The mobile games market in China is set to generate more than $1.2 billion in 2013, up from $750 million in 2012, according to new research estimates, and that could set the stage for game developers to concentrate more on that booming market.

Asian games research firm Niko Partners recently released its new "Chinese Mobile Games Market Report 2013" and estimated that approximately 500 million smartphones will be in use by the end of 2013, five times more than the 100 million in early 2012. "These smartphones are taking advantage of the fast migration of users to 3G and faster networks, which is creating a ripe environment for increasingly engaging games," according to the report.

PopCap Games, the American game developer and publisher behind the hit "Plants vs. Zombies," launched its sequel, "Plants vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time" last month on Apple devices only. In a move that shows a focus on Chinese players, the sequel became available to the Chinese market before being released worldwide.

Though download numbers don't include pirated copies through jailbroken phones or otherwise, there have been approximately 20 million downloads of the game to date since its release in China in August. In the US, there were 25 million downloads within the first two weeks of release.

PopCap is currently working with Changsha-based TalkWeb to help distribute the sequel to the Chinese Android market, according to a report by Xinhua. The game-maker hasn't announced a PC version yet, and PopCap's efforts to cater to the mobile market reflect prioritizing an increasingly important mobile games sector.

Rapidly growing smartphone usage in China has led to an increase in mobile gaming with a decrease in PC gaming. "Mobile games…have taken market share from PC based casual and social online gaming," said Kevin Hause, senior partner of Niko Partners, in a statement.

In a similar study, research and consulting firm Pearl Games found "in 2012 and 2013, there was a significant shift in user activity from PC to mobile, driven by rapid expansion of China's mobile Internet user base, smartphones and new mobile apps and games. Pearl Research believes the number of smart devices (phones, tablets) in China could exceed 400 million by the end of 2013. Top mobile titles can generate $2 million or more a month."

PopCap's China general manager, Leo Liu, agreed that there are opportunities to be found in the Chinese mobile market: "From a business perspective, the Chinese market, even if it's not bigger than the US [market], will be the same size as the US'. If you're looking at growth rate, it's higher [in the Chinese market] than in the US market."

Although PopCap hasn't begun to forecast Android numbers yet, Liu said once the Android version of "Plants vs. Zombies 2" becomes available, the number of downloads should be greater than those of iOS, as Android now dominates China's smartphone market with more than 60 percent of market share, as reported earlier by the China Daily.

At this time, there is no planned release date for the Android release of "Plants vs. Zombies 2."

amyhe@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily USA 09/12/2013 page2)