Online games have become a mainstay in China’s Internet industry just 10 years after their development. Charging players based on the time played has become the fashion nowadays, compared with having to buy the game equipment several years ago. Online games classified for entertainment and browser games are growing quickly, indicating great changes in the industry, Beijing Business Today reported.

Two-thirds of Chinese Internet users are online gamers. The online game market is growing as more and more people start to play online games. In addition, Web games in China have also risen rapidly in 2008 and 2009, attracting many investors.

The sales revenue of online games reached more than 20 billion yuan (US$2.9 billion) in 2008, accounting for almost 40 percent of the Internet market. Revenue is expected to grow by 20 percent each year and hit 73.1 billion yuan (US$10.7 billion) in 2012. China’s online game market is diversifying. Among the top 10 Internet games in October 2009, 6 of them were role-playing games, while 3 of them were games for entertainment. However, 70 percent of online game developers have suffered losses in China, and only 10 percent can keep a balance. Rapid growth of the online game sector has led to a lower threshold for game operation and a large number of similar games, as well as less loyalty from the players. To deal with the intense competition, game operators spend a lot of money promoting their products in many ways, although this has had little effect.