Economic Observer Reporter Zhou Yingmei On October 13, Zhongshe Games announced that it spent HK$4.267 million to repurchase 3.236 million shares. So far this year, the company has repurchased a total of 10.732 million shares. Galaxy Securities previously believed that the normal

Economic Observer Reporter Zhou Yingmei

On October 13, Zhongshe Games announced that it spent HK$4.267 million to repurchase 3.236 million shares. So far this year, the company has repurchased a total of 10.732 million shares. Galaxy Securities previously believed that the normal issuance of game overseas plus version numbers will be restored, and the valuation of the game sector and the performance of game companies will be restored. The next day, October 14, game stocks rose sharply. As of the morning's closing, the online game index and game overseas index both rose by more than 2%. "The game is still in a bonus period," said Galaxy Securities.

game overseas has been a hot topic in the past four or five years, and Chinese game manufacturers are also getting further and further away from their overseas journey. Representative works include Lilith's "0,000 Awakening ", Tencent 's "PUBG mobile" (" PUBG Battlegrounds "), Mihayou 's " Genshin Impact " and so on. After the appearance of "PUBG Mobile", the chicken-eating game became popular all over the world, while "Genshin Impact" is a global benchmark game, representing the most advanced industrialization level of Chinese mobile games.

2018 is a watershed, and the game version number tightened for the first time, helping Chinese game manufacturers go overseas. Lu Nan, marketing director and strategic analyst at Sensor Tower in Asia Pacific, told the Economic Observer reporter that before 2018, only a few small and medium-sized manufacturers were specializing in overseas markets, and large manufacturers also tried it, but they often used domestic project development games to test the waters, and now they are replaced by projects specifically for overseas markets. This year, the game version number has "shrunk" again, and game manufacturers have set up their overseas strategies.

However, ENJOY CEO Jin Xiang, a game overseas service provider, noticed that at present, the competition in mainstream markets such as the United States and Japan is fierce, and some Chinese game manufacturers have begun to focus on serving the Middle East and Latin American markets, showing a trend of deep cultivation and downward decline.

hot products drive overseas

has been the fastest growing stage in China's games overseas in the past five years. How did the overseas market performance of popular games during this period? What are the market conditions and player preferences in different regions such as Europe, America, Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, and what are the opportunities for small and medium-sized manufacturers to go overseas? Data provided by

Sensor Tower to the Economic Observer shows that Chinese games went overseas have increased significantly after 2018. A total of 12 games with revenue of more than US$100 million in Chinese mobile games went overseas in 2019, which increased to 37 models in 2020, and this data increased to 42 models in 2021. Sensor Tower is a global mobile application analysis platform established in 2013 and an authoritative statistical agency for overseas revenue of Chinese mobile games.

2016 IGG's " Kingdom Era " opened the door to SLG games to go overseas. Later, the civilization-themed game "Awakening of Nations" released by Lilith was released in September 2018 and then promoted the SLG track to become a popular overseas. " Wild Action " released by NetEase in November 2017 was the first to grab the bonus of the chicken-eating competitive game. Tencent's "PUBG mobile" (Chinese name: "PUBG Mobile") continued to lead the chicken-eating craze after it was launched in March 2018. Lu Nan told reporters that "PUBG mobile" topped the overseas revenue list of Chinese mobile games for about two years.

and then Chinese game overseas star is Mihayou's "Genshin Impact", an open-world game with two-dimensional themes, swept across all markets around the world after its public beta in September 2020.

These popular games have always been among the top overseas revenue list. Lu Nan said that the revenue of several leading products is very stable at present, and there will be some small periodic fluctuations depending on the pace of content updates. For example, every time a new version of "Genshin Impact" is launched, the revenue will have a significant peak, which is a phased peak.

Lu Nan told reporters that the peak monthly income of a single product of domestic mobile games can exceed US$100 million. Sensor Tower's top 30 overseas revenue list released every month, the top five revenue can be stable at more than US$40 million, and the shortlisted threshold for the list is US$12 million in monthly income.

"Every time node will create a different hit product, it depends on who can capture the market opportunities that the opponent has not yet captured." Lu Nan said. Take "Awakening of Nations" as an example. This game hits the theme of civilization. Civilized themes have always existed on the PC side, but Western game developers have never tried it on mobile games, which is also the reason why Chinese mobile games can succeed.

"Genshin Impact" is a hit in the past two years. In the two years since the public beta in September 2020, it has dominated the list of overseas revenue of Chinese mobile games many times. "A major feature of the product "Genshin Impact" is that it develops mobile games with the quality of 3A consoles, but it can still be opened for players to play for free. In the industry, Western players default that only if you spend dozens of dollars to buy this quality game, it can only be experienced. However, "Genshin Impact" appears as a free game under the conditions of achieving the quality of the console game, shocked European and American media and players." Lu Nan told reporters.

Lu Nan said that "Genshin Impact" is a benchmark for the global mobile game industry. It sets another precedent at the same time and has great inspiration for the game industry. This is the first game that has been launched simultaneously on multiple platforms on PC, mobile and hosts. In the past, manufacturers would conduct pilot projects in a certain market and then gradually open up the market, and then go to the more mature US and Japanese and Korean markets. This game sets a benchmark for the industrialization of Chinese mobile games. It has allowed Western manufacturers to start researching and learning about Chinese mobile game development, and has also prompted manufacturers such as Activision Blizzard to deepen their cooperation with Chinese game manufacturers to develop games.

Different demands of overseas players

"South Korean players consume very fast. Players in other markets play content for a year, and Korean players consume it in three months." Lu Nan told reporters that Korean players like to try different games. In the Korean market, it is easier to obtain volume in the early stage, but how to maintain players' long-term retention is a big challenge.

On the other hand, Korean manufacturers are very homogeneous in the local market and mainly provide heavy MMORPG games. Lu Nan said that although there are many new games released in South Korea, in this market, there have always been several paradise IP mobile games. For Korean players, many newly launched games are more like fast-moving consumer goods. After a simple attempt, they are more willing to spend money on several paradise IP mobile games for a long time, which is more like a classic model for them. In comparison, Japanese players performed very differently, "Japanese players are very loyal to the city and are generous in the game payment. As long as players are satisfied with the quality and service of the game, they are willing to spend money to support it if they have content updates." Lu Nan mentioned, "Although the Japanese market is mainly RPG and 2D games, this is also the market that they dislike plagiarism the most. According to our long-term observation, there are almost no homogeneous products in the top 20 games in the Japanese market revenue list."

Therefore, in such a market, after a unique product succeeds, it is basically difficult for latecomers to get a piece of the pie. "This is also the main reason why NetEase's "Wild Operation" was successful in Japan, and other similar competitive mobile games manufacturers could not do it in Japan. The Japanese market is difficult to attack and easy to defend. Local players will play several games at the same time for a long time, and they will be generous in spending money on their favorite games. Therefore, it is also the most suitable market for establishing competitive barriers." Lu Nan told reporters.

Japan and the United States are the two largest markets in the overseas game market. The European and American markets represented by the United States are more inclusive in terms of game types. In addition to large-scale competitive games, there are also many moderate games, such as puzzle games, synthetic games, simulation games, gambling games, etc. Various types of games can get a share in the US market.

From competitive games like " Call of Duty Mobile Game ", SLG games like "Awakening of Nations" to match three games " Candy Legend ", which has long dominated the list, you can live a good life in the US market. "The characteristic of the US market is that its waist strength is particularly strong. The income gap between the top products and the middle-waist game products will not be particularly large. In the Korean market, the top three games will account for about 25% of the entire market's revenue, and the head is concentrated, while the gap between the revenue in the 10th and 20th is not big." Lu Nan said.

The revenue of the top mobile games in the Chinese market accounts for a higher proportion of total revenue than that of South Korea. Lu Nan said that it is mainly because Chinese players have more concentrated preferences for game types, and the market focuses on competition + socialization. "Another very important reason is that there are no new games, and the version number has shrunk for four or five consecutive years. Without new games, old games are easier to gain player recognition from brands to operations.Players are more inclined to pay for these mature and stable games, so this will lead to higher concentrations in the Chinese market than in South Korea. "

Southeast Asia is also a popular market for Chinese mobile games to go overseas. Judging from the mobile game market, Chinese manufacturers occupy an absolute dominance in the Southeast Asian market. More than 10 of the top 20 revenue lists in Southeast Asia are Chinese mobile game products.

From the perspective of players, Southeast Asian game players are young and have not very high income, especially prefer competitive mobile games. Motong Technology 's "Mobile Legends: Bang Bang" and Garena's "Free Fire, these two have always been the top two products in Southeast Asia's revenue, and the Southeast Asian market has strong competitive attributes.

Find the blue ocean from the red ocean

1 After each hit product is born, as the market pays more attention to the market and similar themes explode, the market will become a red ocean. Lu Nan mentioned that categories like SLG have long been in the red ocean market, and manufacturers' revenue is increasingly relying on buying volume, and the threshold is also higher.

But there are always people who can find opportunities. For example, last year, an Ant-themed SLG mobile game "Little Ant Country" was made. Because of its novel theme, it quickly opened up the market overseas and entered the top 30 overseas revenue list of Chinese mobile games. "It has set a precedent for animal-themed SLG mobile game. But soon other manufacturers followed up on animal themes, and this field became a red ocean market again. "Lu Nan said. "Puzzles Survival" of

Sanqi Interactive Entertainment is also an SLG game. Against the background of the popularity of doomsday themes, this game also quotes match three elements. While expanding the user's plate, it also opens up its blue ocean market. "If you simply follow up on popular products, you will soon face the soaring cost of buying, so now manufacturers are innovating through the integration of differentiation of themes and gameplay. "Lu Nan said.

Recently, many small Chinese manufacturers have been trying to make light games, such as some synthetic, elimination, and simulation games. Before, Chinese manufacturers did not pay attention to this track and did not cultivate related categories. This year, many successful cases have appeared, such as Diandian Interactive's simulation mobile game "Fifei Adventure" and Lemon Micro-interest synthetic game "Merge County". Lu Nan said that the domestic market was previously concentrated in heavy MMORPG, competitive mobile games, and strategy mobile games, lacking commercialized moderate and light games, but in the European and American markets, the acceptance of moderate and light games is very high, and this type of game also has very considerable advertising revenue.

"Overseas game products, a large part of the revenue is cost-bearing. In recent years, the cost of buying overseas has increased, and the cost of buying game manufacturers can reach 70% to 80% of the revenue. "Jin Xiang told reporters.

Jin Xiang said that after 2018, some major overseas launch platforms have adjusted the rules, and game products can hardly obtain natural traffic. Previously, Meta, a platform under Meta, was the first platform that game manufacturers would launch, and there are some online alliance platforms. In recent years, Google has grown rapidly, and many game manufacturers prefer to launch on application platforms, such as TikTok.

Lu Nan said that for small and medium-sized manufacturers, medium-sized games It is a very good opportunity to try. First, the entry threshold is the entry threshold, that is, the development cost will not be very high. Secondly, the revenue can be increased through mixed monetization. The publisher of "Legend of Bow and Arrow" launched "The Shell Special Attack Team" in August, and soon entered the top 30 overseas revenue list. This type of game is very suitable for mixed monetization, which can maintain long-term buying and spending, providing small and medium-sized manufacturers with more opportunities to display creativity and explore long-term operations.

In addition, in addition to the top 30 products, waist games are also worth paying attention to. "Age, the top 30 overseas revenue list of Chinese mobile games in August, ranked 12th in the "Age, under the Shell Games" "Origins" as an example. This mobile game is not a hit in everyone's eyes, but it has been on the 10th to 15th on the list in the past two years. It can occupy this range by entering the waist of several major markets in the United States, Japan and South Korea at the same time. "Lu Nan told reporters. In Lu Nan's view, the overall opportunity to go overseas is greater than that of the domestic market. Putting aside the version number regulation and demographic dividend, domestic traffic is concentrated on several large platforms, and the cost of buying volume is also very high.In the past few years, small and medium-sized manufacturers have almost no chance of entering the market in the country. The revenue of the domestic iOS mobile game market in the first eight months of this year was about US$6.4 billion. In contrast, in the overseas market, the scale of players' payment alone is 7 times that of the domestic iOS mobile game market, which provides many manufacturers with space to display their creativity.

In fact, the game has grown rapidly in the past two years, and there are also dividends from the COVID-19 epidemic. Lu Nan said that from 2020 to the first half of 2021, the epidemic brought a lot of dividends to global online entertainment, and during this period, users were transferred from offline to online, especially on the mobile application side, which made mobile games, both downloads and revenue, usher in rapid growth.

Jin Xiang mentioned that growth has peaked, and after the relaxation of control overseas, many users' lives have returned to normal. Users spend less time on entertainment, and in the future, global inflation will be more inclined to be necessary for daily necessities, and the cost of entertainment products will be reduced. This is also the current situation that games have to face when going overseas.