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Baby-faced Peng Haitao comes across as a shy student who seldom talks. But the 24-year-old college dropout is a hero for many Chinese students hooked to online games. By selling Aurora Technology, the online gaming company Peng set up in 2005, to China's largest online game company Shanda Interactive Entertainment for 100 million RMB last July, Peng has become one of the youngest instant millionaires in the country.
"It isn't easy for a young man to accumulate that kind of wealth in such short a time," says Zhuge Hui, spokesman of Shanda, which announced launching a two-billion-RMB fund to invest in new Chinese gaming companies after acquiring Peng's Aurora. "But Peng's story shows how much China's fast growing online gaming industry is in need of talent."
Peng's success comes at a time when China's online gaming industry is witnessing unprecedented growth. According to a report by research firm IDC and the Game committee under China's Publishers Association (GPA), the revenue of China's online gaming industry reached 10.57 billion RMB last year, an increase of 61.5% year-on-year. The report estimates it will grow to 26.23 billion RMB by 2012.
But the figures themselves do not capture the extent of the game fever in China. For a better understanding of the popularity of online games, one would have to visit Internet cafés, especially those in the country's rural areas. These are typically around 100 square metres - most of them located near schools or colleges - with scantily decorated interiors except for posters and advertisements of the latest games, and row after row of students staring hard at their terminals. Although these young players are sometimes seen screaming or smoking, the cafés are mostly silent as the players concentrate on their game, with the only discernable sound is that of frantic mouse clicks and keyboard tapping. Most play for a few hours and leave. But some are more committed. They will play days, or even weeks, and on vacations. During these bouts, they live and eat at the Internet cafés themselves. The fee for overnight stays is as low as to 10 to 20 RMB.
Full story in English
News category: China
Published on this site: Jul. 24, 2008
Source:chinadaily.com.cn
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