ECNS.cn is invited by MacFarlane to try out Land's End with an Oculus Rift. (Photo: Ecns.cn/Qian Ruisha)
(ECNS) -- Brett MacFarlane, director at Ustwo Games, the studio that created Monument Valley, is on a trade mission to China with 12 other UK mobile app and gaming companies this week. The delegation will visit Beijing and Shenzhen, including site visits to Chinese tech companies such as Baidu and Xiaomi.
Sam Raff is head of Creative Industries and Sports at UKTI (UK Trade & Investment) China, which organizes such trips to help business leaders in the UK learn the know-how of the China market.
China is taking the plunge in information technology. The country's overall internet penetration reached 49.3 percent in 2015. Of that, 83.4 percent was accessed via mobile devices.
The government is more supportive than ever, encouraging foreign investment in its high tech industries. Tech firms are going global, with Alibaba, Tencent, and Huawei acquiring firms overseas or setting up R&D centers.
UK companies are keen to ride the tide. ECNS.cn spoke with Mr. MacFarlane and Mr. Raff in Beijing on Monday. Here are excerpts from the conversation：
Q: Do you think it's a good time to tap the China market?
Raff: For the UK government, it's a big "yes." The UK and China have lots of synergy here. We've always had good relations on the cultural, creative side. China is hungry for new ideas, new content and new design. Its mobile space is so ahead of the game, in the size of the market, the speed of growth, and the disruptive nature of some technology. If you don't come to China, you might be missing out on something.
Q: What is the most challenging part for the UK firms to come to China?
MacFarlane: The relationship and the humanity is the most challenging because we believe in excellence. You have to invest lots of time in the relationship to the stage you understand each other, and genuinely empathize with each other. You're trying to do something that hasn't been done before, so there's always a little bit of uncertainty and you need that trust. When you treat the team as a product, you come up with the best outcomes.
Raff: From the British companies I talk to, it's understanding each others' values, and the drivers behind each other's businesses. Really trying to find out the DNA of your partner company, their long-term strategy and philosophy, that is most difficult to do at a distance. You need management time, you need to send people to China, or spend hours on Skype.
Q: Monument valley is a huge success worldwide. Lots of Chinese say it's one of the best mobile games they've ever played. But if you check rankings of top downloads, the most popular mobile games in China are action ones, similar to World of Warcraft by Blizzard. So, what is the taste of Chinese consumers?
MacFarlane: There's what they like by the volume of play and what they love, and often the two can be very, very different. Monument Valley is by design a deeply crafted creative game. It's done pretty well, with 23 million downloads globally and 11 million official purchases in China. But it's not a mass market game necessarily. It has long been a debate for us, because the idea of a premium game is unprecedented, and cheep, quick and cheerful games is a different pursuit. We love to create something that stands the test of time. You can go back 10 years later and still feel as relevant, pleasant and enjoyable as it is now.
Q: If you're to create a product, say, a mobile game for the China market, what's in sight?
MacFarlane: We're quite interested in VR (virtual reality), as we did in Land's End. As a new medium it's very powerful and interesting. We're looking to set up an incubator or a venture capital to explore the latest hardware technology. We're looking for partners who may be interested in this.
As to mobile games, a possible concept could be a cross-cultural one, with characters that can travel worldwide.
Q: The UKTI has led several tours to China for UK businessmen. What struck them most about the China market and what could be the next sweet spots?
Raff: People are intrigued by China, and they want to understand more about it. They're impressed with the scale of the growth, and how integrated these tech companies have managed to achieve. UK companies want to create collaborations in all kinds of areas, particularly gaming. We have some licensing deals done and some games localized. We also have tech firms in the retail sector, and they can bring interesting technology such as virtual fitting rooms to China.
MacFarlane: The thing that really blows me away in China is how quickly people move when you hit the right chord. You need to be smart and move fast.
Q: When many Chinese opt to use domestic tech services, in mobile payment for example, how do you persuade Chinese consumers to use British tech?
MacFarlane: When you dominate the market you're hard to displace, like the Amazon-Ebay lockup. External companies have to be very smart about where they play. Stealing market share is boring. They need to be really humble and empathetic in studying the existing behavior and how to make it better.
What British firms have is a real depth of craft and design. Craft and heritage within technology is an extraordinary strength for hardware.
As to mobile transactions, the space is really emerging in fintech, or personal money and financial health. This generation is growing up with digital currency, and the norms for centuries are fading away. China has an aggressive urbanization, and how to help people not only finish transactions, but work toward their goals, can be fascinating.
Raff: Yes. When you look at London, as the capital of global finance it has a long heritage of financial services. What happened in the last few years is a combination of tech and finance. Transaction is a big area, but there are a lot more behind the scenes, such as insurance and pensions. China is taking a leap ahead in mobile tech, and there will be new opportunities that people haven't even foreseen.
Q: Give us an example of a Chinese tech firm that has successfully gone global.
Raff: Huawei is the best example. What we value most about its presence is its R&D center, including the high-level jobs it created by connecting with universities and research centers. It's also doing amazingly well in the cell phone market. My team also helps many Chinese gaming firms come to the UK, such as Netease, Tencent, etc. This demonstrates the UK's strength as the heart of R&D and its importance in accessing the European market.
Q: What impresses you most about China's tech consumers?
MacFarlane: I'm impressed with how prominent tech is. You can see people consuming tech in underground, everywhere. That's cool.
Raff: My impression is people in China have less rules of what it can do or can't do. Everything seems to be open in technology. People are open to innovation and new ideas. It's quite cool that at meetings with bosses of big companies, people would exchange WeChat and snap selfies.
