Korean online game makers are becoming targets for Chinese companies to buy

South Korean online gaming makers have become targets for Chinese companies as the country's online gaming market has grown rapidly, according to a South Korean industry source November 4. Shanda recently agreed to buy South Korea's Eyedentity games company with 95 million dollars. The Korean company has developed the online role-playing game "The Valley of the Dragon" (Dragon Nest). In early 2004, Shanda bought a 29% per cent stake in Actoz Soft, another South Korean game developer, with 91.7 million dollars.　　Actoz's game, "Blood Legend 2" (Legend of Mir 2) is very popular in Asia. Tencent has invested 20 billion won (18 million US dollars) in 7 South Korean game developers, according to industry insiders.　　South Korea has been a major exporter of online gaming since the early 2000, gaining one-fourth per cent of the global online gaming market.　　According to Niko, a market research firm that tracks China's gaming market, revenue from the 2014 China online gaming market will grow three times times from 2009, from $3.57 billion in 2009 to $9.2 billion. As China's online gaming market expands, the industry's demand for diverse content is growing, according to Park Yong-seok, the original head of the South Korean content-boosting institute's China office.