(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090612/CNF003 )
Also participating in the press conference were representatives of CGDC's Advising companies, including Ms. Li Yu, CEO of Shanda Games; Ms. Liu Wei, President of Giant Interactive Group; Ms. Chen Xiaowei, CEO of The Nine; Mr. Ren Yuxin, Executive Vice President of Tencent; Mr. Jon Niermann, President of EA (Asia); Ms. Corinne Le Roy, President of Ubisoft Shanghai Studio; and Mr. Ye Weilun, General Manager of Blizzard (China). Sponsors of this year's event went to the press conference as well, such as Mr. Wang Baochu, Vice President of AMD and Mr. Rose Luo, Brand Director of NVIDIA (Asia and Pacific). Over 150 reporters were at the press conference.
Showcasing the Ten Years of Development in Online Games
2009 will witness the 10th year since the birth of China's online game industry, during which time it has seen the constant rising of the industry's scale and international standing, all along through such stages as agency, innovation and overseas expansion. As this year will be the 10th anniversary of the industry, the Organizing Committees place a very high hope on this year's events. As Mr. Kou Xiaowei noted, with the coming of the 7th ChinaJoy, the Organizing Committee hopes that this year's event will serve as a summary of the past ten years, displaying our achievements and promoting the further overseas expansion of Chinese game companies. It is also hoped that it will be a golden opportunity for exchange and cooperation among the players in the international game industry. It is also on account of the problems in the domestic industry that these events are held: in spite of the rapid growth, a series of problems have emerged in the industry, such as talent shortage and weak accumulation of technology. To help lay a solid foundation for the future growth of the industry, we will have China Game Developers Conference (CGDC) again this year, under the guidance and support of several government authorities. The aim of it is to introduce to China the sound mechanisms abroad in R&D, project management and talent training, promote technological exchange between Chinese and foreign game companies so that the domestic industry will be more competitive and manage to continue its growth in spite of the current financial crisis.
To better summarize the achievements of the industry during the past ten years, the Organizing Committee will present a series of awards, such as "The Top 10 Influential Figures in China's Game Industry", "The Ten Most Valuable Enterprises in China's Game Industry", and "The Ten Most Popular Self-Developed Online Games". In addition, important figures at the various stages of the industry will be invited to a "Primary Dialogue", presenting the progress and advances over the years.
ChinaJoy Making Headway
As ChinaJoy steps into the seventh year, it has seen its exhibition area expanding to over 35,000 square meters. 170 companies from seven countries and areas around the world (including China, the US, Japan, France, Canada, Australia and South Korea) have confirmed their attendance. These include such renowned foreign companies as EA, AMD, Ubisoft and NVIDIA, as well as major players in the domestic industry, like Shanda, Giant, Tencent, Kingsoft, The Nine, NetEase, 9you, Sohu, etc. As 3G becomes a catchphrase in 2009 and mobile MMOG represents the most promising application in the 3G era, the Organizing Committee and 17sy.com will establish a "3G era -- Display Area for Mobile MMOG". Mobile game companies are invited to exhibit their products, which may be the first time that these new enterprises join together to display their latest products. These include many of the already successful products like Legend of Song Dynasty, One Piece, Mingzhu Three Kingdoms, and Xiaoao. It will be the first time in the history of ChinaJoy that mobile MMOG represents an independent show area, thus expanding the exhibition content which has been dominated by PC games. The mobile MMOG, on the other hand, is bound to advance into the 3G era of entertainment with the help of this year's ChinaJoy. On display at the event will not only be online games, PC games, console games, mobile games, arcade games and palm games, but also telecom value-added services, digital consumer electronics and game-related products. It will be a display of the first-class technology and products in digital entertainment today.
Like past years, there will also be a series of contests during the time of the events, including those that have already been widely known, like ChinaJoy Cosplay Carnival which will witness the outstanding performances of 25 Cosplay societies across China, and Zhangjiang Cup ChinaJoy E-Sports Game Contest 2009 which will see the rise of another group of players into professionalism and stardom. These contests, which have always been a part of ChinaJoy, will be perfect platforms for teenagers from China and abroad to display their talents, as well as an opportunity to exhibit the cultural elements of local made games and to promote exchange and understanding between various cultures.
CGBC meets Business Appeal
To get better prepared for business activities, the Organizing Committee of ChinaJoy added a China Game Business Conference (CGBC) this year, incorporating "Summit Forum", the "forums for individual topics" and "B2B Area". The CGBC will be held this year along with ChinaJoy (July 22-26) and moved to the more business-friendly venues at Shanghai International Convention Center.
The CGBC will include the forums, "China Digital Entertainment Summit Forum", "China Web-game Development Forum", "China Mobile Entertainment Development Forum", "China Digital Entertainment Investment & Development Forum", "China SNS and Social Games Forum" and "China In-game Advertising Forum". Speaking at these forums will be a number of industry elites and over 100 speakers from the government, companies, research and survey institutions will also air their views concerning the present and future of the industry.
For example, Chen Tianqiao, Ding Lei, Zhang Chaoyang and Jon Niermann, among others, have already confirmed their speech at this year's Summit Forum, covering the future trend of the industry, as well as their thoughts on some of today's key issues.
The CGBC have so far solicited 100 speakers, including 17 for the Summit Forum, 20 for the "Investment & Development Forum", 20 for the "Web-game Forum", 18 for the "Mobile Entertainment Forum", 11 for the "In-game Advertising Forum" and 14 for "SNS and Social Games Forum".
Since "B2B Area" was established in 2007, it has played an ever more important role in promoting business cooperation. This year, the "B2B Area" has not only appealed to companies like Weiphone, Jiu Yi and Userjoy, who will have presence in the area to seek business opportunities, it has also attracted companies like Astrum Online, a famous game developer and publisher from Russia, who would like to take this opportunity to find a partner for joint operation in China.
CGDC Accelerating the Development of the Industry
GAPP, since 2003, has announced a number of policies and measures to promote the development of domestic online games. As a result, the number of game R&D teams across China rose from 93 in 2006 to 126 in 2007, recording a surprising 35% increase. According to statistics at the end of 2007, the number of game developers also doubled, to an encouraging 21034. However, as predicted concerning the future growth of this industry for the next five years, there will be a demand of over 100,000 game developers in China. This huge gap, of course, will turn out to be a significant obstacle if left unresolved.
