Maker of the popular game Mega Jump targets Asian markets

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Players of the popular Mega Jump game for iPhone and Android mobile phones steer a red bug-eyed monster as it frantically jumps around collecting coins, using jet-powered help.

The Toronto-based company behind this mobile app now has its own bug-eyes set on China.

The game was a breakthrough for developer Get Set Games Inc., and has been downloaded 60 million times around the world.

More than 40 per cent of the people who have already downloaded the sequels, Mega Jump 2 and Mega Run, are in China, where local partners have translated them for Chinese users and local social media networks.

But now, company co-founder Robert Segal says, the firm aims to develop new games for China, South Korea and Japan first, tailoring them to local tastes there before relaunching them for users closer to home.

"Now that we have got into the Chinese market and know at least some of the companies and have relationships with them, we are looking at working with them to build a game specifically for the Chinese market," he said. "It would be China first."

Toronto is seen as a mobile development hub, with as many as 200 app development companies and hundreds more producing content for mobile phones.

A Toronto Region Board of Trade study released on Monday urges the sector to look to Asia, and singles out Indonesia as a ripe market for Canadian-made mobile apps, with its rapid economic growth and its rank as the world's third-largest nation of Facebook users.

Mr. Segal says Indonesia or other places in the region could certainly become profitable markets for Canadian-made games or other apps. (His company, which has two staff in addition to its four founders, generally gives away its games for free but relies on in-game advertising for revenue.)

While little characters that jump around or shoot fireballs may appear to be a universal language, Mr. Segal cautions that moving into China or other Asian markets means app developers need to make adjustments.

First of all, Chinese users – and those in some other countries – are often still using older mobile technology, meaning games cannot be made too large to download, he said.

Plus, Chinese users play games differently, he said: "Games within China tend to be much more social. People want to chat in the game, about the game, and share photos, much more than I would say in North America."