Results of 2003 Chinese Annual Online Gaming Market General Survey Released During E3
Monday May 19, 4:39 pm ET

China's Online Gaming Market Continues Its Explosive Growth

LOS ANGELES, May 19 /PRNewswire/ -- 17173.com , the leading portal website focusing on Chinese online games, today announced at the 2003 E3 show the results of the 2003 China Online Game Survey, conducted by 17173.com from the period of April 9 to May 13, 2003, with co-hosting partner China Unicom (NYSE: CHU - News), as well as eleven magazines and more than 20 Internet portal sites in China.

    Here are some key highlights on the results of the survey:

     -- As of April 1, 2003, there are 57 online games that are in open beta

        or fee-based operations in China, operated by 38 online game

        operators;

     -- Among these 57 games, 18 were developed by Chinese companies,

        including the companies in Taiwan and Hong Kong;

     -- 96% of the Chinese online game players are under age 30;

     -- 52.4% of the online game players in China are students attending

        colleges and high schools;

     -- 50.1% of the online game players play in the Internet Cafes;

     -- 68% of the online game players play more than 3 hours per day;

     -- "MU" has surpassed "Legend of Mir" to become the most popular online

        game operated in China.

"This is the third year 17173.com has conducted the China Online Game Survey," said Mr. Zongjian Cai, Chief Operating Officer of 17173.com, "China is the fastest growing online market in the world. As an independent and unbiased online media covering this exciting market place, 17173.com is committed to provide the best information to Chinese game players."

 

According to IDC, the total market size of the Chinese online gaming industry has exceeded 1.2 billion US dollars in 2002, of which more than 100 million USD was directly generated from the subscription fees paid by online game players. There are over 60 million Internet users in China and about half of them play online games. The three largest Internet portal sites in China, Sina.com, Netease.com, and Sohu.com have all entered the online gaming business.

 

About 17173.com

 

17173.com is one of the largest Chinese online game portal websites in the world, with over 80 game zones covering all the online games operating in China. Everyday there are over 1.2 million unique game players visiting 17173.com, posting over 200 thousand messages on its BBS. 17173.com also owns a website dedicated to console/PC games, an online gaming magazine named "Hot Spots," and a net cafe association in China with over 60,000 Internet cafe members.