So-called ‘soft’ gaming could be the way forward in key online markets
It’s not easy marketing online cash bet casino games or sports books in the United States and China—two of the big potential markets by player volume. In the US, the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act means online gambling executives—even foreign citizens with operations domiciled far offshore—risk arrest or worse (long prison terms) if they so much as change planes in the US.
The good news for anyone either brave or foolhardy enough to take that chance is that at least the US online gaming market uses a ‘cash up front’ model. In China, not only do operators run the risk of hostile regulatory action, such as having a site blocked, but they also have to give their customers credit to play. As Inside Asian Gaming reported in our September 2008 edition, in China up to 90% of an online operator’s gross revenues can be swallowed up in commissions paid to a network of thousands of marketing foot soldiers employed to find players, distribute credit to them and collect their debts.
Alternatives
In this challenging trading environment, it’s not surprising that more and more gaming entrepreneurs targeting China and the US appear to be looking at the potential of non-cash betting games sold on a subscription basis, or so-called ‘soft’ gaming, such as role playing video games.
Although such products typically offer lower turnover than cash bet online casino-style games, they do give operators and content providers opportunities to build stable margins through volume. And in China, player volume is certainly the name of the game. The government-funded China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) estimates in its most recent published survey, released in July 2008, that China has overtaken the US as the country with the most Internet users in the world.
China overtakes US
By the end of June, 2008, the amount of what CNNIC calls ‘netizens’ in China had reached 253 million, increasing by 91 million year-on-year.
The Center defines ‘netizens’ as any Chinese citizen aged six and above who has used the Internet in the past half a year. CNNIC says the number of ‘netizens’ in the United States was 218 million by the end of 2007. By the end of June 2008, the Internet penetration rate in China had reached 19.1%.
If one compares the percentage of Chinese households with access to online home computers to the percentage of US households with PCs, then the US scores much higher. According to Nielsen Online, a global Internet media and market research company, in November 2008 the total universe of users for household digital media in the US was 222.2 million people, of whom 155.6 million were active users, spending a monthly average of 37 hours, 33 minutes, online. According to the US Census Bureau in 2006 (the most recent available survey) there were 126.3 million housing units in the US, meaning the household digital media penetration rate is 176.3%.
The US also scores better for credit and debit card penetration—an important element in most global business models for online gaming.
If one looks at penetration of mobile phone handsets enabled with Internet browsers as a proportion of all digital users however, then China is very strong. CNNIC says as at June 2008, the amount of ‘netizens’ surfing the Internet with mobile phones had reached 73.05 million. A total of 28.9% of China’s 253 million ‘netizens’ accessed the Internet with mobile phones in the six months to June 2008, said the report.
The other good piece of news from the perspective of soft gaming marketers is that these Chinese Internet users are overwhelmingly young. The CNNIC report says 68.6% of ‘netizens’ are under the age of 30. And 30.3% of all users are aged just 18-24 according to the survey.
The global revenues of the online gaming industry are growing rapidly according to Victor Tong, President and CEO of PacificNet, a listed company based in Macau, Shenzhen and Hong Kong, providing a range of gaming hardware and software services including e-commerce, Internet and mobile gaming for the Chinese market.
“Based on forecasts from Juniper Research, revenue of global mobile gaming services will expand to US$10.5 billion in 2009 from US$3 billion in 2006,” says Victor Tong.
“User scale will continue to grow rapidly in developing countries. In the coming six years, cumulative revenue will reach nearly US$57 billion worldwide with the Asia-Pacific region accounting for a large share of this,” he adds.
Mr Tong said that in the period of 2006 to 2011, cumulative revenue of the Asia- Pacific region is predicted to account for 38% of the global market share of mobile gaming revenue.
“We are excited about how rapidly mobile gaming is expanding and the huge market potential. Despite the worldwide economic slowdown, we are seeing impressive growth opportunities in China, Macau and Asia and steady demand for our products in mobile gaming, lottery and e-commerce.” he added.
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