Most of Tencent Games Workers Say Chinese Game Innovation Not Good, Survey Shows

LU HONGAN

(Yicai Global) July 2 — Most of the employees at Tencent Games, the world’s largest video game publisher, say that China’s gaming sector lacks innovation due to plagiarism and poor-quality content. Many of the developers are not even particularly proud of their own products.

Twenty percent of Tencent Games’s workers said that China’s game innovation is very poor and 49 percent said that it is not strong, while 0.5 percent claimed that China is doing well in the field, according to a survey done by the Shenzhen-based tech giant’s research institute. It surveyed 750 participants, mostly men with an average age of 30, last September.

Some 43 percent of the respondents said that the games they are developing are innovative to a general degree, while 24 percent said that the titles are barely innovative.

The lack of inspiring releases does not seem to stem from slacking at work. More than 94 percent of the survey participants said that they work overtime regularly or even every day. Nearly 6 percent said that they do not work overtime on weekends.

Despite the harsh working conditions, 64 percent of the respondents said they will stay in the sector for the next five years, and strive to create more quality games with social value. Less than 4 percent said they are ready to leave anytime.

Editor: Emmi Laine