AMSTERDAM--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Brand new survey results by Newzoo present unprecedented insights into Chinese and Korean gaming markets in terms of demographics, spending, and gaming preferences.
China and Korea share the passion for games but differ in gaming and
spending behavior
The comprehensive research focused on the
active Internet population of 190M Chinese and 26M Korean consumers aged
15 to 50 - the vast majority of whom play games: 76% (China) and 60%
(Korea). Both countries are known for their passion for MMO games,
illustrated by 100M MMO gamers in China and 8M in Korea. That
said, they differ strongly in their preference of social versus mobile
gaming. In Korea, 80% of all gamers play on a mobile device; in
China, casual game websites and games on social networks attract
a staggering 85%. Chinese gamers are also much more willing to pay for
games than Korean ones. In Korea, 52% of gamers never spend money on
games - comparable to the US with 53% - while this number drops to 36%
in China. Payment
preferences also differ greatly: in general, Koreans prefer
mobile payments / credit cards while Chinese people go for online /
prepaid payment methods.
How do Chinese and Korean demographics compare?
Similar to
Western countries, more than 40% of gamers are female in both
China (43%) and Korea (41%). Chinese gamers are slightly younger: 71%
are younger than 35, 65% in Korea. Koreans play more at home,
whereas Chinese gamers are more likely to do so at internet cafés.
Social gaming – a different ballgame in China and Korea
The
three dominant Chinese social networks - Qzone, RenRen, and Kaixin - are
used by 85%, 65%, and 53% of users respectively. Almost 50% of total
Internet time spent goes to social networks and more than one
third of that in turn is spent playing games. Approximately 45% of the
125M Chinese social gamers also spend money here, resulting in a 13% share
of wallet of total game spending. In Korea, only 20% of Internet
time goes to social networks. Moreover, only 15% of it is spent on
gaming and the group of 8M social gamers who actually pay is much lower
than in China.
Mobile gaming: playing is one thing - paying is another story
Despite
its enormous popularity in Korea, mobile gaming only accounts for a 12% budget
share spent overall on games; in China, this share is significantly
higher. There, growth in mobile games spending will be driven by the
increasing number of gamers; in Korea, it will come from a higher conversion
of players into payers.
About Newzoo
Newzoo is an international market research
firm completely focused on the games industry. Newzoo aims to provide
the best independent consumer market data across all game platforms and
business models. Newzoo also operates the global B2B portal
Gamesindustry.com and publishes the bi-annual Games Industry Black Book.
Clients include Jagex, GameHouse, Blizzard, EA, Koram Games, RTL Group,
PopCap, Innogames. www.newzoo.com.
About GlobalCollect
GlobalCollect is the world's premier
Payment Service Provider of local e-payment solutions for the online
Video Gaming industry. While most providers limit their services to a
technical link with payment acquirers, GlobalCollect is a full service
partner providing you with online game monetization market metrics and
best practices based on years of experience with international online
gaming leaders. Through a single-interface platform, we offer access to
an unrivalled portfolio of online payment methods in almost 200
countries and 170 currencies, including all major credit and debit
cards, e-wallets, direct debits, real-time banking, prepaid, cash at
outlets, and bank transfers. www.globalcollect.com
Please also visit our dedicated Gaming LinkedIn groups: Emerging Markets and Game Monetization
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