Internet Cafes still important, but shift to home and mobile gaming continues to alter market

SAN JOSE, Calif. – July 11, 2013 – Niko Partners, the leader in Asian Games Market Intelligence™, today announced the availability of Location of Gameplay and Gaming Hardware Report, 2013, the latest market update with detailed data on gamer preferences, actual behavior, installed PC hardware details, and more.

Key takeaways from Niko’s Location of Gameplay and Gaming Hardware Report include:

* The majority of PC online games revenue is now generated from home-based gameplay rather than I-cafe gameplay
* AMD continues to gain share among the installed base of systems in Internet Cafés.
* Among home gamers, Lenovo continues to dominate, along with several other local vendors, displacing other global brands.
* While tablets and other mobile devices are growing in usage, gamers still expect to purchase new PCs to replace aging systems.
* I-cafe gamers are playing more shooter and battle arena games than MMORPGs, which had previously dominated I-cafe gameplay.

“Internet cafes remain important for utilitarian usage as well as social usage, but the majority of PC online games revenue is generated from home-based gameplay rather than I-café gameplay,” said Kevin Hause, senior partner of Niko Partners. “Further, we notice that shooter games and battle arena games have led gamers back to I-cafés for social competition more so than MMORPGs do.”

Based on Niko’s quarterly home gamer surveys, Internet café games system and usage data, and Top Ten games lists, this report provides one of the most detailed looks at the Chinese gamer and their systems. Beyond the general trend towards more game play in the home, we also detail the impact that mobile gaming is having on behavior, expectations, and preferences.

This is critical analysis for any online game company, PC hardware maker, components maker, service provider, or institutional investor with an eye on China.

Data for this report includes specific market shares for Internet Café systems, including CPU, GPU, and other data; as well as detailed Internet Café gaming usage data and survey information on Gamer behavior. The Internet Café hardware data is based on actual system data from over 25,000 active systems across Tier 1 and 2 cities in China, while the survey information is based on the quarterly survey of 2,000 home gamers.

The 34-page report with 27 data exhibits is available now online or by contacting sales@nikopartners.com, for $4,000. The report is automatically sent to annual subscribers to our research, who also will receive several other deliverables and consulting services during the year. In September we will publish China’s Mobile Games Market Report 2013.

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