Microsoft has teamed up with NetEase by giving the company an exclusive deal to sell Minecraft in China. The country's video game industry is the world's biggest market and is worth an estimated $24.4 billion this year. Microsoft's subsidiary Mojang has issued a 5-year license for NetEase to distribute PC and mobile versions of the popular sandbox game.
The partnership was announced on May 20, Friday. However, no details were revealed about when the new versions of Minecraft will be rolled out, or the price tag of the deal, according to Ars Technica.
Mojang will develop a new China version of Minecraft for the tech giant. Selling the game in the world's most populated country could greatly increase the company's revenue. In 2014 Microsoft acquired Minecraft from Mojang for $2.5 billion.
The Bill Gates co-founded company already sells an estimated 10,000 copies of Minecraft daily, according to Seeking Alpha. A PC version license costs about $27, while the PlayStation and Xbox versions cost between $17 and $20.
The Xbox version was rolled out in China late last year. However, gaming consoles in China have a much smaller market share of the video game industry than PCs and smartphones.
Meanwhile, the Minecraft Pocket Edition for iOS/Android costs $7. SensorTower estimated last month's global sales totaled $4 million. That includes the 30 percent share for Apple and Google.
Mojang has also launched a freemium mobile game named "Minecraft: Story Mode," which had net sales of $1.4 million in April 2015.
Minecraft's yearly revenue is about $140.8 million per year. Entering China's fast-growing gaming industry will make it easier for Microsoft to requite the $2.5 billion it invested in Mojang.
Western software developers also often have to deal with a lot of red tape when trying to launch new games in China. This explains why Microsoft licensed the game to another company instead of launching it from its Shanghai campus.
PopCap executive James Gwertzman claimed in 2010 that dealing with government regulations was the most difficult part of doing business in China. He stated it at the Game Developers Conference.
Gwertzman also pointed out that local versions of games such as Minecraft help boost sales in China. That was true of PopCap's "Plants vs. Zombies."
Here's the trailer for Minecraft Pocket Edition: