Standing a year ago today, I am afraid that many people would not have thought that so many things would happen in the short year of 2021.
Steam steam platform China version and the next era of the host bank of the national bank released; the version number adjustment was postponed for a full four months; Blizzard was deeply caught in the storm of public opinion; domestic games have a hundred flowers blooming, and there are works such as "Black Myth: Wukong" that have attracted the attention of the world, and constantly publish new content...
Although the resurgence of the epidemic led to a shutdown in the game industry, fortunately, everyone has persevered and continues to provide players with more fresh and interesting games.
At the same time, the 2021 TGA Annual Game Awards was held as scheduled, and "Two-Man Trip" won the reputation of the game of the year, with nearly 50% of the players in this game from China, and even anecdotes about works entering the bathhouse.
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When it comes to players' connections with the industry, the ratings of the game media and the annual TGA Game of the Year Awards are all very important references for players in the early days.
In major game platforms and communities, they often have their own annual game voting. For example, Station B also has its own annual game awards and annual inventory. This data provides data support and space for us to look back at the gaming industry in 2021, understand what players and practitioners are focusing on, and what they want to do in the future.
At this time of change, let's take a look back at what big events have happened in the gaming world in 2021.
In the winter of the game industry, there is still a bright color outside the cold
At the beginning of August, the domestic game version number stopped releasing again. Some pessimists believe that this may be a signal of a new round of winter. At that time, there was also an article on "Electronic Opium" and "Notice of Minors Addicted to Online Games", which was regarded as the beginning of a vigorous crackdown on the game industry.
Turning the clock back to one month, also in July, Activision Blizzard began to get caught up in the storm of public opinion. Employees sued for sexism, disclosed office political retaliation, and a large number of elders and core employees fled.
And these public opinion storms began half a year ago and lasted until the end of the year. On the one hand, people watching the fun are discussing when the blizzard will fall, and the players who have experienced the good are lamenting that there is no eternity in kingship.
Overwatch director Jeff, who left in April, and Alex, creative director of World of Warcraft, who was sexually harassed in June
But fortunately, not all the news is so sad.
Towards the end of the year in November, in Iceland, 7,000 kilometers from China, China's League of Legends professional team EDG defeated last year's defending world champion DK team with a record of 3-2, and a blue rain that belonged to China began.
And the day before winning the championship, the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games officially announced 8 sub-events of e-sports. E-sports, a sport with games as the carrier, has gradually been recognized by the public, and the world can more and more understand the core of sports competition.
Also in the depths of winter, Hidetaka Miyazaki's "Eldon's Ring of Law" was tested in a closed network, which also became a carnival in the single-player game circle at the end of 2021.
Games should be something that brings joy to people at any time. Even such a game, which is known for its difficulty, there are countless enthusiasts who are enthusiastically engaged in it, sharing their experiences and feelings on the Internet.
At the beginning of 2022, the new game version number was re-issued, and the wheel of China's game industry continued to move forward.
The spring and summer of domestic independent games, a hundred flowers bloom
This year's Chinese video game industry, in the overall market is not clear the situation is still growing against the trend, the entire industry user scale of more than 650 million people, sales of nearly 300 billion yuan.
Usually, we always talk about the low income of stand-alone games, the poor creative environment and the release environment, and rampant piracy. But this year, China's independent game creators have proved to the world that they can still produce excellent works even in relatively difficult environments.
Works full of Chinese cultural characteristics such as "Ghost Valley Eight Wilds", "Dyson Ball Project" and "Forever Doom" continue to topped the Steam sales list.
B station hot game hit video, the proportion of domestic games continues to increase
Not only that, a large number of excellent domestic stand-alone machines began to emerge. Games such as "Paper Man", "Fireworks" and "The Land of the Wind" continue to come out, and more and more foreign gamers are beginning to set their sights on Chinese games.
And this year, "Black Myth: Wukong" released the second real-time demonstration, and the content of the mythical elements of the Journey to the West in the ultra-high-quality expression under the UE5 engine is amazing. Its demonstration video alone won 22 million and 40 million luxury data on the B station, and the expression of the reverse myth story also caused a large number of foreign players to discuss.
The world finally knows that the Monkey King is not only called "Monkey King", but also has a well-known name, "Wu Kong". Not only that, in the message on the Steam page, it is no longer just Chinese players who leave messages under foreign games, "We Need Chinese", more foreign players also leave messages under domestic games, "We Need English".
China's single-player games are beginning to give their voices to the world and move toward a wider player base.
And Chinese players also have access to genuine and excellent games.
Once upon a time, our game consoles could only rely on cracking game consoles sold elsewhere, and the result was that after the Internet, it was very easy to be officially banned, resulting in all the money and time invested. Putting aside the larger game console, when Chinese players use the PC side, it is also difficult to buy games from genuine channels for a long time.
But fortunately, Nintendo's PS platform and Microsoft's XBOX and other sub-era game consoles have officially announced the opening of the Bank of China sales this year.
The Steam platform also officially launched the Chinese version this year, allowing Chinese PC players to buy genuine games.
Let more players have the right to access legitimate good games, and the space to express their own ideas, whether from the player side or from the game practitioner side, 2021 is a year for the Chinese game industry to rise up and stand tall.
The players' enthusiasm sows seeds and sprouts in late autumn
Interestingly, the annual game list selected by TGA this time and the annual game list selected by B players have a lot of games that have won common or similar awards.
For example, the winner of the best game of the year is "Two-Man Trip", the winner of the best mobile game of the year is "Original God", and for example, the player of the best continuous operation online game B station of the year has given "League of Legends", and on the TGA, "League of Legends" has won the reputation of the best e-sports game of the year award...
Station B gave some very interesting data support through the annual game awards broadcast live today. And these data can also really show what is supporting players, so keen on the game they are committed to.
The choices of these players also reflect the changes and trends in the industry, as well as the future direction of the wind.
In the past year, Station B has received more than 38 million videos, an increase of more than 14 million over last year, and "Original God" ranks first with nearly 2.8 million submissions, and the relevant secondary content covers music, animation, ghost animals and funny dubbing and other categories.
And "League of Legends", which won the B Station's Best Continuous Operation Online Game of the Year and TGA's Annual Best E-sports Game Award, will have more than 20 billion total views of related videos on Station B in 2021, ranking first in the game area. This game, which has been operating for more than a decade, has an unprecedented attention and vitality at the moment when EDG wins the championship.
And "Two-Person Trip", a cooperative adventure game produced by small and medium-sized studios and not a popular category, won the double list of the best of the year on the TGA and B stations, and won the praise of countless media and players...
Behind these things, there are two very simple words, enthusiasm.
Because it's fun, players are willing to play the game, create relevant binary content, and continue to exchange feelings in the community, and because of these actions, people are connected.
And because of these connections, the good qualities in the game will be combined with the player's feelings to take the game experience to the next level.
In "Original God", the model of not pursuing human competition and payment allows players to have a higher stickiness; in "League of Legends", the team spirit of working together rises to the competitive glory of representing the division and the country; and the gameplay of "Double Trip" itself represents the connection between people and people, one person can play a game can be very fun, but the cooperation between two people can also be very interesting.
Players, because these very simple things are linked together, condensed together.
summary
2021 is a year in which difficulties and challenges, opportunities and the future coexist.
We have witnessed the winter of the game industry at home and abroad, and witnessed the end of "kingship";
We have witnessed the blossoming of domestic games and going abroad;
We have witnessed the continuous vigorous development of e-sports in China, recognized by the world, and won the glory of the world;
At the same time, we have a more robust buying channel, a more open and fully functional gaming community.
Excellent domestic game, B station annual domestic game winner: "Dyson Ball Plan"
The biggest change is that the distance between players and front-line game practitioners is getting closer and closer.
On all platforms of the Internet, you can see the communication between game practitioners and players.
The hearts and souls of all people have the opportunity to be deeply connected.
Excellent folk game: "Fireworks", because of this game, more people have noticed Chinese folk culture
For small individuals, many things that happen in the game circle are too big, and Intelligence Ji is also a small individual, but the continuous communication with the game people in the deep frontline and the communication with the players make us feel more able to feel our place in the world.
Players, game creators, game information sharing platforms, workers and media in front of and behind the game industry, and countless people who have expectations and good intentions for games and are willing to work hard for it have gathered together.
Chinese games will be even more exciting.