On March 28, Tencent's game platform WeGame held a new "Game Night S5" press conference, announcing more than 20 games. The mobile game matrix has briefly compiled this list in the order of release.
For players, this launch event is not too many surprises, more of a feeling of unfulfilled. On the one hand, due to the existence of the version number, most of the game lineup of this conference was guessed by players; On the other hand, although the key products such as "Valorant" and "Edge of Rebirth" that players are most concerned about have opened pre-orders, the exact launch time has not been announced, leaving enough suspense.
Although there is not much heavy information, WeGame's conference is a good start for the game industry in 2023. We can also see that Tencent's layout in the PC game market is undergoing subtle changes.
Edition number
The WeGame platform in Tencent's game system is mainly responsible for the PC platform and independent game incubation. The first game conference began as early as the winter of 2017, and the second game night in 2018 was even more luxurious, bringing together many well-known IPs. However, it was in this year that WeGame suffered a major setback due to the "Monster Hunter" incident, and the PC version of "Fortnite" was finally discontinued because it never got a version number. Since then, WeGame has always attached great importance to version compliance, which has also become an important external reason for its strategic direction.
This change can also be clearly seen from the lineup of games at this year's conference. Of the 23 games announced this time, 16 are products that have already obtained version numbers, and all of them are new products after the 2022 version restart, except for "Star Warframe" and "The Division 2".
Most of the products that have obtained the version number have announced a clear time node, concentrated in April. Therefore, this conference is not so much to announce new game products, but to carry out for the purpose of "digesting inventory". Old games like Jedi Submarines (launched in 2015) only got their version numbers this year, and naturally scheduled to go live immediately.
It can be seen that Ma Huateng said last year: "(IEG) Everyone has been holding back for a year, screaming, waiting to rush up. "That's true. It has only been more than half a year since the restart of the version, and Tencent has accumulated so many games to be launched, which shows that Tencent's ammunition is very sufficient this year, which is a good sign for the entire industry.
products
Overall, today's WeGame no longer pursues high-exposure big IPs, but instead focuses more on potential games. It can also be seen from the specific game lineup that WeGame is now working hard to establish its own platform tonality, trying to get rid of the embarrassing positioning of "mobile game simulator" and "online game launcher".
In the game lineup announced this time, shooting games, multiplayer online (MMO), and simulation management (farming) products account for a large proportion, and these game categories are also the most suitable game types for PC players.
The shooting game is undoubtedly the part that players pay the most attention to this time. Among them, Riot's "Valorant" unsurprisingly occupied the finale position of the conference. This game has achieved outstanding overseas results and has attracted much attention so far, and the mobile game matrix has been reported before [click to view], but the game only announced the opening of reservations at the press conference, which inevitably disappointed players who were expecting to be able to get more fierce materials. But I have to say that this game is still the most concerned work this time.
The first nano-era core-controlled shooter terminal game "Edge of Rebirth" produced by NExT Studios was highly anticipated by the team, and the game began to be promoted as early as WeGame Game Night S3, which can be described as a "biological son" treatment. This time the game has won the version number and opened the closed beta, whether it is a mule or a horse, it is about to be pulled out to see the real chapter.
Ubisoft's "The Division 2" won the version number as early as 2021, and I don't know why Tencent hid this IP until now to officially release the closed beta news. The possible reason is that as a PC game, "The Division 2" needs to cooperate with Tencent's own key shooting games for publicity. It is worth noting that this test retains the experience suit.
The second focus of the conference was MMO products based on the PC game experience. The name WeGame "Online Game Launcher" is not out of nowhere, especially after the suspension of the "World of Warcraft" national server, Tencent's actions in this regard are naturally more active. At this conference, there were both Korean-style MMOs such as "Ark of Destiny" that had achieved outstanding results overseas, and "Taris World", which was excellently developed by LD, to compete for users.
"Lost Ark" (national server: Ark of Destiny) has been online overseas for many years, and it is still ranked among the top 10 people on Steam, which shows that the overall quality of the game has been recognized by the target group. This kind of high-intensity traditional MMO is also more suitable for the PC platform, although the audience is shrinking, but the players are often long-term, which is exactly the user WeGame wants to win.
And "Taris World" has not yet obtained a version number, so there are still certain variables in the launch time.
In addition to the above works, the biggest surprise for me at this conference was the announcement of a large number of simulation management games, covering a variety of genres from martial arts to science fiction, from farming to operation, which can be described as making the soul of "Farmer" explode.
"School Visionary", "TV Sim Country", "Poof's Adventure Park" and so on belong to the simulation business genre, the former has the flavor of "Double Point Campus", while the latter is reminiscent of classic works such as "Game Development Country".
"Spring of the Four Seasons", "Makino Song", "Hometown Life" and other games are all farming games, with different emphasis. "Spring of Four Seasons" has more text puzzle content, while "Makino Song" and "Hometown Life" are benchmarked against games such as "Ranch Story", focusing more on pastoral life, farming, and raising children.
Games such as "Next Station Jianghu II" and "Xia Xing" are open-world martial arts games that incorporate farming elements. The 3D world is the main selling point of the game, but whether the game can meet players' expectations in terms of freedom depends on the performance after launch.
In fact, the explosion of business simulation games is not unexpected. On the one hand, WeGame's lineup includes "Starlight", "Stardew Valley", "Metropolis: Skyline" and so on, which is one of the basic plates for PC players. On the other hand, with the expanding influence of simulation management games in China, more and more teams have begun to make simulation management games by themselves, and have more and more good products, which is a good direction for independent teams to bypass the competition of large manufacturers.
We can also say that the wave of simulation management games of WeGame can be regarded as the aftermath of the "Dyson Ball Project" and "Ghost Valley Eight Wastes" two years ago. The increasing popularity of these "slow games" shows that the opportunities in the game market are becoming more and more numerous.
Of course, in addition to the above products, there are many works worth paying attention to at this conference. For example, the live-action interactive film and television work "Morning and Dusk Line" focusing on the theme of anti-narcotics.
Two two-dimensional products "Chronological Remnants" and "White Thorn Corridor" with strategic gameplay as the selling point, as well as the martial arts version of "Reverse Referee" "Ink Shadow Heroic Trail" and so on. There may not be many well-known IPs here, but the target audience of each game is actually very clear. Serving a specific group of people is becoming a way of thinking for WeGame to choose games.
future
There is another point worth paying attention to in the list of games at this conference, that is, Tencent's investment territory.
Previously, the mobile game matrix was taking stock of Tencent's investment territory in 2022【
Click to view
As introduced at the time, Tencent is building an extensive product research and development network overseas through investment and acquisition, and its overseas distribution brand Level Infinite has also achieved a lot of results in 2022. Tencent's thinking is also reflected in the list of games at this conference.
Needless to say, "Valorant" and "Star Warframe" have long been acquired by Tencent Investment. In China, LD Excellence, which developed "Taris World", has been wholly acquired by Tencent in 2022, and the Baiao family and Netyuan Shengtang behind the two two-dimensional products "Timing Remnants" and "White Thorn Corridor" have also been included in Tencent's investment territory.
Overseas, Ubisoft's parent company Guillemot Brothers received investment from Tencent last year, and The Division is one of Ubisoft's many well-known IPs. The well-known publisher Paradox also received investment from Tencent as early as 2016, and this time it also has its strategy game "Steel Commander" on the list.
It can be said that the list of games announced by WeGame this time, even if it is not Tencent's "own son", is more or less related to the past, which is also the result of Tencent's generous investment in the past few years.
Last year, due to the scarcity of version numbers in China, the PC market also appeared relatively quiet, and WeGame even stopped hosting game nights for a year. Tencent's overseas distribution results are in a state where flowers bloom outside the wall and do not enter the wall. Perhaps we can expect that as the issuance of version numbers returns to normal, WeGame may become a new entry point for Tencent to introduce overseas distribution products into China in the future.
Products such as "Rise of the Night Clan", "Dune: Spice War", "Warhammer: The Last Plague", "Heavy Metal: Hellsinger" and other products that achieved good results overseas last year may be unveiled at the next WeGame conference, bringing more rich single-player game experience to domestic players.
At that time, the emergence of WeGame broke the stereotype of "Tencent does not do stand-alone". As a leading manufacturer in the industry, players also expect WeGame to bring some different wind to the industry. In recent years, the PC market may no longer seem sexy and has no story to tell, but there are also many statistics that show that the global PC market still has great potential, and in China, the PC market is especially an underdeveloped market segment.
In this regard, although the current WeGame is not strong, it is clear that it has taken the lead, and Valorant is the best opportunity in front of WeGame. Just as Steam has CS:GO and Epic has Fortnite, WeGame may not be too far from taking off if you can get a big DAU competitive game.