Taiwanese games companies are looking increasingly to the mainland as a retail market for their product and a source of development talent and content, according to Wang Chin-po, president of Soft-World, Taiwan's largest games software company.
Mr Wang, speaking on the opening day of the Greater China Computer Game and Video Game Summit, said piracy was the biggest problem for games producers in the region, but that development of online products might help the situation.
Soft-World, maker of Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Heroes of Louis Cha, already develops software at three centres in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
Mr Wang said that within about five years, most of the company's software development probably would be done on the mainland, with only a token development presence in Taiwan.
The main reason is the cost savings because salaries are much lower. Also, he added, Chinese culture would be the major source of inspiration for Soft-World's games.
'I believe that three years from now, most of the games will be based on Chinese stories or Chinese topics,' he said.
With about 40,000 Internet cafes and a potentially huge home games audience, China already accounts for about 25 per cent of Soft-World's sales.
