Forbes: Chinese Xbox One players will return to the grey market
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China lifted its ban on game consoles six months ago, allowing them to be legally sold within its borders for the first time in a decade, though Chinese gamers have yet to get their hands on anything. But the launch of China's first official game console is getting closer, with Microsoft announcing its official price (3,699 RMB, about $600) and official release date (September 23) at the recent ChinaJoy gaming conference. The Xbox One is coming to China, and soon. But will Chinese consumers really buy in? That's the question observers (myself included) have been asking since rumors of a lifting of the ban on game consoles emerged. After all, China's ban on game consoles is not strictly enforced, and imported game consoles (many of which have been cracked to play cheap pirated games) are easily available in China's electronics market. While these less-than-legal game consoles are proliferating in China, the country's gaming market is still dominated by PC and mobile platforms. Now that we have some details about the Xbox One coming to China—price, release date, game pricing, and bundles—it’s possible to assess Microsoft’s chances of making more of a dent in the legal market than it does in the grey market. One thing Microsoft did right was build hype. Whether or not this was intentional, the constant rumors and speculation about the Xbox One’s price over the past few months have captured the attention of Chinese gamers. Admittedly, much of that attention initially came in the form of taunts and ridicule when rumors swirled that the device might cost more than $800 in China. But the “overpriced” rumors actually helped soften the blow of the Xbox One’s actual price: a full $100 more than the US price for the same product, but the reaction to the official price news from Chinese gamers was surprisingly positive, perhaps in part because it was lower than the rumored price. While the price of the console itself isn’t exactly lovely, Microsoft does deserve some credit for the price of the games. The company says games released in China will cost between $15 and $40, depending on the game, and while that's not cheap by Chinese standards, Microsoft's pricing in China is significantly lower than in Western markets, where games typically launch for $60. Another thing Microsoft got right? Games. I've long been skeptical about the console's ability to take hold in the Chinese gaming market, because the country's most popular game genres (massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) and multiplayer online battle arenas (MOBAs)) aren't generally available on consoles, in part because they don't always play well with a controller. But the Chinese version of the Xbox One will come bundled with the free-to-play MMO role-playing game Neverwinter, and it looks like other Chinese game developers will also release Xbox One games that cater to the Chinese market's particular gaming preferences, rather than just localized Western games (although the Xbox One will ship with those, too). Ultimately, though, Microsoft's biggest coup may be being the first to market with a console in China. Sony and Nintendo are also targeting the Chinese market, but the Xbox One will be the first to be officially released in China, and will benefit from the extra publicity of being the first console to be officially released in China in 10 years. Not only that, being first to market has also proven to be of great value in the Microsoft/Sony console war. Sony's Playstation 2 beat Microsoft's console to market, and ended up outselling the first-generation Xbox by a wide margin. Microsoft turned the tables with its second-generation console, with the Xbox 360 outselling the Playstation 3. It's too early to say who will be the winner in the Xbox One vs. PS4 battle, and of course, console sales are affected by a variety of factors. Even so, being first to market clearly won't hurt, and Microsoft will have an advantage in China. I think Microsoft's biggest mistake was its choice to charge for its online service (Xbox Live Gold) in China. While the service is available elsewhere, and consoles sold in China come bundled with about six months of free Live Gold, once Chinese gamers start paying a monthly fee for the service in March 2015, I suspect they will be put off by the need to pay, since most of these games and services are free on PC. Another major issue the Xbox One will face in China is that it is region-locked. This isn't too surprising, given the different pricing for games and the need for the Ministry of Culture to approve games released in China. But since some of the most popular games on the Xbox One worldwide (like the upcoming next-generation Grand Theft Auto V) would never make it past Chinese censors, this means that Chinese Xbox gamers can't play them. This may drive some players back to gray-imported consoles, which are not usually region-locked. So, will the Xbox One succeed in China? Don't expect it to be as successful as it has been in Western markets, but it will likely carve out a niche for itself, with Chinese power players buying the device as a status symbol. As China's middle class grows, many Chinese technology companies are fighting to secure a place in middle-class living rooms and on TV screens, and Microsoft is hoping that the market will become as popular with consoles as it is in the West. I don't think the Xbox One will be a threat to PC gaming any time soon, but it may be able to find a foothold in China. As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity. |
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