Niko Partners issues outsourced China game development report

Niko Partners, a market research and consulting firm for China's videogame industry, has announced the results of its latest report focusing on outsourced game development in China.

According to Niko's research, revenue from outsourced development of international games in China will exceed USD 35 million in 2007, and will continue to grow as supply is able to accommodate increasing demand for game outsourcing services.

"China has jumped ahead of other regions as the leader in outsourced development of international games. This is in large part thanks to the 44 million Chinese gamers from which more than 10,000 enthusiastic game development professionals have emerged as a talent pool to serve the rising demand for outsourcing from foreign publishers," said Lisa Cosmas Hanson, managing partner of Niko Partners.

Approximately 33 Chinese outsourcing studios conduct services for international games, two-thirds of which have more than 40 employees. The industry is consolidating the number of studios, but the number of developers on staff at each of the featured studios rose by fifty per cent since 2006.

The demand portion of the research was based on a North American survey of 166 development professionals. Seventy-six percent of those respondents already engage in outsourced game development, and thirty percent of them already work with Chinese studios. The percentage is expected to rise over the next few years.

Simon Carless, director of Game Developer Research, states: "The biggest issue for outsourcing to China has been difficulty with communications. However, many studios now employ bilingual management who work with the liaison at the publisher, and as a result, communications processes have become more effective."

The report is being published in association with Game Developer Research, the research arm of the CMP Game Group, and is being released in conjunction with the launch of the Game Developers Conference China in Shanghai, August 27 through August 29.