The recent China Digital Entertainment Expo and Conference aka ChinaJoy (yes, really) is held annually in July in Shanghai. One of the largest games events in Asia, ChinaJoy brings pretty much the entire Chinese games industry together over four days, showcasing the very latest developments in online, social and mobile games in China and abroad.
This year’s exhibition included over 150 exhibitors, representing global leaders such as AMD, Crytek, Epic, Intel, Microsoft and NVIDIA, as well as industry pavilions representing game companies from Canada, Germany and Singapore. Impressive list.
The adjoining conference in the hotel next door featured several days of game business, development and outsourcing presentations, seminars and workshops presented by over 100 prominent Chinese and overseas speakers as well as a series of important networking events jointly organized by the Shanghai Multimedia Industry Association (SMIA) and IGDA Shanghai.
This included a number of virtual reality-ready product launches as developers try to meet ever increasing demands from the gaming sector in China. For hardware manufacturers, virtual reality-supported devices are the future, fast becoming prerequisites to capture growth and flourish in the $24 billion Chinese markets.
This growing sector reportedly accounts for around a quarter of the world’s gaming revenue, according to market consultancy Newzoo. They predict that it will reach $30 billion by the end of 2018, growing at a pace of $2 billion per year.
Alienware unveiled a new, premium line of virtual reality-enabled devices, from customized computer mouses to monitors, aiming to provide users with an immersive gaming experience. They also announced a collaboration with Intel Corp’s latest processors to enable smooth multi-tasking, a keyboard with memory function, and a high-resolution screen that supports spontaneous and responsive game-play, among other things.
HTC Corp announced that they are working to develop a stand-alone headset for the Chinese market built on their Viveport platform and Sony Interactive Entertainment announced a new wide range of virtual reality titles for PlayStation as part of a hard push into China.
Keeping with the virtual reality theme, Snail/Peacock Studio showcased a trailer for their new VR show Ark Park, a spin-off from ARK: Survival Evolved (Ark Park is basically a Jurassic Park rip-off but with the added bonus of making you feel like a dinosaur really is about to rip off your head as the VR puts you front and center in the middle of the action). The game doesn’t have a hard date set for release yet but the appearance of a trailer has fans feeling hopeful.
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Meanwhile, Sony announced a new project called Monkey King: Hero is Back The Game, their first major effort at developing an AAA Chinese title. Monkey King: Hero is Back The Game is an adaptation of a 2015 Chinese animated film of the same name, starring Jackie Chan as Sun Wukong.
A retelling of the famous Chinese story Journey to the West, it was the highest grossing animated movie of all time in China on release, though it has since been surpassed by both Zootopia and Kung Fu Panda 3.
What are you thoughts on ChinaJoy and the growing investment in video games in China? Let us know!
