During a meeting with a local games company yesterday (PETRONAS is looking to diversify its business?? Hahahaah... NOT), i learned some very interesting facts about the local online gaming industry.
By most estimates, there are upwards to 200,000 active online gamers in Malaysia. I found this figure astonishing, since there are about 4 million Internet users; 5% is a very large cut of the pie. Secondly, many of these gamers are willing to pay-to-play; subscription fees to play their favourite online games. For example, when Knight Online comes out of open beta, a gamer will be charged RM38 a month to play this MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game).
Do the math => 100,000 active gamers x RM38 per month = RM3.8 million a month, approx. RM40 million a year.
That's a fantastic business to be in. Things have come a long way from the 20 sen i used to feed into the arcade machines after school, eh?
These last few days, i've been playing Knight Online and its fun. Anyone here plays it too? Look for me when you're online; i'm a Level 15 Magician named Elfinity. I can be usually found at the river right outside Moradon blasting Werewolves.
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