Free-to-play gaming may be a big challenge

Games testing equipment at Eutechnyx' UK office. [Provided to China Daily]

Chinese links put Eutechnyx and its customers in the driving seat

The challenge of piracy and the prevalence of free-to-play gaming in China may seem a great barrier for many foreign companies to even attempt entering the market, but for Eutechnyx, a company in Gateshead, northeast England, it was a catalyst to design new approaches and revolutionize its group business model.

Eutechnyx, founded 27 years ago, is a computer and video games developer that specializes in racing games, the most widely known being Auto Club Revolution and NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Racing).

"When we first went to China we were focused mostly on console games, which sell for about $60 each," says CEO Darren Jobling. "We saw that China was pioneering free-to-play and that our old business model wasn't relevant there.

"We saw the potential of free-to-play both in China and in the rest of the world. We invested in China and in building a new business model that we are now using internationally."

Whereas console games are sold retail, free-to-play games allow about 90 percent of customers to play free of charge. The rest are the cash-rich, time-poor willing to pay a lot to skip a game's lower levels to play at the higher levels.

The shift in the Eutechnyx business model is one way in which Jobling's team demonstrated great flexibility in expanding into the Chinese market. Establishing a Chengdu design studio is another.

In 2007, Executive Chairman Brian Jobling took part in a UK government delegation trip to explore opportunities in China and met representatives of the Chinese game developer CP Soft.

"We had a good discussion and liked what each other did," Jobling says, adding that he expressed an interest to work with CP Soft before returning to England, although without putting a timeline on it.

A month after returning, CP Soft contacted him. "They said they had created a studio for us in Chengdu, and recruited the right talent to participate. They asked us to go and take a look."

Jobling was happy with what he saw, and two months later Eutechnyx and CP Soft set up a joint venture company in Chengdu, Eutechnyx being the majority shareholder.

The work force has now grown to more than 30 employees, who specialize in graphical 3D modeling for vehicles and environment. Their work complements the work of Eutechnyx's UK team, which has more than 70 people working on game development and graphic design.

The spread of workers across the two locations also means coordination between the two teams allows jobs to be worked on around the clock and finished more quickly.

Jobling says he is impressed by the level of talent in China's graphical 3D modeling industry for computer games.

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