Mail Ru : Game Division Expands Cooperation with China

01.09.2016

Mail.Ru Group Game Division Expands Cooperation with China

The parties will collaborate on developing the competences of Russian game companies on the Chinese market, securing favorable conditions for expanding the market of Russian game products in China, and on measures to attract Western and Asian partners in order to establish a global union in the gaming industry.

'Currently, the key regions for the expansion of our game business are Europe and the USA. However, we are also aware that the Chinese mobile games market has great potential. We intend to examine it more thoroughly and improve our expertise, including through cooperation with local partners on all levels, from developers to public institutions,' comments Mail.Ru Group's deputy director for games Ilya Karpinsky.

According to Newzoo, the Chinese games market is the largest in the world: in 2015, it reached USD 22.2 billion, with 29% of income attributed to mobile games. There are more than 440 million gamers in China, and 35% of them use paid services. The average annual spending of a user for paid services totals about USD 141.38.

Mail.Ru Group's game department is the leader in the Eastern European online entertainment market, and the largest domestic developer of mobile and massively multiplayer online games, including popular Chinese projects. These include Perfect World - a Chinese MMO loved throughout the world, and a new online project called Revelation created by the largest Chinese game developer NetEase. The cost of Revelation's development totaled more than USD 61.5 million. Currently, the project is slated for debut in Russia, and it has been widely acclaimed on the Chinese market. In 2015 Revelation was one of two MMO games that achieved great commercial success.