Popular titles fuel share price of Chinese game firms

Game firms saw their share prices surge today after mobile games Traveling Frog and Lover and Producer surprisingly went viral in China.

Japanese mobile game “Tabi Kaeru,” or “Traveling Frog” in English, has gone viral among young people, and has  becomes a buzz word on social networks in China.

Before the frog game, Lover and Producer was the star title in China. The mobile game targeting female users got 4.7 points in a 5-point rating system in Apple’s store with over 216,830 ratings.

Shenzhen-listed Sanqi Interactive Entertainment Network Technology Co, which was involved in distributing the mobile game Lover and Producer, surged 9.26 percent today to close at 20.3 yuan (US$3.1). 

Shenzhen-listed Youzu Interactive Co jumped 6.49 percent and Perfect World Co gained 4.69 percent today, compared with a 0.45 percent rise in the Shenzhen stock index. 

The popularity of Lover and Producer proves that digital entertaining still has great potential in the domestic market, said GF Securities in a report today.

The game allows players to “talk” and even “love” several handsome men through conversations. It also charges money for game items. Players, mostly young women aged between 14 and 35, said they liked the game because they can’t find their ideal men in real life. 

In Apple’s store, the Traveling Frog had 1 million downloads in China. Users spent about US$200,000 on the mobile game by Sunday, just one month after its debut, said research firm App Annie, which tracks the mobile application market and user behavior.