Posts Tagged ‘Niko Partners’

New Report: Southeast Asian gaming market to reach $1.7 billion by 2014

Thursday, November 11th, 2010

In a recently released report by leading Asian video game market intelligence firm Niko Partners, it appears as though Southeast Asia is following China’s lead in regards to online gaming growth. As part of a regional market size estimate and forecast of seven individual market reports, Niko predicts that the Southeast Asian market (including the region of Taiwan) will reach $917 million by the end of 2010, and will grow to $1.7 billion by 2014. This figure represents a 14 percent compound annual growth rate over a four year period.

While each of the countries profiled in the study have their own unique factors involved including specific gamer behavior and the availability of video games, the most significant markets to watch are Vietnam and Taiwan. However, countries currently experiencing growth, particularly in the online gaming usage and revenue generating sector include Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Singapore. As mentioned above, each of these markets contain their own unique factors surrounding video game usage. Religious, cultural, economic, regulatory, technology, geography, and language are all factors that contribute to the differences between each individual market. Of all factors that bind these unique groups together, Niko found a surge in PC online gaming being the most common theme.

“Niko Partners has provided data-oriented market intelligence on China’s online game industry for eight years,” said Lisa Cosmas Hanson, managing partner of Niko Partners. “As a result of researching the Southeast Asian markets as well as Taiwan, we recognize that China has influenced the online game industry throughout Asia, and in some countries that influence has been quite important. Our understanding of the online games segment and of Chinese online gamers and the overall video game market in China provides Niko a unique and relevant vantage point to analyze these additional emerging markets in Asia.”

Additional notable statistics from the Niko Partners report:

  • In 2010 there are 64 million gamers throughout these seven Asian emerging markets : Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam and the region of Taiwan.
  • Niko identified these emerging markets as having the most promise and importance in Southeast Asia for the games industry.

The full reports, broken down per country, are available from Niko Partners and are filled with 32-38 pages of data based on 120-130 surveys and interviews in each market, as well as 28-30 data examples per report.

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Niko Partners: Chinese Game Revenues to reach close to $10B by 2014

Friday, April 2nd, 2010

Niko Partners, a leading research firm focused on providing market intelligence about the Chinese video game industry, recently released data from their upcoming study, projecting $9.2 billion in revenue from online games in China in 2014. This study falls right in line with their 2013 projections, which place the market at a valuation of $8.9 billion.

According to the report, the vast majority of revenue generated in the Chinese online gaming market is derived from sales of virtual goods in free-to-play titles. To put this growth in perspective, Niko currently estimates the 2009 market to generate around $3.57 billion. Their 2010 prediction indicates a 21 percent growth to $4.5 billion.

The report also references a survey conducted by Niko of Chinese gamers. Conducted in 10 various major Chinese cities, the survey reveals that 65 percent of gamers in China access games from Internet cafes (still), and that their spending increased a whopping 63 percent in the past year. While most gamers do own their own PC’s, they indicated that the “gaming café” culture is still alive and well, as most Chinese gamers prefer to café game because of the social interaction.

“While the global economic downturn hurt video game publishers in much of the world, China’s online game industry reflected no pain in 2009 and gamers continued to embrace online games as the best inexpensive source of social entertainment available,” said Lisa Cosmas Hanson, managing partner of Niko Partners. “While the era of online gaming is generating lots of interest and growth opportunity in the West, China is one of the countries where online gaming is a well established market segment that extends its reach to more and more Chinese consumers every year.”

Other figures of note from Niko’s release:

  • Chinese gamers prefer the Free-to-Play (F2P) model of online games in which online operators generate revenue via the virtual economy, rather than the time-based model in which access is provided for a fixed number of pre-paid hours.
  • Social Networking Sites (SNS) games have gained popularity among Chinese consumers, and 88% of the gamers Niko surveyed claim to play SNS games.
  • At least 65% of gamers use Internet cafés at least part of the time.
  • There were 68 million online gamers in China by our definition at the end of 2009 and by 2014 the number should reach 141 million, a 15.5% CAGR.

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Q2 sees China’s Online Game Revenue jump 40 percent to $906 million

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

Perhaps it’s just simply a matter of timing, but recent figures from research firm Analysys International arrive hot on the heels of the Chinese Government’s announcement that they’re banning foreign investment, or ‘influence’ in the domestic online gaming market. Their recent report indicates that the Chinese online gaming market grew 39.5 percent year over year in Q2 2009 to a massive 6.18 billion yuan, or approximately $906 million.

W020090123324470898658Coming out on top was popular online messaging platform Tencent Holdings. While the company’s QQ messenger is still the primary driver for Tencent, they also operate a number of free-to-play games in the Chinese domestic market. In this Q2 report, Tencent managed to carve out 20.2 percent of market revenues totaling 1.24 billion yuan (~$182 million).

Taking the number 2 Q2 spot was Shanda Games, the recent spinoff from Shanda Interactive Entertainment, which pulled down 20 percent of market revenues with a revenue total of 1.23 billion yuan (~$180 million).

Rounding out the top three, NetEase.com, the recent winners of the highly lucrative Blizzard/Activision World of Warcraft operators license in China managed a healthy 12.7 percent of Chinese domestic market share. While only culling 780 million yuan (~$114 million), in Q2, it’s important to remember that NetEase.com has been through the ringer with Chinese regulators regarding the support levels that Blizzard would fill in the contract.

If these Q2 numbers are any indication, it seems like Niko Partners, who made projections and put some numbers to the page back in May of this year, are right on track. Their report indicates that by 2013, the Chinese online gaming market should reach an annual revenue number value of $8.9 billion. While the market shows no signs of slowing, in fact these numbers clearly indicate a continued growth, it will be interesting to see how the governments’ recent decision to pull the plug on foreign investments in the domestic gaming will effect this growth, and associated revenue streams, if at all.

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Chinese online gaming market to reach 64.9 million online players by years end

Monday, August 31st, 2009

With only 3 months left in the single digits 21st century, San Jose, California based Niko Partners is projecting a whopping 64.9 million online gamers under the Chinese flag by years’ end.

While this number is truly staggering, looking at the bottom line is awe-inspiring. According to Niko Partners, each of these 64.9 million gamers will spend on average $52 a pop. Pulling out the calculator, and doing a quick AxB, the Chinese online gaming marketing is in the $3.4 billion range. And remember, the Asian market is the birthplace of the free-to-play, microtransaction based gaming. This $52 on average/person comes directly from the sales of virtual items purchases, as well as advertiser supported in-game advertising.

china-internetNiko Partners Managing Partner Lisa Cosmas Hanson comments, “There’s no doubt that the market for games is growing at an incredible rate in China. The economics of the market are shifting from supply-driven to demand-driven.”

Niko’s numbers seem to be right in line with what they projected earlier this year. Documenting the Chinese online gaming market over 2008, Niko put revenues at $2.75 billion. In May Hanson commented, “China’s online market has plenty of room for growth in the next five years, and much of that growth will come from beyond the major metropolises where the number of Internet cafés, home PC penetration and Internet usage are all on the rise.”

Of particular note in Niko’s earlier study, and presumably still true in these newest numbers, Niko places 77 percent of total revenues coming from the MMO market, the remaining 23 percent coming from casual games

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