The following is a speech by the Permanent Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (Communications and Technology), Mr Duncan Pescod, at the opening ceremony of Asia Game Show and Online Game Show on December 24, 2009:
Mr. (Tetsuhiko) Yasuda [President, Sony Computer Entertainment Asia], Mr. (Junbo) Wang [President, Taiwan Game Industry Association], Professor (Kin Chuen) Hui [Chairman, HK Game Industry Association], Mr. (K. T.) Yung [General Manager (IT Industry Development), HK Productivity Council], Ms. (Freda) Cheung (representative of Asia Game Show Holdings Ltd), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning!
I came across the following quote when preparing for this event. I want to share it with you - “Many people think video games are all about a child staring at a TV with a joystick in his hands. I don’t. They should belong to the entire family. I want families to play video games together” by Shigeru Miyamoto. I think this is important. Video games are an integral part of life in the 21st Century and they are now simply another part of the entertainment available to families. At home, I have two of the three main games consoles in our TV room. I found that if they were elsewhere, I would not see my children very often!
I am delighted to join you here today at the opening of the Asia Game Show and Online Game Show. The Asia Game Show, or AGS in short, is celebrating its 8th anniversary this year. The Show has evolved over the years into a must-go annual festival for game aficionados to try out and buy the latest and most updated games in town. I am particularly pleased to see that the AGS and the Online Game Show have collaborated on the organisation of a mega game show this year, making it the largest games event ever held in Hong Kong, and one of the largest game shows in Asia. This really does just go to show that Hong Kong is the creative capital in the region. My congratulations to the organisers for their courage in tackling the challenges of combining two such important events. The sum is definitely greater than the parts.
To me, what matters is not just the scale of the event, but the fact that this joint event demonstrates that online gaming has become an integral and indispensable part of the game industry. I thought I should just quote a few figures to show you how hugely popular the game sector is, and in particular the online game business. To start with, the size of the local gaming market is about HK$ 1 billion, with 60% of the value coming from online games. In terms of the local gaming population, there are about one million online gamers in Hong Kong. That means almost one in every seven Hong Kongers plays online games. Moreover, nearly 360,000 visitors patronised the AGS 2008 which lasted for four days, which means on average, 90 000 game lovers visited the show each day last year. These are very impressive figures, and I am sure you will scale new heights and build new records this year.
While Hong Kong itself is an established and rather sophisticated market, the really big prize lies in accessing the truly huge Mainland market. With over 200 million online game players, the Mainland online game market is expected to reach $27.5 billion renminbi in 2009. There is no better place from which to enter this market than Hong Kong. We speak the language, share much of the culture and know how to do business there. Most important of all, we offer games developers a safe way to protect their intellectual property rights. We have a robust IP protection regime that meets prevailing needs. To better protect copyright works disseminated electronically, we are working on some legislative proposals to further strengthen the protection of copyright in the digital environment.
There is no doubt in my mind that there is a great future ahead of our comparatively small games industry. However, if we want to develop our games industry into a new economic driving force, we need to do more. The mega show today demonstrates the industry’s efforts to boost local sales of game products. But what exactly can we do to drive the growth of the industry?
No industry can sustain itself without regular injections of new ideas, new talent and new audiences. On new talent and new ideas: Create Hong Kong is supporting the Hong Kong Game Industry Association to launch today a year-long “Industry Promotion and Talent Recruitment” campaign. I understand more than 20 game companies will offer about 100 job vacancies to our young people during the Show, and this is only the beginning – the campaign is going to last for one year, with more promotion events and activities coming up in 2010. I want to thank the Association for their efforts and dedication in driving the industry while helping our young people to develop and fully utilize their talent.
I must say I am quite struck by the slogan of the recruitment campaign, i.e. “No qualification requirements but creativity and passion”. It struck me because it points out precisely that “creativity” and “passion” are the two vital factors underpinning the success of the game industry. Indeed, without creativity and passion, the industry will not prosper.
I believe we all have the potential to be creative and passionate, I also believe that it is possible to create the conditions and to provide an environment in which our creativity and passion can thrive. Since the establishment of the Create Hong Kong office under my Bureau in June this year, we have already supported twelve industry projects for the creative industries under the HK$300 million CreateSmart Initiative (CSI). The industry promotion and talent recruitment campaign is one of the projects supported by the CSI. We will continue to work closely with the game industry to see how the funding could be best used to support other valuable initiatives.
Before I close, I am aware that the Association and its members have initiated a campaign to give out free computers and Internet connection to needy families. This complements the district cyber centre pilot scheme launched by the Government earlier this year, under which 33 centres provide computers with Internet connectivity, as well as relevant training programmes and technical support, to serve the community. This is exactly the type of coordinated effort that will bring ICT and all its potential to everyone in the community. A future Charles Kao is among us today! He or she just needs to be given the chance to bloom.
I wish the Show every success, and wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
So let me leave you with a final thought from one of my favourite authors, Terry Pratchett. I know that many games are set in fantasy world with dungeons and warriors, dragons and damsels in distress. For all the games designers out there, I give you one piece of advice: “Never build a dungeon you can’t get out of!”
Thank you.
Ends/Thursday, December 24, 2009