A golden age for gaming on the go

Developers plan more games and different platforms as demand peaks

Protecting her carrot from the hordes of monsters who want to eat it is the foremost challenge for 24-year-old Hannah Liu, a financial magazine editor, as she wades her way through Carrot Fantasy, a popular tower defense game developed by a Chinese startup company, during the hour-long daily subway ride to her office in downtown Beijing.

Liu is just one of many who are playing Carrot Fantasy in China, with its download numbers on the Android operating system alone reaching 20 million by March, according to information provided by software company Qihoo 360 Technology Co.

Mobile gaming is one of the fastest growing sectors in China, with estimates indicating that the sector could clock up turnover in excess of 20 billion yuan ($3.2 billion) by 2015. That in turn, is sweet music for developers and mobile gaming software makers in China as statistics indicate that more than 32 percent of the total time spent by a consumer on mobile devices is for gaming purposes. Social networking apps came a close second at 24 percent in the market survey conducted by IT market research firm Flurry Analytics.

"The thriving mobile game sector has fueled the growth of China's smartphone market with mobile game users exceeding 250 million in the fourth quarter of last year," the Beijing-based Internet research company Analysys International said in a recent report.

Earlier this year, China overtook the United States as the world's biggest market for active Android and iOS smartphones and tablets, the Flurry study said. China had about 246 million smart interactive devices, including mobile phones and tablets, by the end of February, it said.

Smartphones based on the Android system continued to be the most used gaming devices in China, according to Analysys International.

Although gaming revenue on the Android platforms increased dramatically in 2012, it still lagged behind Apple Inc's iOS, its long-time competitor, in terms of revenue generating ability.

"The iOS is the most preferred platform for game developers because for every $1 earned on iOS, developers can expect to earn only about 24 cents on Android," said David Liu, founder and CEO of gaming company RedAtoms Inc.

From a global perspective, iOS still remains the clear revenue leader across most countries. In South Korea, home of Samsung Electronics Co, the market veers heavily toward Google Play, whereas in Japan the spend is more or less even across both platforms, said App Annie, an international mobile app ranking company.

China was the fourth largest revenue contributor for iOS as of February, climbing from No 8 a year ago, according to Junde Yu, vice-president of App Annie Asia-Pacific.

"Monthly downloads on iOS in China increased 36 percent from February 2012 to February 2013 while monthly revenue surged 221 percent during the same period," said Yu.

Currently most of the top growing apps on the iOS platform are games, said Liu from RedAtoms. He suggested that developers should come out with games that are free to play but need payment for unlocking the premium services as the best business model. About 80 percent of the top games offer in-app purchases in China, said a recent RedAtoms study.

"As of today, high-end players are stuck on iOS. In the long run, Android will become the most significant mobile platform because it is open and it is already making inroads into the iOS market," said David Liu.

China has established a number of trustworthy online payment services, enabling players to purchase more paid content from app stores.

Some developers may find it's easy to get earnings in the mobile sector because of an increasing number of Chinese players who are willing to pay for gaming apps.

"The profit efficiency for mobile games is much higher than developing traditional PC games," said Hang Guoqiang, manager of an Internet industrial park funded by China Mobile Ltd, the nation's biggest telecommunications carrier.

"Chinese players are more willing to buy mobile games than to purchase PC games. Profit efficiency in PC games was around 1 to 2 percent, while the rate was 7 to 30 percent in mobile gaming sector," said Hang, adding that more than a quarter of the players are paying 5 to 10 yuan a month for mobile games.

Young players were more likely to download paid games because they have better intellectual property awareness and are comfortable in making online payments, industry researchers said.

An Analysys International report showed that about 70 percent of the players were below the age of 35.