Battle of Social Networks in China
According to an article on InsideGamesAsia, there are many social networks in Asia whose popularity changes by country. Wechat from Tencent essentially owns China’s social network market. In Japan and Taiwan, Line is known to be the primary social app, while Kakaotalk has been stubbornly clenching onto its throne in Korea. At the same time, the global giant Facebook has been continuously making efforts to grow its presence in Asia as well. ValuePenguin came up with an exhibit to show the data they uncovered.
China’s mobile game market will hit $8.3 billion in 2017
Our most recent report, the 2016 Chinese Mobile Games Market Report & 5-Year Forecast, is now available. We anticipate that China’s mobile games market will reach $8.3 billion in 2017. In 2016, the market size will be $7.0 billion and Chinese mobile game developers will generate an additional $1.3 billion in revenue this year from mobile game exports to other markets. That export value is expected to nearly double to $2.1 billion in 2020. The report is far more than just a market size though – we surveyed more than 1,000 gamers, interviewed executives, analyzed trends and our forecast data, and summarize the M&A activity plus so much more – including detailed information about the latest regulations. Ask us for more information!
First international mobile e-Sports competition in Vietnam
As part of a global competition for Crisis Action, a mobile FPS game, VTC Mobile has promoted the Vietnam qualifying rounds for the Hero Pro League. With this year’s global competition reaching $5 million in cost and $1.5 million in prizes, this is the first international-scale mobile game competition that’s brought to Vietnam. The competitors from all over Vietnam will go through 3 rounds before being selected to represent Vietnam in Beijing in December this year. The Vietnam competition will have $10,000 in prizes and cost $270,000 for setup. Recently Niko’s Lisa Hanson was invited to observe an eSports tournament in Da Nang, Vietnam for League of Legends. It had teams from throughout Asia, but not other global regions. The Crisis Action mobile tournament will be interesting as an international mobile competition.
Tencent is currently the Most Valuable Company in Asia
According to Fortune, “Samsung has flagged over the last few days, however, after it had to issue a recall for its flagship Note 7 handset because of reports about battery fires. But stock in Tencent has continued to surge, rising 3.8% in Hong Kong on Monday. That took it to a valuation of HK$1.976 trillion ($255 billion). That jump takes Tencent narrowly past the market cap of China Mobile, and into the same premier league of public corporations as U.S. tech giants Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook. The Chinese e-commerce group Alibaba is not far behind, with a current valuation of around $250 billion.”
Sony Show coming back to Vietnam, larger than ever
The largest PlayStation showcase and tournament in Vietnam’s history is being hosted again this year in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City for 3 days in late September. Gamers will be treated to 4K TVs and Extra Bass headset setups, while enjoying the newest PS4 releases in many genres. Tournaments are also being held for Street Fighter V and PES, with total prizes worth up to $25,000, as well as discounts for products.
Investments in AR/VR
Gamelook reported that in Q1 2016 investment activities that took place in the AR/VR field totaled USD $1.7 billion, among which USD $1 billion is from China. Half of the USD $1 billion went to non-Chinese AR/VR companies. For example, 37Wan invested in Canadian company Archiact, Shanda invested in The Void amusement park;,and Jiu You Games invested in VR virtual character provider PLFX.
Niko Partners on Twitter
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