China's online game market revenue is expected to hit 24 billion to 27 billion yuan (US$3.5 billion to US$3.9 billion) this year, surpassing the previous forecast of 20 billion yuan, an industry regulator official said in Shanghai yesterday.

The better-than-expected result comes from booming home-grown games and Webpage games, said Song Shoushan, vice director of the General Administration of Press and Publication.

"The domestic game industry has developed steadily even in the tough economic environment because the firms have invested more on research and issued innovation," Sun said during a forum at Chinajoy, the country's biggest digital entertainment fair.

The country's game industry revenue was 18.4 billion yuan last year, and it will hit up to 27 billion yuan this year, a 50-percent increase, Song said.

In Shanghai, the digital entertainment industry revenue climbed 35 percent to 8.6 billion yuan last year, almost half the national level, said Tu Guangshao, the city's vice mayor, who also attended the forum.

Home-grown game revenue has grown rapidly with more than 300 million Netizens, said industry officials from top game firms, including Shanda Entertainment, The9, NetEase.com and Kingsoft Corp.

Chinajoy is on until Sunday at the Shanghai New International Expo Center in Pudong New Area.

(Shanghai Daily July 23, 2009)