Southeast Asia Market Report (August)
Outline
- "Vietnam Tencent" VNG IPO in the United States again; Indian gaming and sports media platform Nazara closed $49.2 million in funding
- "Metal Slug: Awakening" topped the Southeast Asian App Store mobile download list in August; MapleStory R: Evolution broke into the top five of the revenue list
Industry information
In cross-border changes, Indonesia plans to restrict the sale of imported goods under US$100 and prohibit social media from trading goods
Indonesia's vice trade minister said at a parliamentary hearing on September 12 that Indonesia is planning to ban trading goods on social media under new trade regulations. Ministers have repeatedly said that trading goods on social media platforms is threatening offline markets. Currently, Indonesia's trade regulations do not explicitly cover direct transactions on social media.
In response, TikTok denied claims by relevant government officials that it posed a threat to small businesses and called on Indonesian authorities to provide a platform for fair competition. It is understood that in addition to TikTok's "live streaming goods", Meta's Facebook also has a market function on its platform. At press time, the company also did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters in an email.
Earlier, some media revealed that the Indonesian government is considering the following changes to the regulations:
- Restrict the online sale of imported products in Indonesia for less than $100. This restriction applies to e-commerce platforms as well as social media platforms;
- It is forbidden to sell imported products directly to consumers through online channels. Imported products must first enter Indonesia through the regular import process and complete the same compliance obligations as local Indonesian products, such as product notification and halal certification, before they can be sold online;
- E-commerce platforms are prohibited from selling products produced by the platform itself and its affiliates, aiming to prevent unfair competition caused by product recommendation algorithms.
It is important to note that the above information represents the expected direction of regulatory revisions in Indonesia and has not yet been formally implemented. Actual requirements are subject to final provisions.
"Vietnam Tencent" VNG IPO in the United States again
On August 24, VNG, an internet technology company known as Vietnam's Little Tencent, officially filed for an IPO in the United States through its offshore company, VNG Limited. If successful, it would be the first Vietnamese internet technology company to be listed in the United States. This is not the first time VNG has reported an IPO in the United States. As early as 2017, Reuters revealed that VNG signed a memorandum of understanding to list on the NASDAQ exchange in the United States, and in the following 6 years, there were many rumors of listing, but in the end, none of them were confirmed.
It is understood that VNG plans to raise about $150 million through an IPO, which will be carried out as early as September.
Indian gaming and sports media platform Nazara completed a $49.2 million funding round with plans to invest in blockchain games
According to Techinasia, Nazara Technologies Limited, India's diversified gaming and sports media platform, raised $49.2 million with participation from SBI Mutual Fund, SBI Magnum Global Fund and SBI Technology Opportunities Fund, which valued the company at $230 million in this round. Nazara announced that it will use the new funds to invest in new businesses such as esports and blockchain gaming, while also making strategic acquisitions and investments in a number of gaming and sports media companies.
Komet Games, a gaming platform built by former Shopee executives, raised $1 million
On August 30, Singapore-based casual gaming platform Komet Games raised $1 million in a pre-seed round led by Picus Capital and co-sponsored by Creator Collective Capital. It is understood that Komet Games was founded in September 2022 by former Shopee executive Joe Li and currently has seven games. According to the company, since its trial launch in May 2023, the platform has attracted more than 100,000 gamers, each with an average daily gaming time of 40 minutes.
Chart dynamics
【Southeast Asia】#下载榜#
Byte's video editing app CapCut (the overseas version of "Clipping") has more than 11.1 million downloads, beating "TikTok" to win the non-game app download list in Southeast Asia in August, and the latter slightly surpassed "CapCut" to top the Google Play non-game app download list; The local social messaging app "Zalo" entered the top five downloads of the App Store in August.
Metal Slug: Awakening, launched in August by VNG, Vietnam's largest game publisher, topped the Southeast Asia App Store mobile game download list in August after successfully winning the regional agency rights of SNK's Metal Slug IP game. The mobile game download champion in August was still won by Mu Dong's "Mobile Legends: Bang Bang" (Endless Showdown), which exceeded 4.84 million downloads in August.
【Southeast Asia】#收入榜#
The estimated revenue of the short video social app "TikTok" in August exceeded 10.55 million US dollars, continuing to hold the top spot in Southeast Asia's app revenue list; Domestic film and television streaming apps "WeTV" ("Tencent Video" overseas version) and "iQIYI" ("iQiyi Video" overseas version) maintain stable sources of income in the region with similar cultural backgrounds.
"Mobile Legends: Bang Bang" earned more than US$6.86 million in Southeast Asia in August, winning the title of mobile game revenue champion; The revenue of the mobile game "MONOPOLY GO!" continued to rise in August and surpassed "Mobile Legends: Bang Bang" to the top of the App Store mobile game revenue list; At the end of July, MapleStory R: Evolution, a mobile game in MapleStory R: Evolution, was launched in Southeast Asia, and it broke into the top five in terms of revenue.
New product observation
"Metal Slug: Awakening"
| Launch time: August 20 | Publisher: VNG |
| Highest rank on the free list: 1 | Top bestseller ranking: 3 |
SNK's licensed mobile game "Metal Slugg: Awakening" independently developed by TiMi Studio was officially launched in 8 markets including Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and some Southeast Asian countries on August 22, and was distributed by Vietnamese manufacturer VNG. Dian Dian data shows that the game topped the Thailand iOS free list on the day of release.
As early as April this year, "Metal Sluggish: Awakening" has been launched in China and achieved great results. According to Diandian data, the game's estimated revenue in May reached a maximum of 20.3 million US dollars (about 148 million yuan). Combined with the influential IP of "Metal Slughead", the game topped the August iOS game download list in Southeast Asia.
According to Diandian data, "Metal Slugg: Awakening" was downloaded on 2 platforms in Southeast Asia in August, with an estimated revenue of 1.43 million US dollars. Among them, Thailand contributed 28.87% of the revenue with 12.99% of the downloads, becoming the main market in Southeast Asia for the game's revenue source; Vietnam's market revenue (21.66%) and downloads (22.97%) ranked second; Indonesia (44.36%) is the Southeast Asian market with the highest download source due to its demographic advantage, while revenue ranks third (20.56%).
MapleStory R: Evolution
| Launch time: July 25 | Publisher: Rastar Mobile |
| Highest rank on the free list: 1 | Top bestseller ranking: 1 |
Following "MapleStory: The Legend of Maples" leading the estimated revenue fault in the domestic market in August, the action RPG placement mobile game "MapleStory R: Evolution", which is also authorized by South Korea's NEXON MapleStory IP and independently developed by Xinghui Games, was launched in Southeast Asia on July 27 and ranked in the top 4 iOS game revenue list in Southeast Asia in August.
After the game was launched, it won the iOS Free List Singapore Matai (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand) Top1, the best-selling list Singapore Top1 for ten days, as well as Thailand and Malaysia Game Best-selling Top 2, Google Play Thailand, Singapore Free List Top1, Singapore Best-selling Top2 results.
In terms of marketing, in order to meet the localization development and operation, "MapleStory R: Evolution" invited spokespersons to combine the localization theme song + "level up for fun" to promote and promote it, and achieved good results.
According to Diandian data, as of the end of August, the total number of downloads of "MapleStory R: Evolution" (only available in Southeast Asia) was 880,000 worldwide, and the estimated revenue was 4.1 million US dollars (about RMB 29.91 million). Among them, Thailand contributed 45.34% of the estimated revenue with 72.73% of the downloads, becoming the main market for the game download and revenue source; Singapore's download volume accounted for only 5.16%, which brought 34.43% of its revenue, making it the second largest market for the game's revenue; In addition, Malaysia became its second source of download and third source of revenue with 19.61% and 15.51% respectively.
It is understood that the game is not the first "MapleStory" IP mobile game of Xinghui Entertainment, and its self-developed "Maple Valley R: Classic New Definition" has been launched in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan in September 2021, achieving good results while accumulating rich product development and operation experience for "MapleStory" IP products. According to Diandian data, as of press time, the total number of downloads of "Maple Valley R: A New Definition of Classics" on dual platforms is about 600,000, and the estimated revenue is 19 million US dollars.
Advent of God: Legends
| Launch time: August 02 | Publisher: EYOUGAME |
| Highest rank on the free list: 1 | Top bestseller: 53 |
On August 3, Guangzhou Diansheng's "Advent of God: Legends" was officially launched in Indonesia, and began to climb the list with the 95th place on the Indonesian iOS Free List, and achieved the highest score of No. 1 on the iOS Free List.
According to Diandian data, "Advent of God: Legends" had a total of 410,000 dual-platform downloads in August, with an estimated revenue of $150,000.
Although the results are not remarkable in the overseas market where explosive products often exceed 100 million, for Guangzhou Diansheng, an early overseas manufacturer, "explosive models" is not its main battlefield, but relies on many "waist products", and the company has run a revenue comparable to many overseas manufacturers. Previously, the company's VP revealed in an interview that its total revenue in 2020 reached the order of 1 billion yuan.