Nintendo's Chinese Rival Wants to Know What Makes Western Gamers Tick
- William Ding’s NetEase wants to hire and buy beyond China
- It needs to sustain a growth pace that’s bested Tencent
Attendees play the 'LawBreakers' video game by Nexon Co. during the E3 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, California, U.S., on Tuesday, June 13, 2017. For three days, leading-edge companies, groundbreaking new technologies and never-before-seen products is showcased at E3.
Photographer: Troy Harvey/BloombergChances are few outside of China have heard of NetEase Inc., though it makes more money from games than Nintendo Co. Now it wants recognition, but first it’ll have to learn what makes Western gamers tick.
The company is on a global hiring campaign and exploring acquisitions or investments in foreign studios, so it can earn 30 percent of revenue from overseas by 2020, said Ethan Wang, vice president of NetEase Games. The goal is to sustain the outsized growth that swelled its market value eight-fold since 2012 to about $40 billion, while creating an outlet from a saturated home market fought over with Tencent Holdings Ltd.