Latest research by Newzoo, sponsored by GlobalCollect, the world's premier payment service provider of local e-payments, profiles 150 million Chinese and 16 million Korean gamers
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
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CONTACT:
Newzoo
Peter Warman
CEO Newzoo
tel: +31 (0)20 6635816
e-mail: peter@newzoo.com
or
GlobalCollect
Bettina Duske
Senior Manager PR & Marketing Communications
tel: +31-(0)23 567 1500
e-mail: press.globalcollect@globalcollect.com
(Graphic: Business Wire)