The year 2005 witnesses China¡®s game industry turning from importing and distributing games to independently developing games. In 2005, the online game industry continues to maintain its strong growth trend, with the number of online gamers reaching 26.34 million, up 30.1% compared to the previous year; the actual sales revenue from the publication of online games reached RMB 3.77 billion, a year-on-year increase of 52.6%

Making a general survey of the development of China¡®s game industry in 2005, we can see that as a whole, the revenue of 2005 was on the increase though it fluctuated largely in the first half and latter half of the year. In the first half of 2005, the revenue accelerated. However, from the third quarter, the growth decelerated. The profits of major online game operators were below expectation. Concerning the market operation, both gaming operators and conventional channel enterprises took steps one after another, either adopting new charge modes or making efforts to expand horizontal marketing channels, hoping to break out and recreate glory. Concerning the social environment aspect, with the joint efforts of relevant governmental departments and game industry circles, a lot of practical and feasible fruitful work has been done to improve the image of China?s game industry in the hearts of the public.

To sum it up, the development of China¡®s game industry in 2005 enjoys the following features:

1. Independently developed online games have grown into the leading force for the development of the game industry
   The number of development team engaged in independently developed games increased from 73 in 2004 to 120 in 2005, up 37% year-on-year; large and medium scale online games independently developed reached 192, however, in 2004 the number was 109, indicating an increase rate of 76%. According to survey, the development staff in the game industry increased from 4000 in 2004 to the current 12000, with an increase rate over 200%. The market share of China-made online games reached 60% in 2005.
2. Casual games, a new element for the development of the game industry
   According to rough estimation, the actual sales revenue for casual games accounts for more than 30% of the overall actual sales revenue. Due to the robust development of casual games, the year 2005 is considered as an important turning for China?s game industry.
3. Mobile game becomes a new highlight
   With the enhancement of mobile network¡®s capacity to transfer data, the clearness of commercial mode and profits mode and the change of consumer?s recognition and habits, mobile communication is entering into a multi-media data era from a voice era and mobile game is one of the highlights of value added services with a good prospect in the industry.
4. Enterprises pursue freshness and variety in their business strategy
   ?Transition?, ?free to play?, ?virtual platform? and ?collaboration between different industries? are the key features for gaming enterprises? business strategy change.
5. Giving priority to social benefits becomes popular
   We are happy to see that when the public opinion created enormous pressure for the game industry, instead of constantly refuting in words, gaming enterprises invest lots of manpower, material resources and energy to improve the social environment and undertakes the social responsibility on their own initiative.
6. Facing forward to the future, guiding China¡®s game industry to develop in a healthier direction
   In 2005, the central government and the State Council formulated various policies and guidelines, implementing earlier setup examination and approval and supervision over the publication of games on the Internet, posing stricter examination on online game contents, especially those open to minors, and investigated and sternly dealt with the online games with unhealthy contents of pornography, violence, terrorism and etc. The online games imported upon approval shall not change game title or add or delete contents without permission.