The new batch of reviewed game versions that the game industry, investment circles and hundreds of millions of players are eagerly awaiting has finally unveiled the mystery in recent days.
Due to the vacancy of the version number in May this year, the industry was once worried about changes in the version number review policy, but the results showed that this was just a false alarm. On June 7, the State Press and Publication Administration announced 60 reviewed games. Since the beginning of this year, two rounds of game version numbers have been issued, which has completely eaten the "reassurance pill" in the game industry.
It is worth mentioning that a series of new points of view have emerged in the new round of game version approval policy, which may have an important impact on the research and development layout of players in the future game industry track.
The approval of the normalized version number is expected
First of all, after a long period of empty windows, it is a measure to restore the normalization of the approval of the game version number. Whether it is from the perspective of approval efficiency or the number of game versions reviewed, it is currently moving in a stable and lasting direction. After all, last year, the State Press and Publication Administration carried out a comprehensive rectification of the industry in response to the problem of minors' addiction to the Internet, and major game manufacturers also followed up and launched a series of measures to respond to policies. With the initial results of rectification, the regulatory authorities also hope to drive the domestic game industry out of the cold winter and regain vitality through the improvement of the version number review system.
From the perspective of game types, the game types in this batch of reviewed version numbers are still concentrated in the three categories of terminal games, console games and mobile games, and their localization has become the mainstream, and there are as many as 58 domestic mobile games, which is enough to see the current popularity of the domestic mobile game market. In addition, the "pilot" remarks (involving 16 games) that appeared for the first time in the approval of this version number have also aroused heated discussion in the industry. According to industry analysts, the word "pilot" has released a positive signal: in the future, the approval of game version numbers may be delegated to the locality to further improve the efficiency of approval.
In fact, as early as Last April, when the Ministry of Commerce issued the relevant documents for the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Zone, it was clearly stated that in the future, the mainland should explore the decentralization of the review power of domestic game version numbers, which is undoubtedly of far-reaching significance for promoting the development of the game industry in various places. After the approval power of domestic games is gradually delegated from the central government to the local government, the relevant game publishing and operation units in the future only need to review the relevant departments of the territory. At present, the three super-first-tier cities in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou will undoubtedly become the first batch of pilot cities, and the 16 games with "pilot" remarks this time have their operations and copyright owners from the three major cities. It is foreseeable that for a long time in the future, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou will also be the focus of attention in the game circle and investment circle.
The industrial pattern has undergone new changes
Judging from the current competitive landscape of the domestic game industry, the situation of "one super and many strong" has not changed. It is worth mentioning that after being unnamed in the first batch of reviewed versions this year, in the second batch of reviewed version numbers, we still do not see the figure of the industry super giant Tencent and the traditional haoqiang NetEase.
Tencent has many resources in hand, its own strength is strong, has a huge user base, and its ability to resist risks is naturally very strong. As early as the release of this year's first quarterly report, Tencent's senior management has already responded to the topic of not having a review number before. The reason is very simple, in the previous cold winter of the industry, Tencent's operation and development are still stable and progressive, and there is no need to boost development with the help of new game versions. Relatively speaking, many small and medium-sized game companies generally do not have strong strength, imperfect capital chains, and weak anti-risk capabilities. Therefore, the State Press and Publication Administration will also give priority to these enterprises when issuing edition numbers.
For another veteran game company, NetEase, similar to Tencent, the company also holds several ace games and IP in its hands, and there is no business crisis in the short term. At the same time, in recent years, NetEase has also increased its efforts to sail out to sea. NetEase CEO Ding Lei previously mentioned in an interview with the media that NetEase has been increasing its efforts to develop overseas markets and overseas games in recent years, and the proportion of overseas revenue has reached more than 10%. According to NetEase's vision, the overseas game market will account for about half of its overall business in the future.
In a good situation, we also need to pay attention to the problems of funding and quality that still exist in the game industry. Because the version number review is becoming stricter, higher requirements are put forward for all engaged enterprises. If the enterprise does not have enough financial support and lacks a sound research and development system, it is difficult to achieve long-term operation, and even unable to survive the version number review period. Taking the 45 games approved in April this year as an example, during the version number review period, the owners of nearly 10 games had operational crises, and even the teams of some game companies were directly disbanded. Therefore, the localization and quality of games will become the mainstream trend of future industrial development. Especially under the pattern of the state advocating the game industry to participate in global competition, game manufacturers that are sharp and lack of initiative will lose their living space, master the core IP, and continue to polish the game theme, content, and gameplay, will further absorb the policy dividend, and will become the real core force of the game industry and investment community in the future.
The diversified industrial layout is expected
In the second batch of reviewed game versions, although small and medium-sized game companies are the mainstream, we still see the figure of an old giant - Perfect World, and its "Black Cat Strange News Agency" is also in the list of reviewed version numbers. At the Industry Trend Development Forum of the China Game Industry Annual Conference held last year, Perfect World was highly affirmed by industry experts and was selected as a representative enterprise of China's game industry potential. As a traditional head enterprise in the domestic game industry, Perfect World adheres to the concept of "basing on the long-term advantages of core categories and expanding the boundaries of high-quality game categories", and the diversified layout in recent years can be described as a hundred flowers.
In terms of game type, perfect world's games currently cover multiple subdivisions such as turn-based, open world, suspense puzzle solving, etc., and have a stable and huge user base. Especially in the past year, in addition to the new "Immortals" and other main game projects continue to maintain vitality, Perfect World has launched a number of heavyweight new games. Among them, the mobile game "Fantasy New Immortal" exceeded 500 million yuan in the first month, becoming a turn-based game hit, and the light science fiction open world mobile game "Magic Tower" was also well received by players. Not long ago, "Black Cat Strange News Society" is a suspense puzzle mobile game, but also a new hot spot in the game market in recent years, and its addition will further enrich the product matrix of Perfect World.
At present, there is no short board of perfect world in IP, capital and users, and it is a continuous exploration in the field of technology, especially in the application of cutting-edge technologies such as AR, Perfect World has been at the forefront of its domestic counterparts. With the continuous development and expansion of new markets such as 5G cloud games, the diversified and high-quality layout of Perfect World will also harvest more fruitful market results in the future.