China’s QQ Passes 300 Million Users

China's QQ instant messaging and social network service has surpassed 300 million monthly active users, according to data from Informa (via Telecoms.com). Although the Tencent-run service only reaches China, it is rapidly catching up to Facebook's worldwide base of 400 million monthly active users. QQ is also achieving these numbers despite only 18% of households in China having access to broadband Internet service (as of 2008). 

The Chinese online gaming market as a whole was valued at $5.6 billion dollars for this year in a recent report from Lazarus Capital Markets (via Gamasutra). A substantial (but unknown) protion of Chinese online game revenues are generated by sales of virtual goods. The Lazarus Capital Markets report estimates the value of the US social games market at $1.3 billion for 2010. 

Given that the overall value of the US virtual goods market for 2010 was estimated at $1.6 billion by Inside Virtual Goods, it seems likely that a substantial portion of China's online games revenue may be generated by virtual goods sales in social games. One of China's most popular social games right now is the FarmVille-like Happy Farm, which serves about 27 million daily active users. 

Chinese Market Researsh senior analyst Ben Cavender stated that multiplayer games are more popular on Chinese social networks than their US counterparts, because Chinese users are more willing to add friends they've met online for the sake of the game. Cavender also notes that Chinese users are more willing to spend on virtual goods. QQ generates roughly 70% of its revenue through virtual goods sales, largely of items that individualize and customize avatars.  

(via ZDnet Asia)

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