Burning Dimension (ID: chaintruth) original
Author | Tao Tao Ma Shu Ye
Edit the | Cao Yang
In the past 2022, the fire of "Genshin" (an open-world adventure game developed by Mihayou in 2020) burned all over the world.
According to data released by Sensor Tower recently, since the official release of "Genshin" in September 2020, Mihayou has achieved a cumulative revenue of 4.1 billion US dollars (about 28 billion yuan) worldwide, ranking third in global mobile game revenue.
Among them, overseas markets account for nearly two-thirds of revenue. Specifically, revenue in Japan was US$960 million (23.2%), revenue in the U.S. was US$860 million (16.4%), and revenue in South Korea was US$250 million (6.1%).
The reason why "Genshin" is loved by gamers overseas may be inseparable from its beautiful graphics and the emotional value brought by the moving plot. "In the stressful work and life, Genshin is a spiritual paradise I use to relax. Games should be beautiful, a sanctuary for the mind. Obviously, Genshin did it. A Youtuber with the ID Mario Castillo commented on his personal account.
Behind the high evaluation of "Genshin" by overseas netizens is its localized operation overseas. Heavy two-dimensional player Naoki introduced that Mihayou attaches great importance to differentiated content settings that attract overseas players. For example, the game involves seven countries, especially Mond, Inazuma, and Ligetsu, whose cultures have distinct Western, Japanese, and Chinese styles.
Picture/Genshin game screenshot Inazuma area Source/Courtesy of Naoki
Genshin's overseas raids not only made it earn $1.56 billion in 2022, but also made Mihayou the third game company in the world by revenue in 2022, with an annual mobile game revenue of $1.72 billion.
In fact, throughout 2022, not only Mihayou, but also Internet giants such as Tencent and NetEase have made great strides in the field of games.
"Behind the overseas expansion of large games, it is because the number of domestic game version numbers issued has plummeted in the past three years, which has caused game manufacturers to encounter bottlenecks in the development of domestic countries and need to seek new growth points." Zhang Yi, founder of iMedia Consulting, analyzed.
Yuzu, the main player of the B station game UP, added that foreign gamers are more likely to be attracted by the strong style of domestic games than domestic gamers. Therefore, a game with an obvious style like "Genshin" has broader prospects for overseas markets.
This may be the main reason why large manufacturers are competing for overseas markets.
IT Orange-related data shows that in 2022, among the 35 investment and financing events in the domestic game industry, 20 overseas enterprises have a total financing of about 9 billion yuan (RMB, the same is not standard below), accounting for about 90% of the investment, while the other 15 domestic enterprises have a total financing of about 1 billion yuan.
However, going to sea is not an easy task.
Excellent production is the basic guarantee for the success of the game overseas, and the long development cycle has caused many small and medium-sized game companies to break down in the research and development process.
At the same time, some game producers lament that the purchase volume marketing of involution (game purchase, that is, game manufacturers or publishers through advertising, concentrated exposure in major channels at a certain time, so as to achieve the purpose of guiding players to download and register games), has caused the cost of acquiring customers in overseas markets for games to skyrocket. According to the "2022 Domestic Mobile Game Going Global White Paper" released by Sensor Tower, the cost of acquiring customers for heavy mobile game advertising worldwide has skyrocketed by 78% since May 2021.
It is not difficult to see that although going to sea is the only way for the future development of the game industry, it is still a long way to grow healthily and upward.
01
"Genshin" that swept the world
"Genshin" may have gradually become the benchmark for domestic games to go overseas.
In the eyes of many players, its charm is multifaceted, such as free main story, three-dimensional characters, beautiful graphics, tolerance for all kinds of players, and refined operation.
"Genshin is a spirit." Two months after the launch of "Genshin" in 2020, Meow Meow, a player who entered the pit, expressed his love for the game to Ran Dimension, "In the first year of the game's launch, I would play for two hours on weekdays, and even play for half a day on weekends. Even though I've been online for more than 2 years, I basically maintain nearly half an hour of game time every day to decompress. ”
Meow Meow said that the reason why he insisted on playing "Genshin" was because the details of this game were in place, the drama was emotional, and it could take care of the needs of different players, "In terms of the setting of male and female characters, the more traditional ACG settings are followed, such as sick petite, royal sister, various loli, etc., the characters are very three-dimensional, and the production is also very careful." So, in that regard, it's a very respectable game. ”
At the same time, in Meow's view, the "inclusiveness" of different types of players is also the reason for the popularity of the game "Genshin", "players who like to fight can go to fight, and players who like quiet Buddhism can grow vegetables, gather, or accompany butterflies and other small animals in the game." ”
This inclusiveness is also reflected in the friendliness to old players.
"When there is no new version, many players around me, including me, will not play for a few months, that is, let the game 'grow grass', which is a common situation in many games. Once many games 'grow grass', old players will be 'dissuaded' by the large number of thresholds that exist in the new version of the game, but in Genshin, this situation is relatively much less. Naoki added.
In addition to inclusiveness, "aesthetic" is also a high-frequency praise for "Genshin" by gamers.
Ocean is also a regular user who started playing "Genshin" in 2020, "The picture quality is great, the art is careful, especially the character design, not only in the game circle, but even in the art circle has been praised, compared to some big manufacturers' cookie-cutter, their characters caught me in the first few minutes." "When it comes to the reasons why I like Genshin, Ocean gushes.
In addition, the main story is free, which is also a common reason for players to love Genshin. Meow Meow, who has been playing for more than two years, is a sane fan, and he has not paid for "Genshin" so far. Ocean also revealed that he will only "light Krypton" every month, spend more than a dozen yuan to recharge the monthly card, and get some timed rewards every day, "We call this a charge fee." ”
In addition to the game itself, the success of "Genshin" is inseparable from refined operation.
Ocean often "patronizes" the major "Genshin" communities, Tieba and Weibo, etc., in the process of browsing, Ocean found that there are many fan creations, opinions, suggestions, etc., "Mihayou feedback on the problems existing in the game is also very fast, and the problems mentioned last month can basically be solved the next month." ”
This is also how most overseas players feel when playing Genshin. On Qura (that is, an overseas website similar to Zhihu), many foreign players mentioned that the reasons for the popularity of "Genshin" mainly include, "the core content is free, the combat style is unique, and the content is free", and "you can unlock more advanced equipment or characters through 'krypton gold'".
In addition, the game has many underrated features, such as some netizens mentioned, "cooking, alchemy, etc., if players are tired of fighting and exploring, they can experience these instead." ”
Photo: "Genshin" game screenshot Liyue area Source/Courtesy of Naoki
For the complex and diverse overseas market, the secret of Genshin's success lies in the combination of cross-cultural communication and localized operation.
"For example, in Inazuma Country, you can hear Japanese instruments such as shamisen playing in music; Liyue, on the other hand, has distinctive Chinese characteristics, bringing together palace buildings, Soviet-style gardens and other buildings, while integrating music such as pipa and guzheng as the background music of the game. Naoki revealed to Ran Dimension, "Some scenery looks like a two-dimensional reduction version of Zhangjiajie and other places. ”
But under the high praise, there is no shortage of players who "abandon the pit". In Zhihu, "Why are you getting tired of playing Genshin?" In the comments, some netizens bluntly said, "The only thing I did before abandoning the pit was the puzzle treasure chest of Thor's four islands... The homogenization of other things is too serious... In addition, it is a holy relic, which really becomes a daily clock-in 0 to improve the offline line..."
But this does not affect the high income of "Genshin".
According to public information, "Genshin" not only ranked third in the annual revenue of global mobile games in 2022. Earlier, in March 2021, Genshin achieved a cumulative revenue of $1 billion in less than six months, becoming the fastest product in the history of mobile games to enter the $1 billion club. In September of the same year, Genshin broke the previous record set by PUBG Mobile ("Eat Chicken") with a monthly revenue of $341 million.
02
Large and medium-sized manufacturers rushed overseas
Although the win-win reputation, popularity and revenue of "Genshin" comes from the global layout of Mihayou. But this large-scale, high-investment layout is obviously accompanied by huge risks for game manufacturers.
"One of the driving forces for large manufacturers to go overseas lies in the impact of the issuance of domestic game version numbers and the tightening of game review on game manufacturers in domestic gold absorption, and manufacturers have to find new growth points." Zhang Yi said.
1219, 679, 468, these three numbers, in turn, correspond to the number of censored version numbers of domestic games in 2020-2022. "It's like after the movie is filmed, you can't get the dragon mark for a long time, and the invested funds cannot be recovered in the short term, which will put a large number of small and medium-sized game companies in a difficult situation." A game producer once told Ran Dimension, "Even, some game companies will encounter the miserable situation of 'version number issued, but the company no longer exists'." ”
Although the big factory will not "disappear", but the fate has not been much better.
Public information shows that in 2022, Tencent will only have 6 games with version numbers. According to Tencent's financial report, from the first quarter to the third quarter of 2022, Tencent's local game market revenue was 33 billion yuan, 31.8 billion yuan and 31.2 billion yuan, respectively, showing a continuous decline. For Tencent, the power of domestic games as cash cows is gradually being weakened.
"Another reason for large manufacturers to go overseas may be that the self-research capabilities and brand influence of enterprises that have already gone out of the circle have brought a certain confidence to manufacturers who plan to go overseas." Zhang Yi further analyzed that games, including "Genshin", have given some practitioners in the Chinese game industry a certain sweetness.
In addition, from the perspective of users, games with strong Chinese style may be more attractive to overseas players.
"When domestic gamers play games, they will pay more attention to the maturity of the technology and production of domestic games. However, after experiencing more high-quality games, overseas gamers may pay more attention to different styles, plots and other elements in the game. Therefore, although there is still a certain gap between the quality of domestic games and overseas games, it does not affect its reputation overseas. Yuzu said to the burning dimension.
The differentiation of domestic and foreign gamers may also affect large and medium-sized game companies, including Tencent, NetEase, Mihayou, etc., to focus on the overseas game market in 2022 and focus on "R&D and service technology".
Source: "Genshin" official Weibo
Public information shows that in the whole year of 2022, the game company with the most investment times is Tencent, with a total of 13 investments. The 13 investments, without exception, were all game development companies, and 11 of them were investments in overseas companies, accounting for 85%. including Guillemot Brothers, the developer of Assassin's Creed (€300 million); From Software (36.4 billion yen), the R&D company of Elden Law Ring.
Among NetEase's eight investments in the game industry in 2022, there are 5 overseas companies, of which 3 are game research and development companies.
In addition, Ran Dimension found that Mihayou, which has already established a place in the overseas game market with "Genshin", has also landed a number of R&D offices in Tokyo, Seoul, South Korea, Los Angeles and other cities.
In addition to research and development, in 2022, in terms of service technology, Tianyancha information shows that companies such as Douyin and Mihayou have invested in the global game engine giant "Unity China". In addition, "Cocos", also a game engine developer, completed a $50 million Series B financing in 2022.
In this regard, Cocos CEO Lin Shun said to Ranjiyuan, "This move, for game manufacturers, can not only reach more terminal (Web, mini games and native) web platforms at a lower cost, but also promote advertising monetization." This also provides a certain technical foundation for 'roll to' overseas domestic game manufacturers. ”
Under the operation, the recent overseas layout of game manufacturers has also achieved initial results. For example, Tencent's self-developed mobile game "Victory Goddess: NIKKE", which was launched on October 4, 2022, topped the mobile application market in many regions, including South Korea and the United States, within one month of its launch, and ranked fourth in the global mobile game monthly revenue list in November.
According to data monitored by Sensor Tower, in the month before the release of Nikke, that is, between October 4 and November 3, 2022, Tencent's global mobile revenue market share accounted for only 10.6% of the overseas market. A month after Nikke's launch, that number became 23.1%, up 12.5%.
03
Challenges and opportunities coexist
However, although at present, domestic game manufacturers can get a piece of the pie overseas, this "road to glory" is obviously not smooth.
According to Gamma Data's November 2022 Game Industry Report, since the fourth quarter of 2021, the revenue of Chinese games in overseas markets has shown a downward trend for four consecutive quarters. Among them, although it increased slightly to 19.168 billion yuan in November 2022, the month-on-month growth rate fell back to -3.04%, but it decreased by 19.23% year-on-year.
At the same time, although there is a turnover growth trend of boutique games such as "Genshin" and "Light Encounter", in November 2022, the actual sales revenue of China's mobile game market decreased by 0.41% month-on-month and 25.68% year-on-year.
Figure: Actual sales revenue of China's mobile game market Source/China Game Industry Research Institute & Gamma Data
In this regard, Zhang Yi analyzed that for game companies going overseas, although they have indeed "tasted some sweetness" in the past few years, the problems they face cannot be underestimated. "First of all, the growth of the game market requires continuous product innovation, and Genshin's high revenue also stems from its setting of game style, such as giving the second dimension and related digital ecology to the game."
But Zhang Yi also admitted that the success of "Genshin" also lies in the fact that it is the game that best meets the needs of two-dimensional users in a specific period (during the epidemic), and this success itself is more difficult to replicate. "What game manufacturers need to think about is whether to continue the idea of "Genshin" in the future competition in overseas markets, or to innovate according to the needs of the next generation of users."
The innovative gameplay style and the timing are obviously factors that cannot be ignored in the success of Genshin. But behind "Genshin", a team of nearly 400 people and 4 years of polishing may be the key to imitation by domestic game manufacturers.
A number of game producers said to Ran Dimension that in addition to the high cost of manpower and time, the increasing cost of game marketing and promotion has also dissuaded many small and medium-sized game manufacturers, "In the slightly mature Japanese and Korean markets, I want to guide players to download and register games through advertising, and its investment is tens of millions." Not to mention the European and American markets, and even in Southeast Asia, this investment is more than 3 million yuan, and this number is increasing year by year. ”
In this regard, independent game producer Chen Beitu bluntly said that as more and more game manufacturers go overseas, the purchase volume promotion crazy "involution", the cost of customer acquisition for enterprises has soared. However, the overseas market is still a "gold nugget" for game manufacturers, and there are many challenges, but also hidden opportunities.
"In the face of overseas regions where market demand is very different, small and medium-sized game manufacturers may wish to eat slowly one by one." Chen Beitu further said that compared with entering the mature market with fierce competition, for small and medium-sized game manufacturers with limited budgets, they can focus on markets with more obvious user increments.
"These regions may have a small market size at this stage, such as Africa, many users are subject to objective factors such as mobile phone quality and network speed, and many real-time multiplayer competitive games are 'unmovable', but many small one-time paid download games are popular." In addition, in these markets, there will be more and more smartphone users, and the potential of mobile games must be great. ”
Of course, the success of "Genshin" has also given game manufacturers who want to go overseas more confident.
"Overseas market promotion often involves challenges across nationalities, languages, cultures and other challenges, but Genshin proves that Chinese games can well balance the aesthetic needs of Europe and the United States." Chen Beitu said that for example, the new character Candice in "Genshin" is wheat-skinned, and this character is designed with reference to ancient Egyptian civilization elements, which also makes Candice extremely popular overseas, which is generally sensitive to skin color.
In addition, the Notice on Several Measures to Support the High-quality Development of National Cultural Export Bases, jointly issued by 17 departments including the Central Propaganda Department and the Ministry of Commerce in 2022, has also given many domestic games more "confidence" to go overseas.
Obviously, the game going overseas has become a "general trend", but for game manufacturers, although the new overseas incremental market means "opportunities", how to operate the overseas market well is still a difficult problem in front of them.
Resources:
"2022 Game Investment and Financing Inventory: Bytes Left Behind, Tencent NetEase Fights to Go Global?" Source: Yuhan Research.
*The title image is from Visual China.
*Naoki, Meow, and Ocean are pseudonyms in the text.
*Disclaimer: Under no circumstances does the information in this article or the opinions expressed constitute investment advice to anyone.