The recharge should be limited, and the first recharge should not be induced...... The new rules of the game are here

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On December 22, the National Press and Publication Administration issued the Measures for the Administration of Online Games (Draft for Solicitation of Comments).

This is the first time in more than a decade that the regulatory authorities have significantly adjusted the management measures for online games, the last time dating back to the Interim Measures for the Administration of Online Games issued by the Ministry of Culture in 2010. The Beijing News Shell Financial Reporter combed through and saw that the "Measures for the Administration of Online Games" added the mention of "restricting the excessive use of games and high consumption", and put on a "tight hoop" on daily login, first charge and cumulative charge.

According to the provisions, online games must not set up inducing rewards such as daily logins, first recharges, and continuous recharges, and online game publishing and business units must not provide or condone high-priced transactions of virtual props in the form of speculation, auctions, etc.

On December 22, Tencent Holdings fell by more than 12%, with a significant increase in trading volume to nearly HK $40.6 billion, and NetEase fell by more than 24%. Among the A-share companies, Baotong Technology, Shengtian Network, Shenzhou Taiyue, Zhangqu Technology, Glacier Network, and Fuchun Shares fell by more than 10%. Sanqi Mutual Entertainment, Yao Ji Technology, Gigabit, Electric Soul Network, etc. fell by 10%.

Put on a tight grip and limit overuse and high spending on games

As early as June 2010, the Ministry of Culture promulgated the Interim Measures for the Administration of Online Games, which for the first time systematically made clear provisions on the entertainment content, market entities, business activities, operational behavior, management supervision and legal liability of online games. This is also the first special system management regulation for China's online game industry in ten years.

It is worth mentioning that the Interim Measures for the Administration of Online Games clearly prohibit players from inducing players to consume virtual currency, and must not induce online game users to invest legal tender or online game virtual currency to obtain online game products and services by random means such as random selection.

Now, the "Measures for the Administration of Online Games" has been upgraded again, and the sword is aimed at krypton.

"The core is mainly a few of the strictest regulations, such as no daily login, first recharge, continuous recharge and other inducing rewards, as well as recharge limits, including the probability of card drawing. Probability has actually been required before, but more importantly, it is required that what you can get by drawing cards must also be able to be purchased, which is actually a big change. I think it's a challenge for almost all krypton-oriented game companies. A senior practitioner and investor in the game industry told Beike Finance.

"It can only be said that game companies must have countermeasures, and their commercial planning is so strong - if there is no continuous login, then the cumulative time, and if there is no cumulative time, then the cumulative level, or the number of tasks. A lot of things can be designed. Another game analyst offered a contrary view to Shell Finance.

The new regulations point out that excessive use of games and high consumption are restricted, and online games are not allowed to set inducing rewards such as daily login, first recharge, and continuous recharge. All online games must set user recharge limits and publicize them in their service rules, and pop-up warnings should be given to users' irrational consumption behaviors.

Game companies responded intensively, and some companies said that the impact was small

On the afternoon of December 22, game stocks fell hard, and many stocks such as Sanqi Mutual Entertainment, Gigabit, and Yao Ji Technology fell to the limit. Tencent fell by more than 14% intraday, and NetEase fell by more than 27% intraday.

On the same day, a number of companies responded to the impact of the new regulations. Among them, Zhang Wei, vice president of Tencent Games, responded to the Shell Finance reporter that since the release of the new regulations in 2021, Tencent has been strictly implementing the management requirements, and the current game time and consumption data of minors are at the lowest level in history. The draft of the new management measures does not fundamentally change the key elements such as the reasonable business model and operation rhythm of games. The new version of the management measures released by the regulatory authorities this time clarifies the support attitude for the industry, especially in the encouragement of high-quality original games.

Sanqi Mutual Entertainment responded that it has paid attention to the impact of the new regulations on the company and is still studying. "We're still looking at the impact. At present, it is only a draft for comments, and it has not yet been officially implemented. As for the possibility of implementation, we alone have no control over it. A company staff member said.

The staff of Yao Ji Technology said that the company has just been informed of the new regulations on the management of online games, and if the draft is passed, it is estimated that the impact on the entire game sector and industry will be great. The staff emphasized that the draft is for the industry as a whole and not for individual companies, and the company should study the details and then follow up on relevant countermeasures.

XD said that it will actively cooperate with the implementation of the new regulations. At the same time, its self-developed products have always adhered to the R&D orientation of differentiated high-quality products, and never relied on strong operational methods such as first charge rebates and daily check-ins. The company will fully implement the spirit of the new regulations and specific measures to jointly promote the healthy development of the industry.

In addition, Shenzhou Taiyue and Fuchun said that they would have little impact on the company's existing running game products. In 2022, both companies will account for more than 85% of their overseas revenue. Kaiying Network said that at present, there is no substantial impact on the company's operation, and the company will carefully study and Xi research, actively follow up and feedback, and believe that the game industry will achieve high-quality development on a more standardized basis and contribute to the national economic development.

The revenue of mainland games exceeded 300 billion yuan for the first time, and the company broke the situation overseas

On December 15, at the 2023 China Game Industry Annual Conference, Zhang Yijun, first vice chairman of the China Audio-video and Digital Publishing Association and chairman of the Game Working Committee of the China Audio-video and Digital Publishing Association, announced the "2023 China Game Industry Report". In 2023, the actual sales revenue of China's game market will be 302.964 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.95%, and it will exceed the 300 billion yuan mark for the first time. At the same time, the number of game users in China also maintained steady growth, reaching 668 million users, a year-on-year increase of 0.61%, also reaching a record high.

Shell financial reporters noticed that the largest proportion of total revenue is China's self-developed games. Its actual marketing revenue in the domestic market reached 256.375 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.29%. In the overseas market, the actual sales revenue of self-developed games reached 16.366 billion yuan, although it decreased by 5.65% year-on-year, but the scale exceeded 100 billion yuan for four consecutive years.

And in the segment, the mobile gaming market still dominates. According to the report, the actual sales revenue of the mobile game market in 2023 will reach 226.860 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 17.51%. It also occupies 74.88% of China's self-developed game market.

Shell financial reporters learned that in recent years, the dividends of domestic mobile games have gradually peaked, and game companies, including giants such as Tencent and NetEase, have deployed overseas markets. For a time, "going overseas" has become the biggest consensus among manufacturers.

In 2023, the domestic game market will develop rapidly with the normalization of version number distribution, but the vast majority of the share is still controlled by large manufacturers, and it is extremely difficult for small and medium-sized teams to survive from it.

According to media statistics, in the first quarter of 2023, the total revenue of the top ten game companies will reach 81 billion yuan, of which Tencent and NetEase will occupy more than 80% of the share. Also according to Qimai data, among the top five popular games in the App Store revenue list in June 2023, the game products of the two major manufacturers accounted for 4 seats, accounting for 80% of the total.

According to public information, Tencent deployed overseas game business as early as 2005, and now Tencent covers all aspects of game research and development, operation, and channels. Another giant, NetEase, has also been deployed in Japan, North America, Southeast Asia and other places. According to data released by Sensor Tower, as of 2022, miHoYo's Genshin Impact has accumulated global revenue of US$4.1 billion (about RMB 28 billion), of which overseas markets account for nearly two-thirds of the revenue.

Beijing News Shell Financial Reporter Bai Jinlei Qin Che Editor Wang Jinyu Proofreader Liu Baoqing Some comprehensive public media reports