Firms complain of unfair treatment in China

“There is unfair competition between Taiwanese and Chinese online game companies,” said Aaron Hsu, the head of the association consisting of Taiwan's 20 game software companies, at a seminar held at the Taipei Game Show on its opening day.

He said Taiwanese products cannot enter China's market as quickly as Chinese products do because they are subject to a stricter and more protracted screening process.

But Chinese games can compete without restrictions in Taiwan, he complained.

“New game products from China account for over 40 percent of the total number of new products in Taiwan's market,” Hsu, also the chairman of XPEC Entertainment Inc., told an audience of over 200 people.

“This means that Taiwan has opened itself to Chinese products. There is no barrier at all.”

“However, new products made by Taiwanese companies account for less than 1 percent of the total number of new products in China,” he added.

Hsu urged Taiwan's government to deal with this unfair treatment during the upcoming fifth round of talks aimed at further liberalizing trade between Taiwan and China.

Meanwhile, Albert Liu, chairman and CEO of Gamania Digital Entertainment Co., argued that the government is not efficient enough to help local online game companies, and he called for the establishment of a digital content industrial park to create a cluster effect.

Asked about the industry's prospects for 2010,Soft-World International Corp. Chairman Wang Chun-po said Taiwan's online game companies should not only focus on the Chinese market, but also on markets in Russia, Turkey, Europe, the United States and Japan.

“These markets have already accepted games featuring Chinese cultural elements,” he said. “The first best-selling games in Russia and Vietnam all had Chinese elements.”

Paul Chiang, president of International Games System Co., suggested that Taiwanese firms should seek partnerships with leading U.S. or European companies to outperform their Chinese or South Korea competitors.

A total of 62 companies are taking part in the Taipei Game Show this year. The show is expected to draw 300,000 visitors during its five-day run that concludes Feb. 9.

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