Xbox One Launch in China

Xbox One launched in China and reports say that 100,000 units were sold on day 1. The goal is to sell 1 million units within the first 12 months. Microsoft says that shipments of Xbox One in North America achieved 5 million units in the past six months. In Japan the sales in the first week were 23,500 units.

Korean Games

China’s export of games continues to rise. Korean and Chinese gamers share similar interests in PC online games. An announcement from Korea highlighted that ¼ of Korea’s game revenues come from China, up from 12.3% in 2012. The Korean market in 2012 had a value of $8.3 billion.

McDonald’s WoW Makeovers

World of Warcraft may have waned in popularity in recent months but some places are still hot for the game. A report in Kotaku stated that some McDonald’s establishments in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou have been decorated thoroughly with a WoW theme.

Four Million iPhone 6 Preorders

A report in Tech in Asia states that there have been more than 4 million preorders of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in China, with the first 2 million preorders occurring in the first six hours the option was open.

New Gambling Bill in Singapore

A new gambling bill in Singapore that broadens the definition of gambling has game developers worried because it may have dire consequences for free-to-play games, say some Singaporean law firms. We will look into this and write about the impact in our upcoming 2014 Southeast Asian Games Market Regional Report, due to be published in November.