On November 28, 2017, the China Culture & Entertainment Industry Association banding with Entbrains Co., Ltd. announced a report on 2017 China games industry development, which not only analyzed the overall form of the industry, the current development and development characteristics in 2017, but also made a forecast on the development trend.

This year, the income from games and amusement equipment were mainly the result of the increasing need for the equipment by newly opened amusement zones, equipment’s fast upgrades as well as the high price of popular high-tech equipment.  3 features influenced the income.  First, some backward amusement shops were replaced by more chain shops, stimulating the obvious growing rate.  Second, theme parks drove up the incomes of subsidiary products such as drinks, food, and value-added services.  Third, as concepts such as e-sport and fitness became more and more prevailing, the industry has improved its positive image to attract wider consumers. 

In the first three quarters of 2017, the export value of games and amusement equipment reached $460 million. On that basis, it will reach $610 million at the end of the year, accounting for 95.7% of the national total for the sector, with year-on-year growth of 4%.  Also, after these three quarters, 532 new games and amusement equipment have passed audit.

The industry will develop towards the following 4 trends:

1. The proportion of high-tech equipment like VR will rise and high-quality equipment will gradually replace inferior equipment.

2. Self-service equipment like crane machines, which can make good use of customers' time will be further developed.

3. Games and amusement zones will pay more attention on IP values, as a result, the industry will mobilize more IP resources.

4. The idea as well as the ways to operate games and amusement zones will be improved.  Online and offline operations to keep players will be more and more popular and abundant.

As you can see, VR, IP and self-service equipment like crane machines and Mini KTV will be not only the key words throughout the industry's development in 2018 but also the 3 new industry formats.  And, pan-amusement is always the unalterable trend for all games products.  Until March 2016, the active monthly mobile Internet users in China crossed the 927-million mark.  Obviously, with such a large customer base, China's mobile Internet market will have an awesome future.  As a result, someone also mentioned: “let the new era of games join in pan-amusement”.  And, as the hottest wind, “pan-amusement” will have a bright prospect.

Gaming oversteps its bounds and joins in the pan-amusement field with the core of IP and users.  In this era, content plays a significant role.  To create your own “subculture” format and make “circling fans” become the reality, you need to maintain your IP with good image and constantly meet customers' spiritual needs, so that you can develop their loyalty and belongingness, and your customers will be more willing to become a true consumer finally.  What’s more, manufacturers not only need to beautify games by IP, but also need to create more innovative products to satisfy customers’ expectations and build a strong customer base.  Only through these will “circling fans” develop into a subculture, and drive first-class IP development constantly.

Above all, in the pan-amusement era, when we excitedly join in diversification, we should not forget that our goal is always the game--only by developing good games can we be qualified to talk about pan-amusement.  Otherwise, everything will just like an armchair strategy.

※The article is published in the GTI Magazine Issue No. 160 in December, 2017