Pearl Research: Taiwan MMO market to exceed $300 million in 2007

An official press release said Pearl Research‘s 77-page study on the “Online Games Market in Taiwan” has found that the growing local MMO and casual games market will most likely exceed $300 million this year. Given that the market worth is about a third of Blizzard‘s World of Warcraft revenue, that’s a huge space to be filled by U.S. companies. Unfortunately for them, it’s not easy as cake.

U.S. companies such as Blizzard Entertainment already established a foothold in the local market, although the Taiwanese (as Asians) are more inclined to play free-to-play MMOs than pay-to-play MMOs. The majority of the market actually spend more on free-to-play, microtransaction games than on subscription-based MMOs, said the study.

Also, the study has highlighted that the nation has its own game development industry and a “robust development community” who are also working on delivering games on the online platform. Some analysts believe that U.S. companies could enter the market with the right partner and right content, but they would also need the right price, too.

Much of the boom in the online scene is attributed to low cost game content (around US$ 12 to US$ 15) that caters to their cultural way of living, as well as popular trends. Coupled with a 67% increase of Internet subscriptions to broadband connections, the MMORPG market became the largest segment of the US$ 300 million market.

Casual games have also increased in popularity in Taiwan, garnering a 35% share of the MMO-casual games market, with the remaining 65% for the MMO titles. The study was a trend analysis of data compiled since 2006 to identify the growth and direction of the local Taiwan market in MMO and casual games.

An official press release said Pearl Research‘s 77-page study on the “Online Games Market in Taiwan” has found that the growing local MMO and casual games market will most likely exceed $300 million this year. Given that the market worth is about a third of Blizzard‘s World of Warcraft revenue, that’s a huge space to be filled by U.S. companies. Unfortunately for them, it’s not easy as cake.

U.S. companies such as Blizzard Entertainment already established a foothold in the local market, although the Taiwanese (as Asians) are more inclined to play free-to-play MMOs than pay-to-play MMOs. The majority of the market actually spend more on free-to-play, microtransaction games than on subscription-based MMOs, said the study.

Also, the study has highlighted that the nation has its own game development industry and a “robust development community” who are also working on delivering games on the online platform. Some analysts believe that U.S. companies could enter the market with the right partner and right content, but they would also need the right price, too.

Much of the boom in the online scene is attributed to low cost game content (around US$ 12 to US$ 15) that caters to their cultural way of living, as well as popular trends. Coupled with a 67% increase of Internet subscriptions to broadband connections, the MMORPG market became the largest segment of the US$ 300 million market.

Casual games have also increased in popularity in Taiwan, garnering a 35% share of the MMO-casual games market, with the remaining 65% for the MMO titles. The study was a trend analysis of data compiled since 2006 to identify the growth and direction of the local Taiwan market in MMO and casual games.