CHINA: Online gaming grows 25%

The online games market in China is worth $5bn after growing 25 per cent in 2010.

Pearl Research also forecasts the market will continue to grow and exceed $8bn by 2014. The predictions are part of a new study from the business intelligence firm on MMORPGs, casual games and key market players.

The research found that top game operators were Tencent with $1.4bn in revenue in 2010, Netease with $749m, Shanda Games with $680m, Perfect World with $374m and Changyou with $327m in revenues.

MMORPG game operator Shenzhen ZQ Game became the first Chinese online game company listed publically in China last year.

The report also mentioned the rise of Sina’s micro-blogging platform Weibo which saw its users grow more than 25 times in 2010 and surpass 100m in February.

Pearl Research said it also expects to see more mergers and acquisitions in 2011, as Chinese game operators seek to expand.