Game practitioners who have been holding back for a long time have finally waited for a beam of light in the long night.
"The news started flowing out in the afternoon, but no one took it seriously — or rather, no one dared to take it seriously." Xiao Zhi (pseudonym) is a programmer from a head game manufacturer. He told the financial reporter that on the afternoon of April 11, there were rumors that the game version number would be reissued. Similar news has appeared many times before, "but after full of hope, everyone lost hope".
According to the official website of the State Press and Publication Administration, the last time the game approval information was published was still on July 22, 2021. In the months before that, the rhythm of domestic game review numbers was basically once a month, and the number of each time was basically eight or ninety. After July 22, the release of the version number was pressed the pause button. That said, in the past 260 days or so, no game has received a version number.
However, this time, the unresolved problems finally fell to the ground: at 20:17 on April 11, 2022, the game approval page of the official website of the State Press and Publication Administration was updated again, and the list of games with the issued version number was released, and a total of 45 games obtained the version number, including Baidu's "Attack on Rabbit", Lilith's "Life Party" and other games. (For the full list, see Yinxi Finance's "Game Version Restart, Baidu and Youzu Are On the List, Tencent and Netease Granules Have No Receipts")
After the release of the news, the game company's stock price was immediately boosted, the U.S. stocks of the Chinese game stocks have ushered in a sharp rise, as of press time, Bilibili (BILI.US) pre-market surge of 10.46%, NetEase (NTES.US) rose 8.82%, game live broadcasting companies Huya (HUYA.US), Douyu (DOYU.US) rose 8.21%, 6.28% respectively.
The version number is opened, and the anxiety that prevails in the industry finally has a chance to be alleviated.
"The job may be saved!" The staff of the localization business of a head game manufacturer sighed to reporters after learning the news. The other party told the financial reporter that many jobs were stagnant before, and the salary was also suppressed to the bottom salary, and there was no performance, "it is all 'dead wages', and now the version number is open, at least there is hope." ”
"Before there was no version number, new projects did not dare to set up projects, hard work for several years, the version number is not issued, directly hit the water." As for the manufacturers in the approval list, it may be reported first. A NetEase insider said.
Zhu Junchao, founding partner of Kenting Law Firm and head of the game law team of Nuocheng, told reporters that the restart of the version number is good news for the domestic game industry, and for companies that are still producing games, no matter what kind of company, it is beneficial for the long term.
Zhu Junchao believes that in order to launch a new product, it is crucial to get the game version number. This restart has allowed game companies that have been waiting for more than half a year to see hope and return to the normal approval process. "In the short term, the operating conditions of small and medium-sized game companies will not change significantly. And those listed companies that carry out the game business are expected to stimulate the stock price to rise. ”
For practitioners, the "release number" can be called the top priority of the game industry. Due to the suspension of the version number, the previous game company's grain collection has come to a standstill. At the beginning of this year, even the big factories in the industry frequently reported the closure of companies and the unemployment of employees. According to the data of Tianyancha APP, there are currently more than 300,000 game-related enterprises in the mainland with a registered capital of less than 10 million yuan. In the second half of 2021, a total of 14,000 game-related companies were written off. It is worth mentioning that in the whole year of 2020, 18,000 game companies were cancelled.
"During this period of stagnation, game companies are relying on the support of games that have been launched before. While games that have been launched generate revenue for game companies, games have a life cycle, and game companies need to continue to launch new products to 'make blood'." Zhu Junchao said.
During the period when the version number was discontinued, many large manufacturers responded to market changes by means of open source and throttling. The reporter noted that both Gigabit and Giant Network hope that new products in the future can be distributed globally, Perfect World is building an overseas distribution team, transitioning from third-party distribution to independent distribution, and 37 Interactive Entertainment will focus on issuing different categories according to market differences.
"Since the tightening of the domestic version number, everyone has slowly opened up overseas markets and accumulated a lot of experience." Practitioner Patch (pseudonym) said that in the case of the domestic environment, game manufacturers have gone overseas. "The production level of mainland games is not said, and the main thing to do a good job in 'going to sea' is to optimize some local optimizations, such as the localization of text, the adjustment of marketing strategies and so on." Of course, relatively speaking, overseas markets do not make money in mainland markets. ”
Many interviewees mentioned that the game industry is becoming more stringent about version number supervision. "Like before, games with no version number, set version number, game acquisition version number and then adding modifications caused and reviewed versions to be launched, once discovered, they will be required to remove and punished." As industry regulation becomes more standardized and strict, game manufacturers are reluctant to act rashly.
Patch added that since last year, in order to improve the game evaluation and feedback mechanism, the game review scoring system has begun to be trialized, and the requirements for game works in terms of "concept orientation" and "cultural connotation", "production quality", "original design" and "development degree" have been made. This, of course, also means that at least the game product can move forward. ”