On the evening of April 29, Century Huatong (002602) released its 2021 annual report. The report shows that the company achieved operating income of 13.929 billion yuan in 2021, and the actual net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 2.327 billion yuan.
In 2021, Century Huatong's Internet game business achieved revenue of 11.662 billion yuan for the whole year, of which mobile game revenue accounted for 72.08%. It is worth mentioning that in the fourth quarter, the company increased investment in overseas research and development and marketing, resulting in a temporary decline in profits, but as the product gradually entered the recycling period, it is expected that profits in the second quarter of this year will rebound. During the reporting period, the company's R&D investment reached 1.966 billion yuan, an increase of 31.40% year-on-year, and the cumulative investment in three years exceeded 4.7 billion yuan.
Last year, the company launched The Elder Scrolls: Blade, Komori Life, and Love Live! Gakuen Idol Season: Stars Shine", "Tomb Raider Legend: Lost", "Sword Net 1: Return", "LiveTopia", "Family Farm Adventure" and many other new mobile games of different genres and different themes, with a self-research ratio of more than 50%. Among them, "Komori Life" once dominated the iOS free list for 5 days, and the best-seller list was stable in the top 30; in March, the company's agent-issued "Elder Scrolls: Blade" was recommended by Apple on the first day of its launch; in October, the company's "Sword Net 1: Return" jointly released by the company and Nishiyamaju was launched, and on the first day, it successfully ranked among the top three in the App Store free list and the first place in the role-playing category; the farm simulation business game "Family Farm Adventure" was in the United States. Germany, the United Kingdom and France and other countries such as Google Store achieved the top ten results in simulation game download and revenue respectively, and successfully entered the top ten of China's mobile game overseas revenue growth list in September according to Sensor Tower.
In addition, in April 2021, the company's self-developed open world sandbox game "LiveTopia" with the concept of meta-universe was launched on the Roblox game platform, and in less than 5 months, the number of monthly active users exceeded 40 million, the highest number of daily active users exceeded 5 million, the cumulative number of visits exceeded 620 million, and the total number of users on the platform exceeded 100 million, becoming a phenomenon-level product.
The classic computer game "Aion", which has been online for 13 years, launched a nostalgic version in July 2021, and its popularity has been booming since its launch, with several times the number of new users increasing, and various data indicators have set the highest record in recent years. "Legendary World", "Valley of the Dragon", "Final Fantasy 14", "Legend of Blood" and other products have also been intensively updated, and continue to refresh the operating records of the products.
In terms of new product reserves, based on the back-end advantages of technology middle office, data middle office and art middle office, the company has accelerated the development of a number of well-known IP mobile game products, including "Qing Yu Nian" (which has been launched in March 2022), "Legend of the World", "Legend of the Ancient Dragon Heroes", "Famine: New Homeland", "Jojo's Wonderful Adventure Golden Hymn", "Dragon Valley International Edition", "Battle of the Gods", "Lyra", "Enigmite's Prophecy", "Merge Skyland" New products covering multiple categories are expected to be launched one after another.
In addition, the company's Legend IP was confirmed by the Supreme Court in December 2021, which is the first time since the 2003 and 2005 "Legends" game renewal disputes that the Supreme People's Court of China has made a final judgment on the rights and effects related to the "Legends" game. After the judgment takes effect, the company is expected to more firmly hold and operate the Legend IP in the Chinese market, which will have a positive impact on the development of the company's subsequent business.
Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Wang Lei