected to broadband Internet – and those that are not yet connected will most probably be connected in the near future. Funny as it may sound; a room in a cheap hotel in Seoul might not be equipped with towels and a bar of soap but will have a PC and a broadband connection. Taiwan for example published a plan last year to build the infrastructure to provide full broadband access to the whole island.

As you know there are other communication services that become increasingly popular, such as video on demand and videoconference calling. The demand for these services speeds up the building of the infrastructure. Thus infrastructure and telecommunication firms like China Telecom, China Networks and others promote this idea to provide their customers an attractively priced communication package consisting of telephone, TV and Internet. Service providers have already contacted telecommunications companies to include online gaming services in their content packages.

According to a DFC Intelligence report, "the rate of broadband penetration has grown even more rapidly in certain Asian markets, most notably China, Korea, Taiwan and Japan". Their relatively optimistic estimate of 30.6 million households in Asia with broadband connection by the end of 2003 was exceeded by almost 18%. Since they also state that "the countries with the highest broadband penetration are some of the hottest markets for online games", we can conclude that the potential for online games in the Asian market is very high.

If you found this post interesting you should checkout the full article in the book MMP Game Development.