It Started with a Game
The Creation of Shanda Games
We dreamt of a world where people could exist and interact virtually; one that is fun and entertaining. So in 1999, we introduced an online game with the ambition of connecting gamers in China using the Internet.
The Challenge
In 1999, the Internet was only just getting started.
Household PC penetration was only 2.5% and network access was unavailable to most people. We needed to enable access to PCs and the Internet.
And there was another problem.
There was no online payment mechanism. PayPal and AliPay didn’t exist and less than 1% of the population had access to credit or debit cards.
So we built a network of
200,000+
Internet cafés nationwide, providing players easy
access to PCs and the Internet.
We adopted pre-paid cards so gamers could easily make payments.
And by developing a nationwide network of
400,000+
point-of-sale outlets,
gamers could buy our pre-paid game cards wherever they were.
China’s First Internet Giant
In 2004, Shanda became the first Chinese online games company listed in the U.S. (Nasdaq: SNDA).
This was the largest U.S. IPO of a Chinese Internet company at that time.
Shortly after the IPO we became the largest Internet company in China by market capitalization.
We wanted to increase the size of the addressable market so in 2005, we turned our pay-to-play revenue model into a Freemium model which later became the global industry standard.
After the freemium announcement, SNDA’s share price fell more than 70% from its previous high.
But we stayed the course and went on to deliver 15 quarters of double-digit revenue growth.
The Legend of Shanda
Our drive to identify and solve problems through innovation never stops.
The answers shaped the next chapter of our story: Shanda Literature