Lured by cheating software and fast progress, more players are
moving away from legitimate online gaming, crippling a fast-growing
industry.
With the legitimate Internet gaming industry bleeding money,
officials plan to launch a special campaign against intellectual
property right infringements in the Internet gaming sector.
The three-month-long effort, set to start on January 1, is aimed
at shutting down websites that operate unauthorized Internet game
servers and sites that provide software to cheat on online
games.
Insiders say the number of players using illegal game servers in
China far outnumbers those using official servers. The trend not
only infringes upon the games' copyrights but also severely curbs
profits for game providers.
Statistics also show that at least 60 percent of Chinese
Internet game players use software to cheat on online games, which
causes a daily loss of 100,000 yuan (US$12,000) for those Internet
game producers.
Officials say the abundance of players who cheat has driven away
players disillusioned by poor online protection measures.
"We have lost many customers this way, because they do not trust
us any more as so many other players are cheating in games," said
Yao Jun, vice president of the Computer Technology Consulting
(Shanghai) Co Ltd.
Yao's company once found more than 100,000 users were using
cheating software in a popular Internet game called "Mu" that it
runs.
"An Internet game sets many obstacles for players to conquer
before letting them become a senior player, but cheating software
running rampant simply made the game meaningless," said Wu Jun, 32,
who once tried Internet games but now prefers gaming at home.
"I really don't know what fun and satisfaction cheating in games
to achieve a senior level can bring," he said.
The State Press and Publication Administration, one of the
campaign organizers, has received a number of complaints and
petitions from officially approved Internet game providers.
"It costs a lot of money and time to develop a good Internet
game, but the game can be easily ruined by illegal servers and
cheating software," said Yu Yongkan, deputy director of the State
Press and Publication Administration at a press conference
Tuesday.
The Internet gaming industry is now regarded as prosperous. Yu
quoted experts as saying the industry revenues are estimated at
US$1 billion.
Last year, Internet game providers collected 1 billion yuan
(US$120.5 million), and expected to double that this year.
(China Daily December 24, 2003)