Tencent games, what is the level?

Tencent games, what is the level?

Not long ago, a game called "Atomic Heart" developed by a Russian game company was officially launched, not knowing if you played it. It is said to be highly rated online. The game is loaded with a full set of Chinese voice subtitles, which is very friendly to Chinese players, and we will not expand on the details. Many people say that this should be regarded as the first explosion in the game industry in 2023.

But today, we're not talking about the game itself, but the biggest investor behind it. This is Tencent. That's right, the biggest investor in this game developed by the Russians is our Chinese Tencent. By the way, do you know which of the largest game companies in the world are? It is estimated that this question is equivalent to telling you the answer. That's right, the world's largest game company is also Tencent, not Blizzard, Sony, Nintendo and other traditional game manufacturers.

This big refers to the largest number of games directly or indirectly held by Tencent. There are many international game companies that look very powerful, and Tencent more or less has a stake. For example, Tencent holds a 15% stake in the Blue Hole company that developed the chicken-eating game. Another example is Activision Blizzard, which developed the "Call of Duty" series, and Tencent once held 5% of the shares. Ubisoft, which developed Assassin's Creed, holds 9.9% of Tencent. There is also Epic Games, a game platform that has recently been evenly matched with Steam, and Tencent has a 40% stake. And the popular LOL "League of Legends", Tencent holds 100%.

Up to now, Tencent's investment in games overseas alone has exceeded 100 billion yuan. And Tencent also likes game companies very much, that is, many times it only pays money and never interferes in content.

For example, Tencent invested more than 300 million euros in Ubisoft Games. But don't want a board seat, as long as Ubisoft games have the right to publish in the domestic market. You see, who doesn't like such an investor?

However, speaking of this, you may say, no, Tencent games are so powerful? I can obviously hear a lot of opposite voices on the Internet. For example, many articles about Tencent games are titled "Tencent doesn't understand games more and more", "Tencent can't understand competitors Mihayou", "Tencent does not understand games" and so on.

That's right, that's where Tencent Games is weird. You say it doesn't understand games? How can it be? People are already the largest game company in the world. You say it understands games? There are so many skeptical voices on the Internet. Why is that?

Recently, I saw an article on the public account "Xinghai Intelligence Bureau" that specifically analyzed this problem. The answer is very interesting, saying that Tencent is because it understands games too well, so that people will not understand games.

This may sound contradictory at first, but it is not difficult to understand. It's like a boy pursuing a girl. He especially understands what girls like, what to say, and what to do. But, do you think he understands love? That's right, because he understands too well, others feel that what he does is a routine, a trick, and an instinctive reaction. He doesn't know much about love anymore. Just like Wei Xiaobao in "Luding Ji", he is especially good at chasing girls. As long as he fancy it, almost none of them can escape. However, can you say that Wei Xiaobao understands love? I still remember that Peking University professor Kong Qingdong wrote an article a long time ago, the core of which is that Wei Xiaobao is a heavenly castration in the hall of love.

Okay, let's go back to Tencent. Those skeptical voices are not because Tencent does not understand games, but because Tencent knows games too well, so it almost never takes detours. To put it bluntly, it is too stable and steady.

You know, in the eyes of some players, a game company is too stable, this matter is not easy to accept. Why? Because of the gaming industry, it's not just business, it's also art. Games have long been known by many as the ninth art. The earliest theory is that there are seven major arts in the world, namely literature, music, dance, painting, sculpture, drama, and architecture. Later, film became the eighth art. Now, video games are added as the ninth art.

You see, once you partner with art, it means that in addition to rationality, in addition to commercial calculation, you also have to have an emotional and impulsive side. In the eyes of some people, Tencent often knows business very well, but in the field of art, it seems that it is not strong enough.

Note that this is not a question of whether a company is good or not, but whether it is cool or not. For example, in terms of game development, Tencent often first determines that a gameplay is popular, and then follows up in time. For example, Tencent's phenomenal products such as "Honor of Kings" and "Exciting Battlefield" were not invented by Tencent in the original gameplay. For example, Tencent has spent a lot of energy on mobile games in recent years, for the simple reason that mobile games have a strong ability to attract money. However, for console games with higher investment and greater uncertainty, Tencent's investment is relatively conservative.

This is like painting, if a person does market analysis all day, makes user portraits, and then dedicates himself to painting. Let's not talk about how he painted, just talking about this posture, is it a little less of the artist's strength?

In other words, games have a dual attribute, business and art. And everyone's evaluation of it also uses these two standards.

Finally, returning to Tencent's perspective, in fact, there is another key reason for the caution at the commercial level, that is, the number of game version numbers has been small in the past period. A game version number is similar to a distribution license. Fewer of it means fewer games to market. Therefore, for game manufacturers, unless they do not do it, they must succeed, and there is not much room for trial and error. In the last year, game version numbers have begun to increase. Many people feel that game companies, including Tencent, may invest more power in innovation.

At the same time, you know, a game company, its value is not only in the game. Because today's game is not just a pastime, it is a network node that integrates many advanced technologies. For example, the American game giant Take two applied for a patent in 2021 that allows NPCs driving in the game to have different driving styles. Like real people, some swallow slowly, some are acute. Some people speculate that this technology may be applied to automatic driving in the future, allowing AI drivers to have different driving styles. Another example is a key technology in the game industry, called engine technology. Some time ago, there were already companies in France that used Unreal Engine to create digital prototypes of airplanes for airlines. You see, the technology that was born out of games can also come in handy in other key areas. From this point of view, the game industry needs a variety of flowers, but it also needs giants who can carry key technologies.

Okay, let's talk about the game first. I think we can learn from this a new model that understands the industry. In the past, we were all used to treating an industry as many companies, but many times, we can also think of an industry as a complete person.

To borrow Daniel Kahneman's view. A person, his brain, can be divided into left brain and right brain. The left brain is responsible for logical calculations and the right brain is responsible for emotional impulses. Many times, people do one thing, often the result of the cooperation of the two. For example, to start a business, first have an impulse, put the goal there, and then think about it and see how to act. Similarly, an industry, or a company, can be divided into left and right brains. Some people act as the left brain, strictly consider everything, and do a good job of commercialization. There are also people who are right-brained, innovate with feelings, and may one day be able to blaze a new trail. The prosperity of an industry is often the result of the collaboration between the left and right brains in this industry.