Reports

China's mobile gaming market - including both single-player and mobile online games – transitioned from fast to stable growth in the second half of 2014 due to a gradual slowdown of smartphone shipments and heavier market saturation, reaching H2 revenues of approximately RMB 16.34 bln (USD 2.64 bln), up approximately 27% over H2 2013, and a Q4 2014 user base of 474 mln, up roughly 23% YoY.

As revenue and user growth in China’s domestic mobile gaming market has begun to slow, the country’s major mobile gaming firms have started to accelerate overseas expansion initiatives. Tencent (0700.HK) CEO Pony Ma, whose company led China’s 2014 mobile game developer market with a share of over 39%, announced in March that Tencent wants global mobile gaming to be its main business, a statement the company backed up with Q1 investments in US iPad game developer Hammer & Chisel and Swiss mobile and online game publisher Miniclip. Similarly, rival NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES) announced in February the establishment of operations in North America, with the US team to focus on building a strong pipeline of mobile games for Western audiences.

Investor interest in domestic mobile gaming assets also remained strong, with at least 25 domestic mobile gaming M&A or venture financing deals announced in Q1 2015; among them, at least 4 of the acquirers were from traditional industries unrelated to mobile, such as chemicals manufacturing, apparel design, and trading and investment. One of the largest among these deals was the acquisition of a mobile game developer by an A-shares listed broadcasting system management products provider for over RMB 2.2 bln (~ USD 350 mln). At least two Chinese mobile gaming firms also announced in Q1 that they were preparing initial public offerings or backdoor listings.

To help investors and game industry enterprises identify opportunities among China’s mushrooming number of mobile game titles, developers, operators, and distribution channels, Marbridge has developed the Chinese Mobile Gaming Industry Matrix. The Q1 2015 edition of the Matrix provides details on over 240 leading mobile game companies and over 640 of the top games in Excel (read-only) format:

• Listing Status (public, to list, private)
• Location (city in which operator/developer is headquartered)
• Company Homepage URL
• Company Contact Phone Number
• Experience in Overseas Game Publishing (specific examples available for ~14% of companies)
• Games Operated/Developed (with top grossing games highlighted)
• Game Environment (Android, iOS, WP)
• Game Type
• Game Dates (expected release, beta test, commercial launch)
• Game Source (self-developed vs. licensed)
• Revenue Model (pay-to-play vs. in-game items)
• Game Operation Statistics (DAU, monthly revenue, cumulative downloads - as available)
• Game Homepage URL

The Chinese Mobile Gaming Industry Matrix also provides data on China’s top 34 mobile app/game distribution platforms, including:

• Platform Operator Name
• Investment Received (available for ~45% of platforms)
• Number of Apps Hosted (available for ~50% of platforms; dates vary)
• User Base (available for ~80% of platforms; dates vary)
• Cumulative or Daily App Downloads (available for ~60% of platforms; dates vary)
• Revenue Share Ratio with Developers (available for ~80% of platforms)
• Business Model (available for ~35% of platforms)

In addition, the matrix provides a Q1 2015 summary of Chinese mobile gaming industry news covering:

• M&A and Internal Investment Deals (33 items)
• Partnerships (10 items)

The Chinese Mobile Gaming Industry Matrix is available either for one-off purchase or on a subscription basis with quarterly updates.