China swims 50% to watch the world's biggest game market

China is likely to overtake the US as the world's largest online gaming market this year, according to a report released recently by market research company Eric. China's online gaming market created a 20.8 billion yuan income in 2008, up 52.2% from a year earlier. More than 80% of the revenue comes from large online games involving multiplayer players, and the rest comes from web games and mobile games. The game market is expected to grow at an annual rate of 20% over the next five years.　　By 2012, China's online gaming market would have a total of more than 68 billion yuan, which would account for nearly half of the global market, he predicts. The US, China and South Korea are currently the top three online gaming markets in the world, with 29%, 27% and 21% per cent of the market, according to the report. China has a huge network of gamers, its number is still growing, which will further promote the development of China's online gaming industry. China currently has 55.5 million online gamers, according to the latest figures released by the China Internet Network Information Center.