Activision is now the latest studio to open an Asian subsidiary. Looking to capitalize on the region’s long-term prospects for gaming, the publishing juggernaut has purchased CSR Entertainment,s game distribution operations located in Seoul, Korea. John Watts, managing director of Activision,s Asia Pacific region said, "The establishment of a Korean publishing office represents an important and integral part of our Asian expansion strategy. Activision has had tremendous success in its direct publishing models in Spain and Italy over the past few years and this experience we are now applying within Asia."
Alexis Madrigal, an analyst for DFC said of the Asian game market, “Casual games have been the best at attracting advertisers, but they are now finding a great deal of growth from subscription and digital distribution models. Asian markets with products like Kart Rider, and Western products, like Habbo Hotel, are showing how a virtual item purchase model can work for games that have traditionally been advertising or subscription supported.”
DFC Intelligence estimates that a successful online game in the Asian game markets such as South Korea, China and Japan are able to generate over $100 million dollars a year per title. With subscription profit margins this large, game companies are seeing gold in the lands of the Far East and are attempting to stake their claims before the market goes dry.
The Asia Pacific region of the world is becoming a central draw for game publishers and developers as demographic and marketing surveys indicate that this region will draw an estimated $17.4 billion by the year 2010. This staggering figure amounts to a 12.3% compound annual increase, according to PricewaterhouseCooper. And of this market share, Korea holds 45% of the total revenues generated by game companies. In online games alone, Korea pulled in $630 million in sales.
