Some Details from Mobile Games Asia Conference(18/7/2014)

Global Mobile Game Confederation (GMGC) hosted its very first conference in Singapore called Mobile Games Asia 2014. I was able be there as an attendee and got some info although not much since I and a bunch of others arrived late due to the driver getting lost for about an hour :P .
Here's the list of details I (managed) to gather.

How To Bring Your Game to the Chinese Market
Speakers:
Haiyu Ni - CEO, TalentWalker
Dalu Ye - COO, Sincetimes
Zhouying Dai - General Partner, CA Venture
Shenghong Liu - CEO, Shengri Tech

• Open your game source code to the game developers in China
• Android market - talk with appropriate promoting channels over to promote your game
• Free games are better (overall) in China, paid apps are usually around 1000 RMB(Renminbi)
• For foreign comapnies to get in to China game market - approximately 6-12 months
• Have a good partner in China to take care of intellectual property, finance,etc.
• Intellectual property protection is priority and is an ongoing process

What Elements make a Mobile Game Successful in China?
Speakers:
Cheng Li - CEO, 91ku Network
Jin Liu - Director, Mokylin
Xin Wang - CEO, Dianru Advertising

• They are FREE but offer in-game purchases. NOTE: They are talking about games that are successful in the market in terms of popularity and capable of supporting the development through monetisation.
• Western- prefer pay to play
• Eastern(mainly China) - prefer play to pay - they are likely to pay for in-game purchases when they want to compete with others - especially friends
• Chinese players favour Chinese Cartoon intellectual properties(IP)
• There are many distributing channels in China - different channels cater to different segments of the mobile game market
• Marketing and promotion - viral marketing includes social networks but there is very little (or none at all) Facebook use in China
• First half of 2014 - card and hardcore action games, forecast for next half of 2014 - RPG(Jin Liu)
• Good introduction of the game - able to get into it easily even for newbies 

The Third Generation of Mobile Card Games
Speaker: Norman Lo - President, Game Tider

• 1st Generation - Just watch with automatic fighting
• Players demand more control
• 2nd Generation - Watch real football(soccer) match in 3D
• 3rd Generation - Focus on PvP - high replay value, same environment but different opponents (he was describing he's game which is about a football card game)

How Does Mobile Game Background Music Improve Game Quality>
Speaker: Louis Lu - CEO, XiaoXu Gamee Audio Studio

• (from graph) Sound quality UP = Retention UP
• Music matches the scene and mood - improves sensual experience

 Overcoming the Challenges of Current Monetization Models
Speaker: Sergio Salvador - Global Head of Game Partnerships, Google

• Premium Ads + In-App Purchases = SUCCESS!

Note: He emphasize on the concept above because there are all sorts of gamers - some willing to pay to play better, others just wanna have fun without paying. (If I'm not mistaken) He's example was that if 2% of players are those that are willing to buy in-game items, then putting ads in the game will cover the other 8%.


Getting your Mobike Game to the Regional Market
Speakers:
Gerald Tock - Chieftainm Inzen Studio
Allan Simonsen - Co-Founder, Boomzap Entertainment
Gabby Dizon - CEO, Altitude Games
Nobuyoshi Noda - Head of Global Business, Adways

NOTE: This one was pretty long but most of it is kinda irrelevant to me. I was also kinda tired around that time too and doze off a little since I woke up extra early on that day.

• Free to Play - go for Facebook and Google Play

• Get a publisher/promoter - save time to focus on developing the game itself
• (General) They talk about the market in Taiwan, Indonesia and and Japan as well.
• (Not sure if it was in this keynote) Language - no need to worry too much if the game is not text-centric, else English will do