China's Internet Cos Developing On-Line Games
DENG YINGFENG is finding his dream girl a little hard to handle. With saucer eyes and a short outfit, she's a real charmer -- except the lightning bolts she shoots simply aren't electrifying enough. "She's a little weak," Deng sighs.
The 32-year-old on-line game designer's fingers continue their agitated dance on the keyboard. It'll be another 12-hour working day. Every detail about this virtual heroine, and the game she's in, has to be fine-tuned before Chinese Internet portal NetEase.com launches this yet-to-be-named game in two months' time.
The stakes are high. As much as 80% of the on-line games played in China are foreign-made. But now local companies are shooting some home-made bolts -- hopefully electrifying -- into the $240 million gaming arena in efforts to cut out middlemens' fees and gain market share.
NetEase, one of the most-watched stocks on Nasdaq, is developing three original games, spending between $1 million and $4 million per game. Shanghai-based game operator Shanda Networking is spending $10 million on creating its own games. They're not alone. A survey by 17173.com, a Web site that follows China's on-line game industry, shows there were 57 on-line games either in operation or in the final phases of testing as of April this year -- out of which 18 were developed by Chinese companies, including companies in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
There are some signs that consumers are biting: Westward Journey, the first original game created by NetEase, has attracted 1.2 million subscribers since it was launched last year. It's one of the few China-made games to regularly make the top 10 list of the most popular on-line games in China, compiled by local magazine Popsoft.
Shanda has launched one in-house game this year, called World of Legend, and plans to launch another by year's end. It'll be no small production: The company has hired award-winning film director Chen Kaige as creative adviser, and He Xuntian, a professor at the Shanghai Music Conservatory and a contemporary of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon composer Tan Dun, is creating a full-blown orchestral score.
It's not all play. Most of the Internet portals derive anywhere from 15%-30% of their revenues from gaming, and percentages are expected to increase as demand for short messaging services (SMS), the other big earner, slackens. At NetEase, gaming revenues make up 38% of total revenue. Though the company will continue to license foreign games, "we're strongly focused on developing original content," says Chief Financial Officer Denny Lee.
On-line games are an important test for local Internet companies, says Duncan Clark, managing director of telecoms-research firm BDA China. "SMS is riding a big wave by accident but it's not going to last forever," says Clark. "The challenge is to see how they can use their user-base to develop further relationships."
Unlike stand-alone console games, on-line games are considered relatively piracy-proof, since users have to log on to computer servers that can verify if they are paid subscribers. This accounts for the explosive growth of on-line gaming in Asia. According to tech-research firm International Data Corp., between 35% and 50% of Internet users in Asia are on-line gamers.
About five years ago, Chinese companies got consumers hooked on to on-line gaming by bringing in more technologically advanced products from Korea and Taiwan. The products were a hit, with Korean import Legend of Mir drawing as many as half a million players at a time. Now local operators want to cut out the high licensing fees paid to foreign partners, which can be as much as 50% of profits. NetEase says it has paid between $1 million and $2 million up front for the rights to operate popular imports, plus a 30% share of the annual profits for each game. That's "a lot," considering players only pay about $0.03 per hour to play, says Lee.
More than that, by generating their own products, operators own the game's source code, which is crucial to running the games smoothly and fixing hacker problems. Without ownership of the source code, operators have to depend on their foreign partners to fix glitches. This can take weeks, say operators, causing frustrated patrons to abandon the game in droves.
It won't be easy playing catch-up. In every field from cars to clothes, China has been historically better at production, not innovation. As it is, copyright piracy has stunted China's software industry. "Five years ago nobody wanted to be a software engineer," says Beijing-based game designer Persy Zhang. He remembers a time when margins were shaved so thin by piracy, he had to hand-wrap thousands of copies of his games just to save about 5,000 renminbi ($600) in packaging costs.
Game developers, who need to have both creative and technical skills, are in short supply even in more developed markets such as the United States. In China, companies have to invest in training their employees, spawning a clutch of what BDA China's Clark calls "Donkey Kong schools." "A lot of what we do is training our staff from the ground up," says Richard Wallis, chief executive of Beijing-based Object Software. Object, a small software firm that's managed to license games to big international players like Eidos, recently expanded its studio facilities by 50% to accommodate training of new hires.
What's more, the Chinese efforts to strike out on their own have led to acrimonious disputes with their foreign partners. Recently Shanda and its Korean partner, Actozsoft, were locked in a bitter fight over allegations of unpaid revenue and poor servicing. Among other things, the Korean company said Shanda's new in-house game, Legend, was strikingly similar to Actozsoft's Legend of Mir, also distributed by Shanda . Still, both parties renewed their licensing agreement in September, saying profits were too good to ignore. But as a protective measure Actozsoft has developed a security system that enables the company to effectively shut down a game if a few keywords, known only to its technicians, are not input monthly. Sunny Park, Actozsoft's overseas division manager, calls this its "nuclear weapon" against defaulting partners.
The home-turf advantage is important. Making almost anything in China is cheaper, and games are no exception. Designers and graphics make up more than 60% of the cost of developing a game. Designers are paid on average $700-900 monthly, with top-of-the-line developers commanding about $40,000 per year. In contrast, U.S game developers start at about $50,000 per year, according to DigiPen Institute of Technology, a school for videogame development in Redmond, Washington.
Also, Chinese developers say they're more adept at plumbing local history and myths, which are rich in dynastic battles, swordfights and magic -- all popular themes in the on-line gaming world. Two of NetEase's new games are based on the classic tale Journey to the West, which has influenced Chinese culture in much the same way the Greek Odyssey has influenced the West. Prince of Qin, a recent offering by Object Software, is loosely based on real-life historical figures.
Since games are played in real time, operators can also incorporate local flavour into the games. For instance, during the mid-autumn festival in China, NetEase gamers were treated to virtual mooncakes and other goodies.
Western-style themes don't always go down well with the local audience. Sony's EverQuest, a fantasy role-playing game based on medieval European legends, is a massive worldwide hit, except in China, where it has met with a tepid response since its launch last year.
Local operators also say they're more culturally attuned to consumer needs. Shanda's chief executive, Timothy Chen Tianqiao, says he's rejected games with cultural no-nos, such as one where players kill pandas, China's national mascot. "That's completely unacceptable for us," he says.
Ultimately, some industry watchers say, Chinese companies don't have to try very hard to be creative. They already have an edge since much of an on-line game's popularity rests on the continuing customer service provided, says IDC software analyst Jun-Fwu Chin. "They can provide the personal touch players crave," says Chin. Big gaming outfits like Shanda and NetEase maintain 24-hour call centres staffed with technicians and game masters to ensure that games are run smoothly and remain exciting.
One example: During a Friday afternoon, game-master Liang Zibin, 23, is part of a crew monitoring some 120,000 people playing NetEase's Westward Journey. Part cheerleader, part nanny, Liang coaxes and cajoles players, sending a virtual bouquet to a player who's not doing well. Then, he notices a player using "dirty language" to scold other players. With a few keystrokes, he blocks the profane player's broadcasting abilities. "You must keep customers happy," he says.
中国互联网公司杀入网络游戏战场
邓英风(Deng Yingfeng,音译)发现他的"梦中情人"不太好对付。她长著一对杏核眼，穿著性感短裙，看上去非常迷人－－但她手中电光枪射出的电光却不够耀眼。"看上去有点弱。"邓英风叹了口气。
这位32岁的网络游戏设计师的手指继续在键盘上灵活地移动著。他又要在办公室里呆上12个小时。两个月之内，这款中国门户网站网易公司(Netease.com Inc. (ADS), NTES)自主开发的网络游戏即将问世，在此之前，邓英风必须把整部游戏及其女主人公的细节全部处理好。
这是一笔大赌注。目前中国市面上的网络游戏中，有80%是外国产品。但中国的互联网公司正准备凭借国产的－－而且很可能火力强大的－－"电光枪"，杀入这个2.4亿美元的游戏战场，以节省中间费用，赢得市场占有率。
网易是那斯达克市场最受人瞩目的网络股之一，该公司目前正在开发3款原创游戏，每一款的投资都在100万到400万美元之间。上海游戏运营商盛大网络(Shanda Networking)也正斥资1,000万美元，开发自己的游戏。在中国，自主研发网络游戏的公司并不止这两家。17173.com网站专门跟踪中国网络游戏业的发展状况，该网站的一项调查显示，截至今年4月份，中国已经投入使用或正在进行后期测试的网络游戏多达57款，其中18款由中港台地区的公司开发。
有迹象显示，本土游戏在消费者中不乏拥护者：网易自行开放的第一部网络游戏《大话西游》(Westward Journey)自去年推出以来，注册用户已经达到120万。在《大众软件》(Popsoft)杂志评出的最受欢迎网络游戏中，《大话西游》是少数几款经常名列前十的国产游戏产品之一。
盛大网络今年推出了一款自主研发的网络游戏《传奇世界》(World of Legend)，并计划在年底前再推出一款新游戏。这款游戏可不容小觑，该公司为此聘请了著名电影导演陈凯歌担任创意顾问，而该游戏的配乐将由上海音乐学院教授－－与《卧虎藏龙》作曲者谭盾同时代的大师级作曲家何训田担纲创作。
千万别小看网络游戏。大多数互联网门户网站大约15%-30%的收入来自网络游戏，而随著人们对短信服务(SMS)－－门户网站另一大收入来源－－的需求开始下降，预计网络游戏所占收入比例将进一步上升。在网易，游戏业务收入占总收入的38%。网易首席财务长李廷斌表示，虽然公司将继续引进外国游戏产品，但"我们将重点开发原创内容"。
电信行业咨询公司BDA China的董事总经理邓肯?克拉克(Duncan Clark)说，对中国当地互联网公司来说，网络游戏是一个至关重要的考验。他说，"SMS的流行完全出于偶然，但这种势头不会一直持续下去。关键在于，这些互联网公司能否利用现有的用户资源，建立起新的商业联系。"
同独立的电子游戏机不同，网络游戏相对来说不容易受到盗版的干扰，因为用户必须登入电脑伺服器并通过付费用户认证。这一"防盗版"的特性使网络游戏在亚洲迅速成长起来。据科技研究公司国际数据机构(International Data Corp.)统计，亚洲大约35%-50%的互联网用户都是网络游戏玩家。
五年前，中国公司通过引进韩国和台湾先进的游戏产品，使一批消费者成为网络游戏的忠实用户。这些网络游戏风靡一时，韩国的游戏《热血传奇》(Legend of Mir)更是一度吸引了50万用户同时上网。现在，中国的网络游戏运营商希望降低向外国合作伙伴支付的专利使用费，这部分费用目前在公司利润中所占比例可高达50%。网易称，该公司要预先支付100万至200万美元才能获得热门进口游戏的运营权，此外还要加上每款游戏每年创造利润的30%。网易首席财务长李廷斌称，用户在玩网络游戏时，每小时只需支付大约3美分，相比之下，付给外国游戏公司的专利使用费太庞大了。
通过自主开发游戏产品，游戏运营商将拥有游戏的源代码，这对保证游戏顺利运行和排除技术故障至关重要。如果没有源代码，游戏运营商只能依靠外国合作伙伴来解决技术问题。有时这可能花上几周的时间，而用户是没有这个耐心的，结果可想而知：大量用户另觅新欢。
作为一个行业的后进者，要赶上先行者绝非易事。从汽车到服装，中国在生产领域一向驾轻就熟，但在创新方面则差强人意。盗版现象严重阻碍了中国软件业的发展。北京一位游戏设计师Persy Zhang说，"五年前，没有人想做软件工程师。"他记得曾经有一段时间，盗版猖獗使该行业的利润变得极其微薄，为了节省人民币5,000元(600美元)的包装费，他不得不亲手包装自己的几千张游戏软件。
游戏开发人员既要有创作才能，又要具备技术专长，因此，即使在美国等发达国家，这类人才都非常短缺。在中国，公司必须投入大量资金和精力用于雇员培训，从而产生了一大批被BDA China的克拉克称为"孙悟空学校"的培训课程。北京目标软件公司(Object Software)的首席执行长理查德?沃利斯(Richard Wallis)说，"我们的工作中，有很大一部分是从头培训员工。"这家小型软件公司的游戏授权经营客户中，包括Eidos等国际大型软件开发商。最近，该公司将办公室扩大了一半，供新人培训使用。
与此同时，中国游戏运营商自主开发游戏的行为，也使他们同外国的合作伙伴产生激烈分歧。盛大网络最近官司缠身，其韩国合作伙伴Actozsoft指控盛大未按规定缴纳收入且服务质量低下。Actozsoft称，盛大最新自主开发的游戏《传奇》(Legend)同其分销的Actozsoft的游戏《热血传奇》惊人地相似。尽管双方因此闹上法庭，但9月份的授权协议还是照续不误，原因是双方都不愿意舍弃丰厚的利润。但为防患于未然，Actozsoft开发了一种安全系统，只有该公司的技术人员每个月定时输入一些关键词密码，游戏才能正常运行。一旦停止这项操作，Actozsoft就可以将游戏关闭。Actozsoft的海外部门经理Sunny Park将这种技术称为对付违约伙伴的"核武器"。
本土开发游戏的优势不容忽视。几乎任何一种产品，只要在中国生产，成本都会大大降低，游戏也不例外。开发一款游戏时，超过60%的成本被用来支付设计师和绘图师的薪水。在中国，游戏设计师平均每月的收入为700-900美元，顶级开发人员的年薪约为4万美元。而在美国，据里士满的视频游戏开发学院DigPen Institute of Technology称，游戏开发人员的起薪大约就是每年5万美元。
不仅成本低廉，中国的游戏设计师还擅长挖掘历史和传奇素材，其中所富含的古代战争、剑客交锋和神奇法术等都是网络游戏世界的热门题材。网易最新开发的游戏中，有两款都是建立在中国古典名著《西游记》的基础上。而《西游记》之于中国，正如古希腊史诗《奥德赛》(Odyssey)之于整个西方世界。目标软件公司最近推出的游戏《秦殇》(Prince of Qin)则是以真实的历史人物为原型。
由于网络游戏是实时展开的，游戏运营商还可以在游戏中添加一些本土特色。例如，中秋节时，网易就曾以虚拟月饼和美味款待游戏玩家们。
西方游戏主题不一定都适合中国玩家的口味。索尼公司(Sony, 又称：新力)以欧洲中世纪传奇为背景开发的角色扮演游戏《无尽的任务》(EverQuest)在全球好评如潮，但在中国却反应平平。自去年推出以来，该游戏的中国的发行情况乏善可陈。
此外，中国游戏运营商表示，他们在文化方面更能理解消费者的需求。盛大网络首席执行长陈天桥说，对一些涉及文化禁忌的游戏产品，他一概予以拒绝。例如，一款游戏中玩家要射杀熊猫，而熊猫是中国的国宝，是一种吉祥物。"我们绝对无法接受这样的游戏。"
部分行业观察家认为，最终中国公司可能并不需要在创意方面下太大功夫。IDC的软件分析师Jun-Fwu Chin说，一款网络游戏的成功，很大程度上取决于持续的客户服务，而中国公司在这方面已经占据了优势。他说，"他们可以提供游戏玩家们急需的人性化服务。"盛大网络和网易等大型游戏运营商都设有24小时呼叫中心，技术人员和游戏管理员会确保游戏正常运行，且百玩不厌。 一个周五的下午，23岁的游戏管理员梁自斌(Liang Zibin，音译)和其他管理员正一同监控著网易《大话西游》的游戏情况，当时的在线用户大约有12万。梁自斌一会儿给这个用户打打气，一会儿又教训那些不太守规矩的用户。他先给一个进展不太顺利的用户送上了一束虚拟鲜花。突然，他发现另一个用户在向其他人说"脏话"。他轻轻敲打了几下键盘，这名不礼貌的用户立即被剥夺了发言权。"你必须让顾客满意。"
