Internet gaming: 'A winning gamble'

In October, Blizzard and NetEase had the first simultaneous world launch of the latest edition of World of Warcraft series: Mists of Pandaria.

Launching products in China with other countries simultaneously has been a goal for Blizzard for a very long time. The company started the process early to allow time for government approval, said Morhaime.

"The climate in China has become much more friendly toward the game industry. That has allowed us to achieve the goal of having a simultaneous launch. From my perspective, I think we are heading in the right direction," said the chief executive officer, who acknowledging there is still room for the improvement of regulations.

The challenge for the company is that it has to guess the government's attitude each time. Unclear government regulations are a big distraction and use time that could be spent on making better products, said Morhaime.

"When we know exactly what the regulations are, it will make it easier to navigate our path," he said. "The clarity of policy is all we need from the government. When we have questions we need clear answers."

Another challenge is from emerging platforms including mobile games and browser games, which have both experienced rapid growth recently.

The turnover of China's mobile gaming market is soon going to hit 5.2 billion yuan ($835 million) as the number of players reach 270 million, said a report from Beijing-based research firm iResearch Inc.

Industry insiders warned the quickly growing mobile gaming sector could erode the market share of PC games. The number of Chinese mobile game players is likely to exceed PC game players by the end of this year.

However, Morhaime thought that the new gaming platforms are providing a lot of opportunity for all game developers including PC games.

"I don't see the new gaming platforms will necessarily replace PC games. There are still audiences that want a more deep, immersive experience. That will provide room for all types of games to develop," said Morhaime.

In addition, having more accessible platforms and a larger sale base will actually provide opportunities for PC game makers as well because the aggregate number of players is bigger. The time spent on gaming will continue to grow, he added.

gaoyuan@chinadaily.com.cn

 

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