As we all know, when the time came to 2015, the Chinese game market has become the world's largest game market due to the outbreak of mobile games.
By 2021, China's game market industry will reach 296.513 billion and 666 million users; although it will decline in 2022, it will still be a plate of nearly 300 billion yuan. Compared with the film industry, the volume is more than 3 times larger.
Among the 300 billion sales, mobile games definitely occupy the largest share, occupying 200 billion + quotas. Such a large market share has naturally spawned a surprising number of leading products.
Everyone knows that Changjin Lake and Wolf Warrior ranked 1 and 2 respectively, with a box office of 5.775 billion and 5.694 billion, respectively.
Does the box office of more than 5 billion look scary? But in the game industry, even the tenth-ranked mobile game easily flows more than 10 billion, directly hanging the wolf fighter.
If you don't believe me, we might as well list the top 10 mobile games to date. See who they are and how much they earn.
Before we get specific, let's list a set of data.
The game data in the figure above and Apple's turnover data since 2021 are all intercepted from relevant authoritative website analysis data. According to the different years of the game's launch, the total Apple turnover of different games is also inversely calculated.
Generally, a domestic game, Android turnover is about 1.5~2 times of Apple's flow, we take 1.5 times the coefficient to calculate. You can calculate the total turnover of these games since their launch.
Of course, these are just some examples, and while this is not the most accurate figure reported by each company, it is already possible to extrapolate some overall trends. For example, for the comparison of the film and television and game industries, everyone naturally knows it through this table.
Without further ado, let's list the ten best-selling games in the Chinese mobile game market.
10th place: Sword and Expedition (AFK) mobile game
Produced by Lilith, placed card types, launched in January 2020, Apple's best-selling list is the top 3.
Peak monthly flow: 300 million; Peak annual turnover: 1 billion; Total turnover: 1.96 billion
Pretty unexpected, right? Here we can see a very well-known idle game - Sword and Expedition. And this game is not a top ten mobile game.
There should be many people who have played this game, and around 2020, the popularity of this game is also very high.
For Lilith, AFK truly inherited the Xiaoice Ice Legend and became the company's second blockbuster game.
However, this AFK, which can be called the Xiaoice Ice Legend Western Fantasy 2.0 version, was first famous in overseas regions.
Before its domestic launch, AFK's total revenue in many overseas regions reached a monthly turnover of more than 30 million US dollars, equivalent to about 267 million yuan. This number is already the level of the TOP10 of that year.
After returning to China, AFK became one of the best-selling games in 2020, and Apple ranked in the top five of the best-selling list, and even reached the top two.
But the upper limit of this type of product is actually also mentioned by AFK, that is, it is too difficult to place hang-up type cards to gather all users. And the diversion is too strong.
So even though AFK has achieved the ultimate in art stylization and game experience, it still can't sustain its high turnover because the subsequent user disk is too small.
By 2023, AFK's ranking has fallen by around 50. The estimated total Apple turnover since 2021 is $83 million. It is equivalent to less than 600 million yuan.
The overall domestic AFK revenue is estimated to be about 2 billion, even if there is a high explosive bonus of such games, the final actual total revenue should not exceed 3 billion, and it is expected to be around 2.5 billion.
This result is basically the goalkeeper level of the top ten domestic mobile games, and many other games, including the Shaosan series, the three-fantasy series, etc., and AFK's total plate size is not much different. It's all below 3 billion.
9th place: Troubled King mobile game
Produced by Tencent, SLG type, launched in November 2011, Apple's best-selling list is the top 3.
Peak monthly flow: 500 million; Peak annual turnover: 1.5 billion; Total turnover: 2.87 billion
As Tencent's first SLG, the King of Troubled Times actually has a very high strategic position within Tencent. Because this game gives Tencent access to those players with the strongest paying power in China - SLG users.
However, compared with later games such as Three Kingdoms Strategy Edition, King of Troubled is still a relatively early 1.0SLG gameplay, so it suffers from a small number of users, but does not eat the sugar of long-term user retention and late LTV improvement.
Therefore, the turnover of this game in the early days of its launch is very high, and even Apple's turnover exceeded 1 billion in 2018. But the later fall is also very fast. Apple's total turnover from 2021 to 2023 is less than 500 million. Not even as much as in the previous year.
Although according to the proportion, the total turnover of the Troubled King is about 2.87 billion, but if you consider that the early game did have a high income, then the total revenue in the first three years is no problem. Therefore, the real income of the king of troubled times should be around the level of 4 billion.
There are many strategy games similar to it, such as COK, Age of Kingdoms, War and Order, and so on. The total domestic turnover revenue of these games is almost at the level of 30~5 billion. But as a representative of Tencent's strategy games. This tenth place honor, we still give it to the king of troubled times.
8th place: Awakening of Nations mobile game
Produced by Lilith, SLG type, launched in September 2020, Apple's best-selling list is the top 3.
Peak monthly flow: 500 million; Peak annual turnover: 2 billion; Total turnover: 4.41 billion
Compared with the King of Troubled Times, the art style of Awakening of All Nations is more Disney.
Like AFK, Awakening of Nations is a strategy game in which Lilith uses an overseas-domestic style of play. However, compared with the 1.0 strategy game of King of Trouble, the awakening of all nations is more like a special variant of the strategy game 2.0 era.
The Awakening of Nations, which focuses on the gathering of heroes from multiple countries and the real-time combat gameplay of the sandbox, is much more popular than AFK.
This product, which is only half a year later than AFK, has won Apple's turnover share of nearly 2 billion yuan in less than 3 years. The total turnover revenue exceeded 5 billion, reaching the level of at least 5.51 billion.
This achievement, if put in the film and television industry, can already be compared with the top two works - to put it bluntly, if you count the redundancy and future income part, the awakening of all nations is definitely much higher than the income and profit of the wolf warrior.
Seventh place: Qiannu Ghost Mobile Game
Produced by NetEase, MMORPG type, launched in May 2016, Apple's best-selling list is the top 5.
Peak monthly flow: 500 million; Peak annual turnover: 2.5 billion; Total turnover: 7 billion
Although this game is not obvious, it has been the top five core mobile games under NetEase since its launch in 2015.
Putting aside the fantasy westward journey mobile game series, even if it is Chu Liuxiang, or the world series, or even the Qiannu Ghost Tour, it is actually far less profitable than the Qiannu Ghost Mobile Game. This game can be called a representative project of NetEase's muffled wealth.
From its launch in 2016 to today, Qiannu Ghost has been in operation for almost 7 years. Although the graphics are terrible, this game is compatible with the economic system and social system of Fantasy Westward Journey, coupled with a dark equipment entry mode, plus its own unique class and quest understanding. So it has become a favorite of many female players.
Even since 2021, Apple has won nearly 900 million in turnover revenue, with an average of nearly 500 million per year. It is estimated that the total turnover can reach 7.15 billion yuan.
This number has far exceeded the current peak data of 5.7 billion in the film industry. For the gaming industry, this is only the seventh or so turnover number.
A series of games that have been changed at the end of Tianya Ming Yue Dao, Perfect World, Dragon Babu and other ends are generally in this range. That is, 50~8 billion flow range. However, because the specific number is not clear, only the Qiannu Ghost Mobile Game is listed.
Sixth place: Onmyoji mobile game
Produced by NetEase, strategic card type, launched in June 2016, Apple's best-selling list is the top 3.
Peak monthly flow: 500 million; Peak annual turnover: 3 billion; Total turnover: 14.5 billion
As the founder of a generation of strategy cards (Gaozu is the Demon Spirit Summoner), Onmyoji can be called one of NetEase's three major mobile game masters (Fantasy Westward Journey Mobile Game, Qiannu Ghost, Yin-Yang Master).
This game is liver and krypton, if it is put online today, it should be violently beaten by many subsequent two-dimensional games.
But in 2016, it really ate what players liked at the time. Countless players who are interested in Japanese culture and this semi-two-dimensional style have entered the pit, even if they play for 4 or 5 hours, they have no complaints.
And because of its strategic attributes, the audience and product vitality of this game in the card field are also much better than the AFK mentioned earlier.
The evidence is that even from 2021, the total turnover of apples of the Onmyoji is as high as 1.83 billion yuan. In the same period, the total turnover of AFK was only 570 million, only 30% of the Onmyoji, and the latter was 4 years later than the Onmyoji.
According to this data, the total apple turnover of the Onmyoji has exceeded 5.82 billion, and the total flow can reach 14.54 billion.
That number has already exceeded 10 billion. If it is put in the film and television industry, it is equivalent to a box office revenue of $2.1 billion, which is basically the same as the total global box office of Avatar 2 and Titanic released this year.
5th place: Three Kingdoms Strategy Edition
Produced by Ali Lingxi, SLG type, launched in September 2019, Apple's best-selling list is the top 3.
Peak monthly flow: 1 billion; Peak annual turnover: 6 billion; Total turnover: 26.33 billion
In the fifth place, it is the strategic version of Three Kingdoms, the king of SLG in the domestic mobile game.
This SLG game, which was born out of the land no hama, inherits the essence of the former's season-based gameplay, and has made a series of more player-friendly setting changes on top of it. So it once became the craziest strategy game in China.
The cost of a single user's purchase volume exceeds 1,000 yuan, which is what the Three Kingdoms Strategy Edition does.
However, it is precisely because of such unscrupulous buying that the turnover income of the strategic version of the Three Kingdoms is also very high.
In the short period of 2 years and 2 months from 2021 to today, the Apple turnover of the Three Kingdoms Strategic Edition is as high as 6.62 billion. The average annual turnover is more than 3 billion. If you include Android and the full life cycle, the total turnover of Three Kingdoms Strategy Edition can reach 26.33 billion.
This figure is equivalent to 3.78 billion US dollars, which is far more than the highest-grossing Avatar in movie history (2.923 billion).
What do you think? Isn't it quite scary?
Fourth place: Genshin
Produced by Mihayou, two-dimensional open world type, launched in September 2020, Apple's best-selling list is the highest and first.
Peak monthly flow: 2 billion; Peak annual turnover: 12 billion; Total turnover: 41.77 billion
Finally, he has reached the most well-known and the hottest Genshin in the past two years.
For this game, I'm afraid we don't need to comment on it in detail - the hottest two-dimensional, global hit, etc., just blow it.
But did the game's revenue explode as much as its fame?
Since 2021, domestic Apple revenue has been 14.69 billion yuan, with an average annual income of more than 6 billion. The combined total turnover exceeded 41.75 billion (nearly 6 billion US dollars). The annual turnover in China alone is nearly 20 billion.
And that's not counting the overseas version of Genshin. If you count it, the comprehensive total turnover must exceed 60 billion (nearly 10 billion US dollars), that is, it can earn nearly 30 billion yuan for Mihayou every year.
Isn't it already terrifying to look at this number? And such a terrifying Genshin turned out to be only ranked fourth?
Of course, on the one hand, because the original god came out relatively late, the total flowing water plate could not catch up with the top three. On the other hand, it is also because the top three are too strong. Whether Genshin can catch up in the future is actually an unknown number.
Third place: Peace Elite Mobile Game
Produced by Tencent, open shooting type, launched in May 2019, Apple's best-selling list is the highest and first.
Peak monthly flow: 3 billion; Peak annual turnover: 25 billion; Total turnover: 82.84 billion
Since 2021, Apple's total turnover has been 18.22 billion, with an average annual turnover of nearly 9 billion. The total plate turnover exceeded 80 billion, reaching 82.84 billion yuan, equivalent to 11.9 billion US dollars, equivalent to the sum of the top five in the history of the world's total box office.
Didn't expect that, right? The revenue from Peace Elite is so explosive. You must know that at its peak in 2020, the global income of Peace Elite in 7 months exceeded 3 billion US dollars (equivalent to more than 20 billion yuan). Of course, there is a contribution to overseas income, but after removing this part, there are already more than 80 billion yuan at home, and counting overseas, the total income of the peaceful elite has exceeded 100 billion.
Although Genshin did have an explosion in income, but considering the level of domestic income exceeding 100 billion, it is estimated that it will take at least 3 years, right?
Second place: Fantasy Westward Journey Mobile Game
Produced by NetEase, MMO turn-based type, launched in March 2015, Apple's best-selling list is the highest and first.
Peak monthly flow: 3 billion; Peak annual turnover: 20 billion; Total turnover: 121.16 billion
Once the first domestic first-hand game, it is also the first giant project with hundreds of billions of flowing water.
In NetEase's latest 2022 financial report, game revenue accounted for 70 billion, the bulk of which is the fantasy westward journey series. In 2022, the fantasy westward journey mobile game will contribute at least one-tenth of it to Netease.
Although the highest revenue value of Fantasy Westward Journey mobile game is not so explosive, it may be that Genshin, Peace Elite and King Glory all crush the monthly peak of Fantasy Westward Journey, but this game is expensive and lasting.
Since its launch in March 2015, the Fantasy Westward Journey mobile game has been in operation for 8 years. During this period, the game has never fallen out of the top ten of Apple's best-selling list, and even fell out of the top five very rarely.
The result of stable operation is the total turnover plate of the Fantasy Westward Journey mobile game, which is currently estimated to have reached more than 120 billion yuan. On average, it will be 15 billion per year for 8 years.
Even if there is no overseas income, there are no more than 5 mobile games with a volume of hundreds of billions in the world. Fantasy Westward Journey Mobile Game is one of them, and from the current trend, this revenue will continue, maybe in a few years, it will reach 200 billion yuan.
1st place: Glory of Kings
Produced by Tencent, MOBA type, launched in November 2015, Apple's best-selling list is the highest and first.
Peak monthly flow: 5 billion; Peak annual flow: 50 billion; Total flow: 295.15 billion
Honor of Kings is not only the first mobile game player in China, but also the first mobile game player in the world.
At its peak, DAU exceeded 100 million, and the norm remained 80 million+; If each person spends 1 yuan a day, the daily flow of King Glory will exceed 80 million, and the monthly flow will exceed 2.4 billion.
What's more frightening is that except for the first few months, for the other 7 years, King Glory has maintained such DAU and income.
Therefore, the monthly turnover of the peak of the activity exceeded 5 billion, and the Apple turnover revenue since 2021 exceeded 34.6 billion; The total income of the whole life cycle exceeds 290 billion, and if you count overseas, even the total plate may exceed the level of 300 billion.
Such a king glory, not to mention must be the world's first mobile game, even if put in the history of the game, I am afraid that only Mario and Pokemon full series, can match it. And like the king of single-machine sales GTA5 (175 million copies, unit price of 100 yuan, total sales of no more than 20 billion), even less than one-tenth of the glory of the king.
Epilogue:
The above is the top ten sales ranking of the mobile game industry in China so far.
Of course, the accuracy of this sales volume will not be very high, because there is currently no authoritative agency in China that will count the box office like the State-owned Assets Office, so the data we see is more data speculated by third-party websites based on Apple rankings.
However, even if it is not so accurate, the general numerical magnitude is still relatively accurate, after all, there are so many people who play, so there will inevitably be so much money spent.
So do you also sigh now that in the face of the game industry's masterpieces, the revenue of the film industry seems to be really vulnerable. But you also have to know that under the long-term operation of a game, it also requires the cooperation of maintenance personnel and city publicity to continue to spend, so looking at the profit margin alone, the game may not really have a movie to be high.
But in any case, scolding or boasting, China's game industry is such a market several times larger than the film industry, this market allows 600 million people to enjoy the joy of games (of course, some people lose their minds because of this), but also feeds millions of industry employees.
At the end of the article, I also want to ask the reader yourself, do you support the prosperity of the game industry? Or against?
If you are supported, please like under the support item in the comment area, if you do not support, you can also like under the unsupported article.
But whether you support it or not, for the sake of the author's difficulty, welcome to forward the comment collection three-piece set, thank you very much!