Archive notice: This article was originally published on July 7, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Giant Interactive Group, one of China’s largest online gaming platforms, has invested the equivalent of around $51 million in the local social network 51.com, according to pressetext.
The newly formed partnership is representative of a broader trend in the internet industry, with the two sectors increasingly converging. The result is a phenomenon summarized by the term “social gaming.” This form of gaming combines social aspects from online communities with those of online games. Given the large user numbers in both sectors, many experts believe it is obvious that the symbiosis of two of the internet’s most popular activities has enormous potential.
“The combination of social networking and online gaming is an extremely exciting topic,” said Markus Hübner, web expert and managing director of the Brandflow agency, according to pressetext. Online gaming in particular has developed into a very rapidly growing segment in recent years.
At the same time, internet users increasingly want to maintain social contacts and find like-minded people with whom they can share hobbies and interests. Combining the two aspects is therefore an obvious step. “Gaming can be combined very effectively with social networking,” Hübner said. This convergence would also create “exciting synergies for both sides.”
“Interactive gaming is now possible globally within seconds; a single mouse click is enough,” Hübner noted. However, the rapid technological development of the Web 2.0 era also brings risks. “In online gaming, the threshold for revealing personal information is often lower. Its merger with the social-community sector suggests a significant downside in this respect as well,” Hübner explained.
The greatest problem in this context is that the law apparently cannot keep pace with technological progress. “Without a clear legal framework, many users are walking straight into danger. From a data-protection perspective, defining clear rules would be desirable for both social communities and online gaming,” Hübner criticized.
The enormous potential of the current partnership between the two Chinese internet companies can also be demonstrated impressively in figures. According to its own data, 51.com alone currently has 120 million registered users. The social-community portal records more than 31 million unique visitors per month and 350 million page views per day. This impressive reach is now complemented by Giant Interactive Group’s nationwide distribution network, comprising 270 distribution partners and 116,500 retail outlets.
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