This post was first published on my blog - China Mobile Game Market, check it to learn more about China's mobile games market.
Chinese game companies often swear that they love games and even their receptionists do, but gamers and game producers in China often show opposite views.
A recent question on zhihu.com (the Quora of China) is “Why aren't there any game-focused game companies like Blizzard in China?”
The most recommended answer comes from a game designer – Hou Shuaiyin (侯帅英):
Blizzard owns a number of 30-to-40-year-old senior developers and designers, and most people who quit from large game companies and make indie games are also between thirty and forty.
However, ten years ago, video games were deemed as drugs in China, and the gaming industry didn't get on the right track until recent years, when web games and mobile games began to make big profits.
I mean there has been a gap of 20 years in game design between China and foreign countries, and fundamental technologies here are ten years behind. Such backward state is common in the whole computer science and software engineering in China.
From the market's perspective, it's a good thing that many non-gamers begin to touch video games, but infants can only be fed with milk instead of feasts.
I'm certainly optimistic about the future. Anyhow, so many terrible works set off those of us who want to make "funny" games by contrast.
Finally let me make some predictions, in 5 to 10 years, several Chinese single-player games might get ratings of about 7 in IGN, but don't give your hopes too high. And backed by key staff from current production teams of large game companies in China, indie games will witness an obvious surge.