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In the past two days, the game circle has some "spring blossoms" meaning.
Since last year's game version number was suspended for 8 months, it finally ushered in the "thaw" on April 11, and 45 domestic games received the version number issued by the State Press and Publication Administration.
For a time, not only the game company that obtained the version number "Xida Puben", affected by this news, on April 12, the online game index rose by 3.22%, Glacier Network, Youzu Network and other openings rose by more than 12%, Station B rose by more than 12%, Tencent rose by 3.62%, NetEase rose by 4.21%, in addition, the game live broadcast platform Huya, Douyu and rose more than 2%.
However, unlike the news that the capital market is extremely excited about the re-approval of the version number, some game industry practitioners are not as excited as expected. First, most of the game companies that got the version number this time are small and medium-sized manufacturers, while domestic game giants such as Tencent and NetEase are not on the list.
Second, in the more than 200 days that the version number was frozen, many companies have fallen on the eve of the release of the version number - Tianyancha data shows that in the 8 months after the game version number was suspended, a total of 22,000 game-related companies in China were cancelled.
The version number is restarted, and the cold winter breaks the ice, but it seems that it still needs time before the real spring of the game industry arrives.
The game industry accelerates the reshuffle
It is not an exaggeration to say that the game version number is the economic lifeblood of the game company.
In June 2016, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television issued the Notice on the Administration of Game Publishing Services, requiring that from July 1, mobile games that have not been approved by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television shall not be published and operated online. Since then, the approved version number of the game has been a necessary condition for the game to be launched and operated, to achieve commercial realization, and it is also a key factor affecting the development of the industry.
In the past six years, the game version has undergone two suspensions: 265 days in 2018 and 263 days in 2021.
"This is related to the state's supervision of minors in the field of games to prevent addiction," Yu Wen, a screenwriter at a well-known game company, told Bone Duo. In August last year, the State Press and Publication Administration's "Notice on Further Strict Management and Effectively Preventing Minors from Addicting to Online Games" made clear requirements for minors' playtime, and all online game companies can only provide minors with 1 hour of online game services from 20:00 to 21:00 every day on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and statutory holidays.
With the increasingly strict policy supervision, the overall number of game versions has also shown a downward trend.
According to the information statistics disclosed on the official website of the State Press and Publication Administration, from 2018 to 2021, the game version numbers issued each year are 2064, 1507, 1405 and 768 respectively. In addition, the data shows that the number of reissues after each suspension is greatly reduced compared to before. The first batch of 45 game versions this year is 54% less than the average of 98 per month in the first half of last year.
Although the current version number has been restarted, it may still be a scarce resource in the future.
Among the companies that got the game version number this time, although there are many A-share and Hong Kong listed companies, such as Youzu, 37 Interactive Entertainment, Zhongqingbao, Gigabit, Dream World, Heartbeat Company, etc., the rest are mostly small and medium-sized game manufacturers, such as Lingyin Culture, Cat Star Interactive Technology, etc. The head manufacturers such as Tencent and NetEase are not on the list this time.
"The big factory is bye, the middle waist is approved, and under the background of the national anti-monopoly, there may be policy considerations behind this." Yu Wen believes that the competition in the mainland game industry has intensified, and the middle waist companies are not as good as the big manufacturers in terms of technology research and development, product promotion, user scale and market share, and the living environment they face is very severe, coupled with the stagnation of the two versions, which has brought a lot of blows to some small and medium-sized game companies.
According to Tianyancha data, in the 8 months after the game version was discontinued, a total of 22,000 game-related companies in China were cancelled. "Therefore, the 45 game versions are concentrated on the middle waist game companies, which is precious to them, and it is also an accelerated reshuffle process for the entire industry, which can promote companies to change their business ideas and is a favorable opportunity for them to adjust the track and business line."
"On the one hand, the head manufacturers have made a huge contribution to the existing head game revenue, on the other hand, they have reserved a large number of version numbers during the period of normal issuance of version numbers." This time there is no Tencent, NetEase, does not mean that there will never be, they get the version number is only a matter of time. ”
Mobile games are the workhorse
The number of domestic users is gradually saturating
Mobile games are still the absolute workhorse.
Among the 45 games that received the version number this time, including 40 mobile games, 4 client games, and 1 Switch game console product, mobile games accounted for more than 88%. This coincides with the "2021 China Game Industry Report" released by the Game Working Committee of the China Music and Digital Association, and mobile games account for 76.06% of the domestic game market in 2021.
From the category point of view, 45 games, casual, role-playing, strategy games are the main types, and these are precisely the categories that game giants are not good at and small and medium-sized game companies are good at, such as youzu, 37 interactive entertainment, gigabit casual games, and music games of the heartbeat network. This also coincides with the mainstream genres in the domestic mobile game revenue TOP100 in 2021.
In addition to the absolute advantage of mobile games, on the whole, the games that issue version numbers this time generally show a trend of lighter weight. For example, youzu's approved "Junior Three Kingdoms: Pocket Battle" is the first lightweight mobile game in the "Shaosan" series, continuing the classic card combat system of the previous series. Other small and medium-sized game companies have led the development of mild "casual games", including 14 games such as "Want Want Ranch" and "Interesting Manor", trying to break through in the casual game track.
It is worth mentioning that the "Honor Worker" developed by Liangya Games is a game that focuses on realism, a "migrant worker who came to the city" in a big city, because he owed a debt in his hometown, he could only leave his hometown and go to the city to make money, and began to live a daily life of "doing odd jobs - eating - sleeping - repaying debts". Players have to bear their own daily expenses, and they will also be affected by the family and cope with the pressures of life encountered at home.
The approval of such a realistic game work seems to highlight the significance of the regulation of this edition number.
In addition, some of the games that got the version number this time have been successfully released overseas, some have been logged on the NS platform, overseas and cross-platform distribution, or will be complementary to the local release. For example, the "Party Star" launched by the heartbeat company is a fighting game, which has been online for 2 months in the United States, Japan and other markets, and relevant data show that the game won the first place in the Japanese iOS free list on the day of launch, and the good overseas market performance may feed back to the country.
According to the "2021 China Game Industry Report", the actual sales revenue of the local game market last year was 296.513 billion yuan, although it increased by 6.4% year-on-year. But the increase was nearly 15 percent smaller than last year. In 2021, the scale of domestic game users will be 666 million, an increase of 0.22% year-on-year, and the number of users will gradually become saturated. With the implementation of new anti-addiction regulations and the gradual deepening of juvenile protection work, as well as the increasingly strict approval of game version numbers, the layout of game companies in overseas markets has become a scale.
"In the past five years, mainland game going overseas has shown a steady upward trend, and user downloads, usage time and payment amount have maintained steady growth." Zhang Yijun, chairman of the Game Working Committee of the China Music and Digital Association, said at the press conference of the industry report.
The game goes to sea: the big factory is laid out early, and the policy is also favorable
But the track is getting more crowded, and the dividend is gradually bottoming out
In fact, the head game manufacturers have long focused on overseas layout.
According to relevant media reports, in September last year, Tencent upgraded its game product "Arena of Valor", an overseas version of its game product "Glory of kings", to an important strategic project of the company, and the investment budget was also doubled. It is reported that Tencent Games' goal is to account for 50% of the total revenue of its game market in the overseas game market.
In addition, Tencent is still increasing its investment in global game development, including expanding its game studios in China and mature international studios with a variety of blockbuster games, and providing professional knowledge, technology and financial support for international studios leading its specialty categories to cultivate their development.
The pace of NetEase's globalization is also accelerating in 2021. A series of original games independently developed by NetEase, such as "Wilderness Action", "The Fifth Personality", "Coast of the Land", "After Tomorrow", etc., have received excellent responses in overseas markets.
According to relevant information disclosure, netease new game launch plans in 2022 include: the mobile game masterpiece "Diablo: Immortal" jointly created by Blizzard; the release of "Harry Potter: Magical Awakening" in Japan, Europe and the United States; the upcoming "Oracle" mobile game in the Japanese market, and the self-developed mobile game "Hidden World" that integrates Chinese style and science fiction elements.
Outside the market, national policies are also good for the game to go to sea.
In October 2021, the Ministry of Commerce, the Central Propaganda Department and other 17 departments jointly issued the "Notice on Several Measures to Support the High-quality Development of National Cultural Export Bases", mentioning that it is necessary to promote the creative transformation and innovative development of China's outstanding traditional culture, and encourage excellent traditional cultural products, cultural and creative products and digital cultural products such as film and television dramas and games to "go global".
Miha you's "Original God" is an excellent example of cultural products "going out". As one of the most discussed games on Twitter in 2021, Original God topped the best-seller list in 43 countries and regions. According to the latest data from the Sensor Tower store intelligence platform, in January 2022, China's overseas mobile game list "Original God" won the championship of overseas mobile game revenue. The impact of the Peking Opera fever set off overseas has been affirmed by the Ministry of Commerce.
However, as the overseas game industry gradually enters the stage of stock competition and begins a new round of integration, it is crucial for domestic game companies to get rid of traditional path dependence, break the user circle, and find overseas incremental ranges. Moreover, for many small and medium-sized game companies, the risks and challenges are really not small, and the high overseas publishing costs and localization costs are the real pressures and problems facing the game companies.
Today, the sea track has become more and more crowded, and the dividend has gradually bottomed out. However, "despite the difficulties, compared with the risk of not getting the version number, the early layout of overseas markets may also be a good way out." In the short term, the reboot of the version will form a catalyst for the game industry, but the medium-term logic of this industry must be the game going to sea. Huang Yue, fund manager of Cathay Games Shanghai-Hong Kong-Shenzhen ETF, said in an interview with the media.