Author: Xiaoyan
Editor: Nurhahachi
Source: Thunder News
For the whole year of last year, the revenue of some trendy toys and cultural and creative business companies increased considerably year-on-year in 2022, such as Bubble Mart achieved the "best performance" since its listing in the revenue and net profit sector, and Jiumu Sundries Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Chenguang Stationery, finally ushered in a profit under the development situation of consecutive years of losses, with revenue of 1.24 billion yuan.
"Game IP" has always been easy to achieve good results in the derivatives sector, and with the recent announcement of performance reports by listed companies, the results of derivatives, including licensing, last year can be seen at a glance.
Let's take a look at which companies are the "best" performers, and how gaming IP companies have evolved in this area over the past year.
CMGE: In 2023, IPs such as "Fairy Sword" will generate 260 million "licensing revenue" for it, with a year-on-year increase of more than "100 million"
CMGE, a well-known domestic game company that owns the "Sword and Fairy" series.
Its revenue in 2023 will be 2.606 billion yuan, a year-on-year decline, and its adjusted net profit will be 5.379 million yuan last year, compared with a loss of 196 million yuan in the same period last year. Year-on-year turnaround.
In terms of revenue composition, "IP licensing" contributed 257 million yuan, accounting for 9.8% of the total revenue. This represents a year-on-year increase of 74.7%.
In the same period last year, it was 147 million yuan. That's more than 100 million.
The licensing revenue mainly comes from the IP of "The Legend of Sword and Fairy" and the licensing cooperation business related to the game of "Sword and Fairy".
Game publishing and game development accounted for 81.9% and 8.3% of its total revenue last year through revenue of 2.134 billion and 215 million yuan, respectively.
IP licensing revenue outpaced game development.
Specifically, it is implemented in IP development and related projects. In terms of "film and television", CMGE and iQiyi jointly filmed "The Legend of Sword and Fairy IV" and "The Legend of Sword and Fairy VI" cooperated with Penguin Film and Television have been officially launched on the platform in January this year, and Penguin Film and Television will further cooperate with CMGE to start filming "The Legend of Sword and Fairy III", and the film and television drama "The Legend of Sword and Fairy I" with it has also been set for April 2.
In this sector, CMGE will also launch a film and television cooperation plan for a number of Fairy IP film and television dramas, including the true story of Sword and Fairy, "The Legend of Sword and Fairy V Prequel", "The Legend of Sword and Fairy VII" and the original drama "Sword and Fairy VI Prequel".
In terms of animation development of Sword and Fairy IP, CMGE has reached a strategic cooperation with Penguin Films to jointly produce animated dramas such as "The Legend of Sword and Fairy I" and "The Legend of Sword and Fairy III". The "Legend of Sword and Fairy III" animation is scheduled to be released in 2024.
In addition, it also cooperated with Station B on the animation of "The Legend of Sword and Fairy IV", which is planned to be officially filmed in 2024.
According to the results announcement, in November 2023, CMGE will also cooperate with Qishu Youyu Culture, Hippo Game Technology and other companies to jointly create the production of interactive video works based on the IP of "The Legend of Sword and Fairy".
In addition, in terms of IP derivatives, CMGE has continued to cooperate with Bubble Mart, and last year it launched the second blind box series of Sword and Fairy, "The Legend of Sword and Fairy Chinese Traditional Musical Instrument Series Figures", for global sale.
At the same time, CMGE has also cooperated with industry partners such as Liangxiao Plastic Beauty, Kaitian Studio, and Bandai Namco (Shanghai) to continue to launch model games such as Han Ling Yarn Figures, Moon Qing Shu Statues, and Wine Sword Fairy Figures in 2023, which are sought after by consumers in the market.
The Legend of Sword and Fairy Chinese Traditional Musical Instrument Series (Bubble Mart)
In 2023, it will deeply lay out the whole industry chain cooperation of the IP of "The Legend of Sword and Fairy", covering games, film and television, animation, content literature, music, derivatives and live entertainment, and join hands with top partners in related fields to jointly create the Sword and Fairy IP universe.
In the field of "cultural tourism", the Xianjian real-life entertainment project planned and launched by CMGE is in the final preparatory stage before operation, and is expected to start trial operation in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Anhui and Chongqing provinces and municipalities directly under the central government in 2024. At the same time, it is also adapting a series of text works based on "The Legend of Sword and Fairy", all of which are in the creation stage. It will be launched in 2024 and 2025.
CMGE said that it will continue to work hard to manage the IP of "The Legend of Sword and Fairy" and amplify the value of the IP through film and television, animation and gamification.
But as far as the results are concerned, many film and television works broadcast this year have made the "Fairy Sword" IP at risk of "declining" in terms of word-of-mouth. Whether the next film and animation products can continue to bring more IP licensing revenue to CMGE as the partners wish, and confirm the current value of its IP, may still be a question mark.
iDreamSky: Sell QQfamily in 2023, invest hundreds of millions, and press the "pause button" for the IP derivatives business
Come and see iDreamSky, which has games such as "Temple Run", "Subway Surfers", and "Dream Garden". In 2023, iDreamSky's revenue will be 1.9 billion, a year-on-year decline of 26.1%, and the adjusted net profit will be 140 million, compared with a loss of about 580 million in the previous year. iDreamSky sold its IP derivatives business (QQfamily) in March 2023.
The financial report mentioned that from the beginning of 2023 to the date of sale, its IP derivatives business income was RMB 17.3 million, the current loss was RMB 20.5 million, and a one-time loss caused by the sale was RMB 83.5 million.
It said that in recent years, with the changes in the economic environment, the game industry and the company itself, iDreamSky has taken multiple measures to reduce costs and increase efficiency, and has taken the initiative to shut down and transfer the "non-core game business" to further optimize the organizational structure and focus on the main business.
Based on this, last year, iDreamSky's revenue from games was 1.849 billion yuan, down 27% year-on-year, accounting for 96.5%, and information service revenue was 61.781 million yuan, up 12.82 million yuan, accounting for 3.2%. The IP derivatives business segment is no longer visible in the earnings report.
iDreamSky's "QQfamily" is an "IP derivative brand" launched in 2021 under the condition that it was authorized by Tencent IP, focusing on "experience + retail". It has successively opened brand offline stores in Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Changsha, Wuhan and other places. This part of the revenue mainly comes from the game console experience and retail, and the sales of trendy products.
QQfamily
In the first half of 2023, iDreamSky's revenue from IP derivatives business was 11.434 million yuan. As a result of its divestiture of the business in February, revenue fell sharply year-on-year, accounting for only 1% of total revenue. In addition, the game accounts for 95% of the revenue.
In 2021 and 2022, iDreamSky earned 36.561 million yuan and 140 million yuan through IP derivatives business, respectively. In addition to taking IP from Tencent, in January 2022, it also obtained the IP of the Fat Brain Cave family (Japanese name: Panda's Den) from companies such as Dentsu Taike and Very Kusuo, aiming to further develop the IP product business. In addition, for the derivatives business, iDreamSky has also invested tens of millions of yuan in Mighty Jaxx, a trendy toy company in Singapore, and spent "hundreds of millions of yuan" to build offline stores in 2022.
It has mentioned that the IP derivatives business is a strategic business layout made by the company in full combination of its own resources and judgment on the development trend of the industry, and it is also another "important growth point" for the company's development, with more than 30 stores laid. But at present, entering 2023, the business of IP derivatives has made it miscalculated.
Screenshot of iDreamSky's 2023 semi-annual report
In general, the offline derivatives business is too expensive, but at the same time, it is difficult to see greater "results" from year to year, which has become a drag for game companies.
Baiao Family Interaction: "Obi Island" has linked 11 IPs and brands in 23 years, and "Food Language" has also been "crazy" linkage
In 2023, the revenue of Baiao Family Interactive will be 783 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 16.6%, and the adjusted net loss will be 10.081 million yuan, compared with a net profit of 61.744 million yuan in the same period last year, a year-on-year decrease of 116.3%.
In terms of revenue composition, the revenue of online entertainment business decreased by 16.6% year-on-year to RMB782.5 million, accounting for 99.9% of its total revenue.
The income from other businesses worth noting was 245,000 yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 77.8%. The decrease was mainly due to a decrease in "sales revenue from gaming peripherals." ”
According to its disclosure, the IP will launch cross-border linkages with 11 IPs and brands in 2023, including CCTV Animation, Capital Animal Protection Association, Sanrio, EMMA Trendy Toys, Animation "Please Eat Red Beans!", "Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf", Chabaidao, Rolife Ruolai Nanci Nanci, Xiaohongshu, trendy toy brand SUSUMI, snack brand Laiyifen, involved in film and television, trendy toys, social media and other fields. The version of "Music Coffee", which is linked to IP Sanrio, was launched in April 2023 and has been read nearly 600 million times on Weibo.
Obi Island × EMMA
In addition, during the one-year anniversary celebration, Obi Island also launched a joint event with "Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf", and the offline flash mob event attracted many players to check in.
In addition, in 2023, the IP will also launch a cross-border linkage with the intangible cultural heritage Guangzhou colored porcelain, the culinary education brand New Oriental Cooking, and the bookstore, bringing players a fresh experience.
It can be seen that casual games still have their licensing and other commercial markets
Feiyu Technology: In 2023, licensing and IP-related revenue will be 28 million, a significant year-on-year increase, and it will continue to open up a new situation
In 2023, Feiyu Technology, a game company with "Defend the Carrot", will achieve revenue of 226 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.1%, and the profit attributable to the owners of the parent company will be 52.013 million yuan, turning losses into profits year-on-year.
In terms of IP licensing, Feiyu Technology's revenue related to licensing and intellectual property rights was RMB28.01 million last year, accounting for 12.4% of the total revenue, second only to 77.2% of the game operation revenue through RMB175 million, followed by advertising revenue, and licensing and IP-related revenue increased by 261.6% year-on-year, to only RMB7.747 million in the same period last year, accounting for 4%. The increase is mainly due to the confirmation of a one-time license fee for the game Immortal Road 3.
In 2023, "Defend the Carrot" will launch a total of 155 new SKUs, including physical and digital products, covering small household appliances, stationery, toys, shoes, etc. In addition, Feiyu Technology has partnered with Tustin, a local Chinese fast-food brand known for its Chinese-style burgers, to carry out joint promotions.
Its performance report disclosed that in 2024, the company's intellectual property licensing team is expected to extend the protection of carrot intellectual property rights to short videos, animation series and music. Through these new avenues, Defend the Carrot IP will be brought to a wider audience and create an engaging experience.
Through the company's financial report, it can be seen that the performance of some companies has achieved improvement, especially in the net profit level. At the same time, everyone is cautious about the gaming market.
In terms of licensing and IP derivatives, there are many domestic game business companies that have performed outstandingly, but because some of them are not listed, we can only look at them in combination with cooperation and related consumption.
2023-2024 game IP derivatives and licensing market: ACG games are "popular", and the IPs of companies such as miHoYo are outstanding
Last year, in the annual Tmall 618, the sales list of toy and trendy toy stores, Genshin Impact (flagship store) from miHoYo ranked fifth as a game type store, miHoYo flagship store ranked seventh, and Idol Dream Festival ranked tenth (store), in addition to Ark of Tomorrow ranked 12th, and Paperfold Heart ranked 17th.
In terms of trendy toy stores, Genshin Impact came to the third position, miHoYo ranked fourth, and 5-9 are the official brand stores such as Idol Dream Festival, Ark of Tomorrow, Paperfold Heart, Pokémon, and Love of Light and Night.
We have counted this and found that the recent sales of derivatives of some game stores in the list have reached 100,000+, and the highest sales have reached 300,000+ (pieces). At the same time, from the perspective of product types, most of them are light peripherals. "The better-done game IP derivatives, whether in terms of sales or sales, are not inferior to the products of the leading trendy toy brands, and the market potential is considerable. ”
It is also impossible to ignore Double 11, from the sales list of toy trendy toy stores, the love of light and night is second only to Lego, and it is also ranked fifth in the popularity list of toy trendy toy stores, with remarkable results. In addition, there are miHoYo flagship stores, Paperfold Heart flagship stores, Ark of Tomorrow flagship stores, and Genshin Impact flagship stores, ranking 6th, 9th, 10th, and 12th in the sales list. Game stores accounted for 5 of the top 20.
It is worth noting that in 2022, the first place in Tmall toys and trendy toy stores is Bubble Mart, the second and third places are Lego and Bandai, and in 23, Bubble Mart slid to seventh, replaced by content IP stores such as Love of Light and Night, March Beast, and miHoYo stood in the front row. At the same time, the two-dimensional game peripherals are very popular in the market.
Taobao and Tmall have also "selected" the "IP Value List" for Double 11 in 23 years (the ranking is based on the transaction data of IP-related products on Taobao and Tmall platforms from 10.30 to 11.11).
The top three are Disney, Mobile Suit Gundam, and Ultraman.
The 4-10 places are Sanrio, Transformers, Bubble Mart, Kamen Rider, Genshin Impact, Love of Light and Night, and Little Yellow Duck. Among them, game IP accounts for 2 seats.
The 11-20 are the Forbidden City, Blue Prison, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Snoopy, Line Puppy, Pokémon, Ark of Tomorrow, Big Fish and Begonia, and Love and Producer. Among them, domestic game IP accounted for 2 seats. At the same time, the rankings of IPs such as Love of Light and Night, Ark of Tomorrow, and Love and Producer have also risen year-on-year.
And in the more recent "Tmall figure hot list",You can see miHoYo's Honkai School Park2Related figure products are currently ranked sixth,The link is the final payment of the character figure,The price is 548 yuan,The full price of the product is648 yuan / piece。
Pokémon merchandise ranked seventh, and the 11th, 14th, and 17th places were also in the Honkai series. It can be said that it has swept the current figurine-selling list. We saw that the Honkai Impact 3 Elysia True Self Human Lawgiver 1/7 figure from the apexinnovation flagship store sold tens of thousands of pieces, with a deposit of 300 yuan, and the full price was 1288 yuan. The character series figures from miHoYo's flagship store have also sold tens of thousands of pieces.
In addition, the Honkai sold in miHoYo's flagship store: Star Dome Railway Stop Cloud 1/10 figure sold for 30,000+, and the full amount was 199 yuan.
The blind box hot sales list has NetEase's "Fifth Personality" IP peripheral products on the list, ranking 16th, with a single price of 79 yuan / piece, and the whole box is 948 yuan, showing that 2000+ have been sold.
In general, last year, and even now, on the whole, the derivatives business of domestic game IP is still extremely good, and the popularity has not decreased, but at the same time, it is still those IPs that can be seen in the market.
For many game companies, the revenue of IP derivatives and licensing business is still supplemented, and the heat energy is reused, unlike some overseas game IP companies that support the real majority through this aspect. The status is more passive.
In the "uncertain" game market environment, companies with more than enough power are also choosing to stop losses in time and "cut off" their business and investment over the years. There are positives and negatives, but in the end, it's all about IP and whether it can attract consumers to pay for more of its products. Enterprises that have achieved success in IP and are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people not only earn a lot of money in the game territory, but also have truly enviable achievements in the derivatives market.
In the new year, the game licensing business has also begun to "make a comeback", for example, Tencent's recent female-oriented game, the aforementioned "Love of Light and Night", which has been linked with Heytea, attracting a large number of consumers to pay for it, and the amount of discussion about the event is also very amazing.
It is worthy of a "successful" IP marketing case. It also witnesses the commercial ability of game IP licensing.
Game IP has its own audience, 2023 passes, what kind of achievements will everyone create in the new year, will it be better than last year, and will there be new faces? We will continue to pay attention and wait and see.