With more Chinese playing games on their smartphones, China is expected to become the largest market for mobile games in the coming years. (Photo : Reuters)
Mobile game developers and distributors in China are finding it hard to turn a profit in the rapidly changing market.
According to Lin Yongsong, president of online game portal 9Game, "developers are under great pressure for survival." He added that many games have been launched this year, but very few have become hits.
"The quality of most games has improved, yet the revenue has not grown accordingly," Lin added.
While Lin said that the quality of games has improved, very few are turning a profit. He added that the improved quality is reflected in the number of games that were launched this year, which doubled from last year, while there are fewer game developers, which is the result of the capital market's declining interest in the sector.
According to a 9Game survey, over 1,000 games were launched through the website in 2014, but only 2 percent of the developers turned a profit.
Lin said that while some games might become hits thanks to the strong distribution channels controlled by companies like Baidu, UC and Qihoo 360, distributors have to work more on marketing to build a successful game.
He added that game publishers that work on distribution channels but fail to improve on marketing will not survive the business.
Lin also said that the mobile game market is becoming more diversified, creating new opportunities for female gamers and professional gamers.
"When games have become everyday entertainment, it has become different from the PC age. Mobile games today still mainly serve male, heavy gamers, but the fact that many women use mobile phones presents good opportunities," Lin said.
As of now, PC gaming still brings in more revenue than mobile gaming in China, but the gap is closing, with the growth of PC gaming revenue slowing down while that of mobile gaming on the rise.
There are also roughly three times more mobile gamers than PC gamers, with 365 million smartphone gamers in 2014.
