Chinese mobile gamers to hit 192m by the end of 2012

The number of Chinese mobile game players is predicted to reach 192 million by the end of 2012 according to new research from Asian Games Market Intelligence firm Niko. The report,  entitled China’s Mobile Games Market 2012, adds that mobile games revenue will experience a 'six-fold increase' from the 2011 market of $600 million in the next five years.

“Niko projects fast growth in mobile games revenue in China led by rising adoption of 3G usage, soaring sales of smartphones from a wide array of vendors, and the desire to play entertaining, inexpensive games on these smart mobile devices,” said Lisa Cosmas Hanson, managing partner of Niko Partners. “Mobile games and web-browser games are the two buzzword segments in China’s games market this year, and Chinese game companies are racing to deliver their games on multiple platforms to satisfy gamer demand in every way possible.”  

Other key findings in the report show that, as in the rest of the world, mobile social games are very popular in China while mobile hard-core games are just getting started, but showing promise for success.