thinking about distributing your game in China?

If you are thinking about distributing your game in China, you cannot ignore the power of Chinese social media.

With an estimated 597 million people active on social networking sites, China has the biggest social environment in the world. Also in terms of top social media sites, China cuts a further world record: According to GlobalWebIndex, over half of the top 15 social networking sites worldwide are from China. The huge variety of Chinese social platforms also bears great potential for the promotion of western games. But how can western developers benefit from Chinese social media and what do they have to consider?

Setting up a brand page is surely the first important step to reach China’s social community, but if you want to get players on your game, you need to push relevant content to your site. The rules for interacting with Chinese consumers are pretty similar to the ones for western social media – with one big difference: the entire communication must be performed in Chinese.

The principle of sharing content applies particularly well in China: According to Go Globe, 43% of Chinese netizens are interested in products shared friends on social networking sites.

Furthermore, especially Chinese gamers like to show off their in-game purchases and achievements by posting them on social networks. There are several ways to boost the sharing activities on Chinese social networks:  first, you can adapt the social integration of your game to China’s SNS channels, so that Chinese gamers can easily share their in-game successes with their friends. Also, you can animate your community to spread the word about your game by performing contests on social media. Another way to create viral content is to place videos about your game on China’s top 3 video hosting services Youku, Tencent and LETV.

So far so good, but what does this all mean for your game? Which are the best platforms for promoting your game on Chinese social media? Since every game is different, there is surely no universal answer to this question. Of course, a bigger presence on social networks can promise a higher reach of the Chinese online community, but first you need to define as precisely as possible the goals of your game promotion on social media. Also, you might need some help for the social integration of your game.