2. In addition to the paid users above, DVD sales, overseas copyright transactions and derivative authorization are also several of HBO's main money-making channels. However, compared with HBO that had not made much money in the country before, Tencent is obviously the winner of

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1. To a certain extent, it is difficult for people to say clearly whether Martin gives GOT soul spirit more important, or is it more difficult to replicate the GOT broadcast miracle achieved by HBO.

2. In addition to the paid users above, DVD sales, overseas copyright trading and derivative authorization are also several of HBO's main money-making channels.

3. According to reporters, the eighth season will still be exclusively broadcast on Tencent Video . Tencent has not disclosed the copyright fees for the eighth season. However, compared with HBO that had not made much money in the country before, Tencent is obviously the winner of "power".

"I am the sword in the darkness, the guard on the Great Wall, resisting the cold flames, the light at dawn, and awakening the horn of the sleeper. I dedicate my glory to Night Watcher , tonight, it is like this every night."

- Game of Thrones Night Watcher Oath

Night Watcher is about to usher in the final journey. If nothing unexpected happens, on April 14, North American time, the eighth season of "Game of Thrones" (hereinafter referred to as "GOT") is about to return. This most popular and topical American drama in recent years is about to usher in the finale. As the world's top American drama IP, GOT has many topical tags - the most pirated American drama in the world. It has more than 100 nominations and 38 awards. The eighth season preview exceeded 81 million in 24 hours... Behind the performance of

, "Game of Thrones" has undoubtedly become one of the strongest money-making IPs, with games, TV series, comics, derivative peripherals emerging in an endless stream, and even Chinese translators have made a lot of money.

This early summer, "Game of Thrones" will come to an end, but this road to attracting money will not stop...

1/0 billion US dollars earned: The money-making machine allows HBO to compete with Netflix

At first, the novel showed no signs of success, and Martin would not have thought that this IP would set off a global craze in the next 20 years. But in 2005, after the publication of the fourth volume "Hotel of Crows" by the Time magazine, it had called Martin "the Tolkien of America."

was incubated and derived from the "Game of Thrones" IP, and there were some signs before. In 2003, ADC Blackfire Entertainment, a publisher with no search results for Chinese translations, developed a board game based on GOT, but unfortunately the response was really mediocre.

In 2005, a Canadian company called Guandians of Order developed a role-playing game (RPG) based on GOT and received a series of ENnie award nominations in 2006. However, in the middle of this year, Martin announced that he had received news from the senior management of Order Guardians, saying that Order Guardians would go bankrupt and stop the follow-up development of AGoT RPG. The tepid situation of

was not subverted until 2011 when HBO TV Network, a subsidiary of Time Warner Group, adapted it into a TV series. In the past eight years, GOT has become the most watched original drama with HBO, broadcast in more than 180 countries around the world, becoming a magical drama that swept the world's cultural phenomenon. This is the best proof.

To some extent, it is difficult for people to say clearly whether it is Martin who gave GOT soul spirit more important, or whether the GOT broadcast miracle achieved by HBO is more difficult to replicate - as the pillar of HBO, GOT has an obvious and profound HBO style: exquisite production, realistic special effects, spectacular scenes, vivid characters, bold scales, and rich and powerful.

Previously, data showed that the cost of producing a general American drama was $2 million per episode; "Game of Thrones" increased from $6 million per episode in the first season to $10 million per episode in the sixth season, which is as much as five times the cost of producing a general American drama.

currently has no cost figures for the final season of GOT, but it will only be more or less - its shooting cycle is said to be as long as 10 months, with each episode going to last more than 1 hour.HBO CEO Richard Prepler publicly stated at an event recently: "This is a miracle, equivalent to making 6 movies, which makes me feel like I'm watching a movie."

However, people never seem to worry about whether HBO can make money on GOT, although there are no advertisements on HBO's TV channels and websites, and they all charge for subscriptions, which is not cheap, and costs $15 a month.

started its premiere in 2011. GOT is completely a money-making machine. Affected by GOT, HBO has added strong new subscriptions in the past few years. Based on the subscription fee of US$14.99 per month and 20.2 million viewers, GOT paid users alone brought HBO $303 million in revenue in 2015.

By 2018, HBO's streaming platform HBO NOW subscribers hit the 7 million mark. In the same year, HBO TV and streaming media platforms received a total of $6.6 billion in revenue and operating revenue of more than $2 billion, becoming one of HBO's content moats against Netflix (American video content website).

HBO's homepage "Game of Thrones" season eight trailer

Although it is difficult to determine how many users GOT has brought to HBO, from a global perspective, since the show was launched in 2011, HBO's global subscription users have reached 142 million, surpassing Netflix. This growth rate is naturally inseparable from the credit of GOT. Therefore, it is worrying how many of these users will leave HBO after GOT is over. THR's recent sample survey of 2,000 American TV viewers showed that 28% of them said they might cancel their streaming subscription after the end of a TV series.

Of course, HBO will not be able to make money in the future - even after the end of the season, HBO will continue to make a lot of money through various copyrights and peripherals. Last year, HBO's executive president Richard Plepner said, "It is very likely that the characters of GOT spin-offs will be introduced at the end of the eighth season"; HBO's original internal director later said: "If you don't develop spin-offs, then HBO is a fool."

2/ Diversified money-making channels: a whiskey contributes more than 60 million yuan

, and in addition to the paid users above, DVD sales, overseas copyright transactions and derivative authorization are also several of HBO's main money-making channels.

is a fantasy epic drama with an overview background. There are many GOT derivatives available. In addition to common figures, clothing, mobile phone cases, daily necessities, the drama's equal-scale map, the Iron Throne, and the protagonist Snow's sword can buy genuine authorized products, comics, games, stamps, and even beer, sneakers are the main ways to monetize this IP.

Last October, the world-famous Scotch whiskey brand Johnnie Walker teamed up with HBO to launch the "Game of Thrones" whiskey - White Walker by Johnnie Walker. The bottle will show a line that fans are familiar with after refrigeration: "winter is here".

has attracted the attention of many rights fans. Currently, in the JD.com Johnnie Walker self-operated flagship store, this bottle of whiskey costs 269 yuan, has more than 250,000 comments. Tmall shows that it has sold more than 600 transactions in April. According to this calculation, it is just a GOT whiskey, and the JD platform alone has brought it 67.25 million yuan in revenue. Many netizens who bought the company said, "It is not the wine itself for the "Game of Thrones" IP."

is also targeting this. The parent company of Johnnie Walker - Diageo Group. After seeing Johnnie Walker taste the sweetness, Diageo was also authorized by HBO in early March this year to launch a set of "Game of Thrones" theme co-branded whiskey. The entire set of joint whiskeys has a total of 8 pieces. Diageo corresponds to the seven major families and the Night Watch Legion in "Game of Thrones" according to the characteristics of its 8 wineries.

Adidas and "Game of Thrones" Ultra Boost sneakers

Although the official joint brand related to "Game of Thrones" is mostly wine, just recently, the Ultra Boost sneakers series jointly created by Adidas and "Game of Thrones" officially released official photos - it is reported that each pair of sneakers costs thousands of yuan. The most common thing about

is to use GOT to change the game. In 2012, Cyanide Studios developed an RPG game of the same name, featuring Night Watcher/Red Priest as the protagonist, showing off the appearance of the troubled times in the Westeros continent.In 2014, console game manufacturer Telltale Games launched a console version of the image adventure game, the protagonist is the Forest Clan, which was mentioned in the original work but was not revealed.

In addition, Gaia Interactive Entertainment and Canadian local game company Behaviour Interactive Inc. ("BHVR") also released a cooperation news to jointly develop a strategy game based on GOT. The game is expected to be released when the final season of GOT in 2019 is aired.

Warner himself has long developed the game product of Game of Thrones. Last year, while the popularity of the seventh season was not over, the mobile game product "Game of Thrones: Conquest" developed by Turbo Studio and released by Warner was officially launched. This is a simulation strategy game. It once received good recommendations on the App Store and Google Play in Europe and the United States, but because it was ridiculed by mobile game players as a "skin replacement" work, it did not set off much craze in the end.

3/ "cheap" copyright: Tencent Video becomes the biggest winner

However, the one that is placed on the greatest high hopes will be China - some industry insiders said that popular American drama IPs want to exert a longer-term influence in China, and cannot avoid the IP business model that is diversified and derived from Hollywood blockbusters.

Among them, game adaptation is the most worth trying. However, the reality is that from 2011 to 2018, GOT did not have a hit game adaptation product in China for eight years.

"Game of Thrones: Winter is coming" is a continuation of the previously popular concept of "film and game linkage". During ChinaJoy a year ago, Youzu Network announced that it had won the adaptation of the mobile game "Game of Thrones", which was called "the most important IP cooperation" at that time. Later, Youzu Network issued an announcement stating that "Game of Thrones: Winter is Coming" will be handed over to Tencent for exclusive agent. On

UP2019, "Game of Thrones: Winter is coming" is one of the main games Tencent promotes. On January 17 this year, the first test of "Game of Thrones: Winter is Coming". Some industry insiders speculate that the server opening time may be synchronized with the series.

game "Game of Thrones: Winter is coming"

However, according to the reporter's inquiry, Youzu responded that the launch time has not been completely determined yet. Tencent said that there is no news at the moment, and the follow-up news will be announced to everyone further.

"Game of Thrones" TV series in China has had a total domestic viewing volume of 1.8 billion in the first seven seasons, and there are also eight Baidu Tiebas, with the highest number of followers of Tiebas exceeding one million. But its copyright is not as expensive as people imagine. In 2014, Tencent Video reached a strategic cooperation with HBO, and introduced 900 episodes of American dramas including "Game of Thrones", becoming HBO's exclusive authorized playback platform on the domestic Internet. According to "Tencent Entertainment White Paper TV in 2014", the average price of each episode introduced by American dramas in China is only US$30,000, and the first six seasons of "Game of Thrones" are only US$1.8 million, equivalent to more than RMB 12 million, which is very cheap compared to popular domestic IP dramas.

According to reporters, the eighth season will still be exclusively broadcast on Tencent Video. Tencent has not disclosed the copyright fees for the eighth season. However, compared with HBO that had not made much money in the country before, Tencent is obviously the winner of "power".

In November 2017, Tencent Video's paid user numbers were still 20 million. About one year later, on September 30, 2018, it increased to 43 million paid users. On March 21 this year, when Tencent released its fourth quarter and full-year financial report for 2018, the number of subscribers increased by 58% year-on-year to 89 million. Although

does not have detailed data, it can prove how many paid users GOT has brought to Tencent, it can be seen from the side that Tencent Video has entered a period of continuous success in IP. Tencent Vice President and Penguin Film and Television CEO Sun Zhonghuai expressed the importance of these IPs. Not only will old users automatically renew their fees to watch, but they will also attract some new users. With the help of these continuous and excellent IPs, Tencent Video is gradually moving closer to the successful video payment model in the United States.

"I think this is why our business is developing so well," said Sun Zhonghuai.

4/ The popular subtitle group: Started the business of fans

. In the industrial chain derived from the IP "Song of Ice and Fire", the subtitle group also has its own set of survival rules. There are many subtitle groups in "Game of Thrones", including wardrobe subtitle group, Renren subtitle group, and tattered bear subtitle group. However, by searching "Game of Thrones" on Baidu, we can see that some fans emphasize that they must be from the wardrobe subtitle group when seeking resources, which shows how well the wardrobe subtitle group is recognized in the hearts of fans.

is different from other subtitle groups, the wardrobe subtitle group focuses only on translating Chinese subtitles for Game of Thrones. At the beginning, team members took the initiative to join because of their personal interests. They come from all over the world, but they meet online every Monday after broadcasting the latest episode of "Game of Thrones" on HBO, but all this is not for profit.

One of the members revealed to the media two years ago that Tencent wants to cooperate with the wardrobe subtitle group and provide a reward of 200 to 300 yuan per episode. However, the cooperation was not reached at that time. They believed that the best way to develop the subtitle group was to be acquired by the official producer or other partners.

From the perspective of subsequent development, the operation of the wardrobe subtitle group itself is very successful. More than a month before the release of Season 8 "Game of Thrones", the wardrobe subtitles team also released a recruitment information, listing various requirements. Soon, this message received more than 200 replies.

wardrobe legion focused on "Game of Thrones" subtitles to become famous in one battle

wardrobe subtitles group previously held offline event

Now, the official Weibo of the wardrobe subtitles group "wardrobe legion" has 250,000 fans on Sina Weibo. And 5 days ago, the WeChat fan group of the wardrobe subtitles group was also full. Less than ten minutes after sending out the QR code for the latest WeChat group, it was no longer possible to join by scanning the QR code.

At the same time, the wardrobe subtitle group also operates a QQ group and WeChat public account . This official account has only released four pushes so far, and the latest two are related information about organizing offline activities.

For a long time, the wardrobe subtitle group has served the same fan group together with accounts such as "Song of Ice and Fire Chinese Wiki ", " Black Castle Epicastle", and "Ice and Fire Movement Sauce". It includes publishing first-hand video resources, providing exclusive interviews on set, co-organizing offline events, etc.

's successful fan operation is obviously a good way to develop for the wardrobe subtitle group. This part of the fans is more sticky, and most of them are heavy users of the Chinese Wiki of Song of Ice and Fire or other similar Wiki sites. Therefore, they have high participation in both offline activities and online interactions.

also has various forms of profitable activities. In order to welcome the broadcast of the eighth season, many well-known big Vs in the "ice and fire circle" such as the Wardrobe Legion, Chongqing Publishing Group Cartoon Branch, Qu Chang (original translator), Black Castle, etc. will jointly organize an offline event on April 15.

According to the details of the event, you need to purchase tickets of 75 yuan and buffet tickets of 60 yuan by yourself to participate in this event. When the reporter opened the link to check, he found that the tickets were sold out, and the livelyness of the event was imaginable.

On February 23 this year, the wardrobe subtitle group, the Chinese Wiki of Ice and Fire also jointly held an offline new book sharing session with Zhanlu Culture and Zilixingjian Bookstore. The content is a book that introduces the secrets of HBO's continuous creation of hits from "Game of Thrones" - "HBO's Content Strategy".

From the back of these activities, it can be seen that the wardrobe subtitle group grew up based on "Game of Thrones" and quickly occupied an important position in the hearts of book fans and drama fans. The subsequent operations continued to explore more value behind this IP. At the same time, the wardrobe subtitle group no longer focuses on the work "Game of Thrones". Whether it is peripheral products or derivatives in the entire industry, it can bring continuous development momentum to the wardrobe subtitle group.