Center

Online games to cash in on women

(Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2006-04-10 16:39

Tao Zi spends more time playing the World of WarCraft than shopping. The 25-year-old woman spends five to six hours a day on the popular online game.

"A strong desire pushes me in front of the computer screen every time I am free," said Tao, who has played the game for a year and has progressed to a level-60 priest (the highest level for this character).

Tao (not her real name) is not alone in China where female players make up one-fifth of the total player base.

Video games are not man-only entertainment.

So what sort of online games appeal to women?

Seeing the potential of the female player market, estimated at 4 billion yuan (US$500 million), games firms have launched various products designed for women.

CrossGate features lovely characters and pet images. Peng Peng Bing has introduced a penguin image into the game, which is designed for Chinese female players. Shanda-developed Crazy Arcade (Pao Pao Tang) has put color bubbles into their game.

The similarities of the games: lovely images, animals and one round in a short time. The principle of the female game is to go easy on the sex and violence that attract male players.

"I enjoy the teamwork in the game so I'm not tired of playing it even though my level has reached the limit," said Tao. She is one of two females in her 10-member team.

Most white-collar women prefer casual games.

Shelia Chen, who works for a local real-estate firm, likes playing MSN chess games with friends in her spare time. But her major interests are traditional: clothes and jewelry.

Chen Wen, a Beijing market official at a consulting firm, spends an hour every day on mobile phone games while traveling on the Metro.

"When I am in the office or at home, I seldom play games," Chen said.

Pretty Woman is a typical game for women. In the game, players can choose various make-up tools to make the virtual woman more beautiful - eyeliner, eye-shadow, lipstick and gloss.

Magma Digital's market director Liu Yue said women like casual or puzzle games while men's favorite categories are action and role-playing games.

"We have noticed the growing demand of Chinese women and we have developed games for them, like Pretty Woman," Liu said.

The proportion of female game players rose 2 percentage points year on year to hit 19 percent last year, according to a Deutsche Bank report.

A Deloitte report the outlook for this year said the games industry will seek new audiences in the wake of the success of new video-game platforms.

"It will reach out to new demographics, most notably young girls," Deloitte said.

Game-industry revenue hit 3.77 billion yuan last year, up 53 percent on 2004. Home-grown companies had 60 percent market share last year, according to the General Administration of Press and Publication.