Gamma Data recently released the ‘2025 China Gaming Industry Trends and Potential Analysis Report’. After extensive data research and user surveys, the report focuses on the following key issues and some results: What are the development characteristics of China’s gaming industry? The domestic and self-developed overseas market sizes have grown by 7.53% and 13.39% respectively, with multiple sub-markets driving the mini-game market to reach 39.
836 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 99.18%. Domestic IP games have driven market growth by 95.1%, indicating significant potential for the development of Chinese original IP games. Strategy games (including SLG) and female-oriented games have driven market growth by 29.9%, with differentiated innovation being an important source of potential. Single-player/console games have driven market growth by 34. 1%, with ‘Black Myth: Wukong’ stimulating market vitality… What factors have the potential to drive market growth? From 2022 to 2024, the compound annual growth rate of the mini-game market size reached 182.3%, and mini-games going overseas and long-term operations have potential. Emotional value is an important factor driving user payments and playing female-oriented games, with 43.12% of users expressing a desire to see content related to the games they play in their daily lives. 66.7% of surveyed users purchased gaming consoles and additional console games after buying ‘Black Myth: Wukong’. 56.7% of users were driven to pay due to cost-effectiveness, while 36.4% reduced game consumption due to high time costs, indicating opportunities for ‘heavy game casualization’. 44.8% of surveyed users flocked to game nostalgia servers due to sentiment, and 48.56% of users spontaneously spread the word after trying to pay (recharge) on platforms outside of the game. .. This report can focus on the following key points for guidance. This article only uses some data from the ‘2025 China Gaming Industry Trends and Potential Analysis Report’. To obtain the report, please follow Gamma Data’s official WeChat public account ‘Game Industry Report’ and scan the QR code below to add Enterprise WeChat. Current Status of China’s Gaming Market In 2024, the actual sales revenue of China’s gaming market reached 325. 783 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.53%, with ‘multi-terminal joint driving’ being a significant characteristic of market size growth. At the same time, factors such as IP support and content innovation also drove the commercial performance of some products. In 2024, the actual sales revenue of China’s self-developed games in overseas markets was 18.557 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 13. 39%. The overseas distribution of ‘Black Myth: Wukong’, the overseas distribution of some mini-games, and the expansion of multiple companies’ game globalization layout are all important factors in the growth of market size.Trend 1 – Overseas expansion of mini-program games. In recent years, the mini-program game market has developed rapidly. From 2022 to 2024, the compound growth rate of the mini-program game market scale reached 182.3%. The mini-program game market is gradually transforming from a blue ocean to a red ocean. In 2024, more than ten mini-program games successfully went overseas and generated nearly one billion dollars in revenue.
In this context, Gamma Data believes that overseas expansion of mini-program games may become a development trend. There are at least three opportunities for overseas expansion of mini-program games. First, characteristics such as ‘play on click’, low entry threshold, and fragmentation also conform to the gaming habits of some overseas users. Second, compared to the domestic market, the overseas mini-program game market is still in the initial stage of development, with lower market competition pressure than the domestic market, and relatively lower entry difficulty for small and medium-sized enterprises. Third, the core fun points of some mini-program games are also preferred by App users. And a single game that has gone overseas in App form has achieved hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. Therefore, even if it is difficult to reach overseas users based on mini-program games, enterprises can realize game monetization through the App version first. Judging from the current results, 50% of the top 30 WeChat mini-program games in the daily best-selling list have launched overseas versions. Trend 2 – Long-term operation of mini-program games. Long-term operation is another trend of mini-program games and an important direction for products to reduce acquisition costs and improve profitability. Judging from the top lists, although the competition in the mini-program game market is increasingly fierce, leading to an increase in the number of products on the list that have been online for less than six months, but for products that have initially achieved long-term operation (with an operation duration of more than one year), their life cycle is generally on an upward trend, meaning that top games have noticed the opportunity of long-term operation ahead of the overall market. Refined marketing is an important measure for long-term operation. Referring to the development path of App games, refined measures such as accurate acquisition, content marketing, and position management are the marketing focuses in the long-term operation period. Therefore, for mini-program games that have achieved long-term operation and those planned for long-term operation, exploring content marketing-related layouts is valuable. Trend 3 – Iterative upgrade of the female-oriented game track. Both market scale and user feedback confirm that the female-oriented game market will迎来 growth. At the market level, in 2024, the scale of China’s female-oriented game market reached 8 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 124.1%, and the growth rate is significantly higher than that of the overall market. At the user level, 25.94% of interviewed users are interested in female-oriented/romance gameplay. The potential of the female-oriented game market is mainly driven by the following factors. On the one hand, female-oriented games are usually strong content-oriented games with plots and characters as the core, which is in line with the main preferences of users at this stage.On the other hand, the female-oriented gaming sector is also undergoing iterative upgrades, which are specifically reflected in aspects such as visual presentation, gameplay, and themes. For instance, some recent releases have incorporated engines like UE4 and cutting-edge rendering technologies, enhancing the game’s spatial dimensions and visual quality. Certain games have expanded into rarely explored genres under their categories, such as the Three Kingdoms, or integrated highly popular elements like open-world gameplay. In addition to these, emotional and companionship values are also significant drivers; for example, 50.79% of users of the high-profile new game ‘Love and Deep Space’ are motivated to play by these values.
Trend 4 – Single-player/Console Games May Experience Long-term Growth in 2024, ‘Black Myth: Wukong’ has significantly boosted the domestic single-player/console game market and is expected to encourage long-term retention of users in the single-player/console game market, solidifying the foundation for long-term growth in China’s single-player/console game market. Taking the console market as an example, many surveyed users updated their gaming equipment to play ‘Black Myth: Wukong,’ indicating an improvement in the conditions for users to play single-player and console games. At the same time, 66.7% of surveyed users purchased other console games in addition to ‘Black Myth: Wukong,’ which means many users have developed an interest in ‘console games’ themselves, not just playing console games for a single title, and not abandoning consoles after finishing the game. That is, ‘Black Myth: Wukong’ has facilitated some users to truly become console game players. Trend 5 – Casualization of Hardcore Games High price and time costs are significant factors leading to reduced user spending, and over 50% of users pay for high cost-performance and low prices, thus the demand for users to ‘reduce effort and spending’ needs attention. From a product perspective, strategy games (including SLG) and idle RPGs are representative: specifically, some new strategy games (including SLG) have achieved better market performance through ‘burden reduction’ settings. Idle RPG products have gained growth in overseas markets due to their light gameplay. Trend 6 – Shift in User Value Demand Towards Emotional Value Emotions and companionship values are widely present in various aspects of game payment, customer acquisition, and marketing. User research results show: 1) In 2024, 66.7% of surveyed users indicated that companionship and emotional value are the main reasons for their increased game consumption. 2) The high-profile new game ‘Love and Deep Space’ also has 50. 79% of users playing the game due to its influence. This means that if products can provide more positive emotional value and a sense of companionship to users, the product’s revenue and profitability are also expected to be optimized. Additionally, many users believe that integrating game elements into daily life can bring positive emotions and a sense of companionship, so it is worth focusing on related marketing methods, such as co-branding, customization, participation in exhibitions, and cooperation in film, catering, travel, and derivative product fields.Development Trend 7 – Open World Elements Drive Growth in Niche Categories
As a high-temperature element that has entered the mobile gaming field in recent years, open world elements have driven significant growth or changes in fields such as anime and MMORPG, with their potential value being recognized by the industry. However, the current situation of more open-world games going live and more teams developing such games, combined with the high investment required for open-world games, has increased the uncertainty of their revenue potential. Gamma Data has conducted research on this, and from the data, there is still room for open-world games. In terms of user interest, the proportion of users interested in open-world elements has increased from 17.6% in 2021 to 61.2% in 2024. In terms of gameplay layout space, many users hope to see a combination of open-world elements with casual competitive and action competitive games. Development Trend 8 – User Sentiment Drives the Relaunch of More Nostalgic Game Servers From the current situation, some nostalgic game server products have achieved user reflow and influx, thereby performing well in active users and product revenue. ‘Sentiment’ is an important reason for the value of nostalgic game servers, as the initial launch of a game is one of the periods with the most user influx, making the early versions more likely to evoke emotional attachment among these users. Data shows that 44.8% of surveyed users who have played nostalgic game servers tried them due to sentiment and nostalgia. On this basis, two aspects of the industry’s current situation are expected to help this potential field. On one hand, since nostalgic game servers are historical versions of existing products, game teams are better prepared in terms of game development, user feedback, and potential risks, making the difficulty of launching relatively small. On the other hand, there are many products in the industry with the potential to launch nostalgic game servers, as the premise of launching nostalgic game servers is the accumulation of a large amount of long-term content; otherwise, it would be difficult to separate nostalgic game servers from the current version based on ‘nostalgia.’ This is also the reason why nostalgic game servers are highly concentrated in PC games at present. However, mobile games have also experienced about 10 years of rapid development, which means that many mobile games have accumulated the potential to launch nostalgic game servers. Considering the overall number of mobile games, the impact of mobile game nostalgic servers on the industry may be more significant. Development Trend 9 – The Rise of Chinese Original Game IPs Freedom and potential cost-effectiveness empower the development potential of Chinese original game IPs. Representative IP ‘Girls’ Frontline’ has over 30 million global users, with its new overseas server adding over 2 million new users on the first day. As mentioned earlier, IP games are one of the important drivers of industry scale growth in 2024, and IP games have also set a new scale high in five years.In the future, Gamma Data is optimistic about the potential value of ‘Chinese original game IPs.’ This is due to the characteristics of ‘high freedom and high potential cost-performance ratio’ inherent in Chinese original game IPs. The high degree of freedom lies in the independent control of IP research and operation, brand building, and other aspects by the game team, which allows for a larger scope for the team to perform; the high potential cost-performance ratio stems from copyright ownership, as the IP belongs to the team itself, allowing Chinese original game IPs to retain a higher proportion of commercial returns, brand influence, and user reputation within the enterprise when operating IPs with similar influence.
It is worth noting that if the IP created can have a global impact, then various regions, terminals, and platforms will become sources of IP value, significantly raising the potential ceiling of the IP. This report takes the ‘Girls’ Frontline’ IP under Scattered Explosion Network as an example for analysis. From the results, the global user base of the ‘Girls’ Frontline’ series has exceeded 30 million, and the radiation population exceeds 240 million. At the same time, since 2018, when ‘Girls’ Frontline’ became the first Chinese mobile game to top the Korean iOS game sales chart, the overseas reputation of the IP has continued to rise. The latest work, ‘Girls’ Frontline 2: Exile,’ had more than 2 million new users on its first day in overseas service and landed on the top charts in the United States, Japan, South Korea, and other places, with a turnover of over 100 million in three days. In the domestic market, the vitality of the IP is also an important factor for ‘Girls’ Frontline 2: Exile’ to gradually recover after the reputation crisis at the opening of the service. Overall, ‘Girls’ Frontline’ is a typical representative of Chinese original game IPs that have successfully given IP long-term vitality on a global scale. ‘Story as the core’ is the core idea of the IP, and more than 50% of users prefer IP collaboration to shape the long-term vitality of the IP. The core idea of the ‘Girls’ Frontline’ IP is to shape the attractiveness of the game based on story content, which is favored by users worldwide. In specific applications, the IP has created a series of products with different timelines and aspects under the same worldview of ‘Girls’ Frontline,’ with products interconnected in story lines and key characters, thereby jointly creating a complete and grand worldview IP system, laying a solid foundation for the IP’s ‘story as the core’ idea. On this basis, the IP introduces forms of expression outside of games, such as animation, comics, concerts, and derivatives, which enhance auditory and tactile senses and convey the IP story and content in ways different from the game itself, further enriching the image of the ‘Girls’ Frontline’ IP in the hearts of users. In long-term operations, ‘Girls’ Frontline’ focuses on the ‘IP collaboration’ initiative, and with 51% of the surveyed users of ‘Girls’ Frontline 2: Exile’ looking forward to IP collaboration, the preference for this initiative among users is relatively strong, making IP collaboration more valuable for ‘Girls’ Frontline.Currently, the collaboration of IPs has extended to various fields including daily travel, intangible cultural heritage tourism, and gaming entertainment, with plans for further collaborations with other industries and offline spaces, continuously enriching the vitality of IPs.
Trend 10 – Global Synchronization Brings Additional Volume Global synchronization, as opposed to the traditional approach of gradually entering various national markets, often launches in dozens or even hundreds of countries or regions at once. Statistics from sample products indicate that global synchronization has the potential to generate more product revenue. This is because asynchronous releases can weaken the user’s gaming cycle, with about 30% of users stating that they usually uninstall the game within 1-2 days after it is launched domestically. The main reasons for ‘quitting the game’ are the presence of better similar products in the market, as well as having experienced the game through international servers and finding the gameplay outdated. Therefore, against the backdrop of accelerated product iteration on a global scale, the longer the product release interval, the more pressure there is from competitive products. Global synchronization can effectively alleviate this pressure. Trend 11 – In-depth Exploration of PC Traffic The PC side is a value lowland for traffic. 360 provides a complete set of promotion plans and high-quality traffic game brand events marketing for the gaming industry. The PC side presents multi-style content, combines multi-media resources, and enhances the game download rate in an all-round and multi-touchpoint manner. For new game releases, 360 cooperates deeply with game manufacturers, combining the PC’s top marketing matrix to achieve synergy of brand and effect. The three-level rocket, a thousand arrows fired at once. As the No. 1 PC media, 360 leverages applications like 360 Software Manager, 360 Browser, 360 Search, and 360 Navigation to provide full-cycle exposure and escort for new games. Accurate positioning, luxurious display. Utilizing the advantages of the PC’s large screen, luxurious display, and other features. By leveraging capabilities such as 360 lock screen posters, 360 Guardian pop-ups, and information stream push, combined with DMP+ premium advertising, it reaches potential players, with a large screen display that is visible and effective. Content enhancement, mental influence. PC game players are more hardcore, and game strategies are indispensable. In the mid-public test period, 360 Quick Information cooperates to produce customized content such as game strategies, turning players into experts, with built-in links for one-click transfer to download, enhancing the player’s game experience and increasing the game start rate. Trend 12 – Multi-channel Payment Enhances User Payment Intention ‘Multi-channel payment’ is a new opportunity. Multi-channel payment refers to the expansion of recharge behavior beyond the game itself, such as through the game’s official website and short video platforms. The reason for being optimistic about this direction is mainly due to two reasons: on the one hand, multi-channel payment has a high revenue potential, 59.6% of surveyed users have paid through channels other than games such as game official websites and e-commerce platforms. Therefore, if user payment habits can be changed through marketing and other means, it is expected to bring high returns. On the other hand, multi-channel payment has in-depth and diverse values. For example, among surveyed users who have paid outside of games, 48.56% share this method with friends, forming a ‘word-of-mouth’ spread; 47.6% give priority to paying outside of games when making subsequent payments. Trend 13 – AR/VR games will bring gameplay innovation. Although the development speed is not as expected, the innovation in game interaction methods and gameplay that AR/VR games can bring still makes them have great potential. From the current industrial background, the development environment of AR/VR technology has become more mature. The upgrade of hardware technology combined with software technology reserves makes the layout of this project more feasible. In terms of hardware equipment, the output of a new generation of chips effectively improves the performance of hardware equipment. In terms of software technology, with the support of technologies such as AI, 5G, and cloud computing, the gameplay content, transmission rate, and computing power of AR/VR games are all optimized. The new changes in hardware and software help improve users’ negative feedback on this field such as’simulator sickness’ and ‘insufficient game content’, and then accelerate the development of AR/VR-related games. In addition, in terms of future development trends, the layout in this field will also promote the common development of related industrial chains. Similar to the traditional game industry, the AR/VR game industrial chain covers multiple links such as hardware manufacturing, software development, content creation and distribution. The output of high-quality AR/VR game content will push the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain to the next stage. Trend 14 – Reasonably choosing marketing partners will ease marketing pressure. The sales expense ratio has risen but net profit has fallen. Dilemmas such as inaccurate advertising reach, insufficient in-depth data analysis, and room for improvement in traffic scope still exist. The marketing pressure is still increasing. Data shows that the average sales expense ratio of major listed game enterprises in China continues to climb, but more than 50% of enterprises with declining net profit. On the whole, the return on investment in the industry has declined. Looking at the causes of the decline in return on investment, inaccurate advertising reach, insufficient in-depth data analysis, and room for improvement in traffic scope are all important causes. But these causes also mean that if the game team can find a marketing partner who can better cope with the dilemma, it is expected to improve the current situation and increase the return on investment. Mobvista is one of the marketing partners worthy of attention, and its resources and capabilities can better cope with the above dilemmas.
In terms of resources, Mobvista has numerous medium and long tail channel resources (open network) on a global scale. This can help game teams control traffic costs, which are usually more difficult to control when deploying top-tier traffic. At the same time, under anti-monopoly measures, the competitive environment of medium and small platforms has been optimized. In addition, data from eMarketer, Zhongguancun Interactive Marketing Laboratory and others shows that in many regions around the world, more than 10% of the advertising field share is difficult to be reached by the TOP10 advertising channels, indicating that the traffic volume of medium and long tail channels is also considerable.
Further analysis shows that the exploration and empowerment of the value of medium and long tail channels can be achieved through a complete set of advertising and analysis toolkits including user acquisition, monetization, analysis, creative automation and intelligent media purchasing, significantly improving the ROI of advertising marketing and providing effective help for mobile applications to break through the growth plateau. Under multiple favorable conditions, the value of medium and long tail channels is worthy of attention. In terms of capabilities, Mobvista has made significant efforts in algorithm and data statistical analysis. The areas where efforts are made are expected to improve industrial dilemmas. For example, one of the causes of the reduction in industrial advertising return on investment, ‘insufficiently accurate advertising’, and the increasingly mainstream hybrid monetization in the industry can both be improved through algorithm optimization. The connection of in-app user behavior data and marketing data can largely help enterprises make good product operation decisions. Therefore, data statistical analysis also has important value. Centering on these key capabilities, Mobvista has developed a one-stop, automated and refined mobile growth solution and launched tools or platforms such as Playturbo, XMP, Mintegral and SolarEngine, thereby achieving higher conversion, larger scale and more efficient results in four scenarios of interactive creativity, promotion and acquisition, monetization revenue and analysis and optimization. Driven by resources and capabilities, Mobvista’s daily average advertising requests have exceeded 200 billion times and it has supported more than 100,000 top applications to acquire users in regions such as Europe, America and Asia-Pacific. Based on the above current situation, prediction and potential points, Gamma Data will also take representative enterprises as examples to analyze how they utilize potential points and how potential points in turn nourish the enterprise’s own value. Analysis of potential enterprises in China’s game industry Note: The order of enterprises is not in any particular order. 37 Interactive Entertainment: Heavy games becoming lighter, light games becoming heavier The environmental prediction ability of 37 Interactive Entertainment may once again open up a field market worth over tens of billions. Gamma Data has mentioned many times the environmental prediction ability of 37 Interactive Entertainment and its revenue contribution.Looking at the layout in 2024, this ability is expected to open up a field market worth over ten billion yuan again. The development strategy of enterprises is reflected in ‘lightening heavy games and intensifying light games’. One of the supports for ‘lightening heavy games’ is the demand for减负 among heavy game users. ‘데블M’ of 37 Interactive has also achieved good performance. One of the supports for ‘intensifying light games’ is the strong attraction of the core fun points of light games. ‘Xundao Daqian’, which is based on the fun point of ‘Little Monster Cultivating Immortality’ and has long been within the TOP5 of the best-selling list of WeChat mini-program games, is a typical representative. According to Gamma Data’s analysis of the revenue of multiple products using this idea, the field scale corresponding to ‘lightening heavy games and intensifying light games’ is expected to exceed 10 billion yuan. In addition, in terms of product reserves, enterprises have also laid out products with gameplay such as tower defense and card games and themes such as fantasy/magic, national war, and giant beasts. The cumulative number of products exceeds 20. In the future, it is expected to predict more potential fields in the process of researching and operating new products. The AI process is once again at the forefront of the industry. The understanding degree of employees and the meticulousness of tools help 37 Interactive maintain its AI advantage. In terms of AI, the AI process of 37 Interactive has once again taken the lead in the industry. On the one hand, currently, game enterprises’ research on AI is basically concentrated at the game level. However, 37 Interactive is one of the few enterprises that start to increase investment in AI from the office tool level. The corresponding AI tool ‘Xiaoqi’ has achieved iterative upgrades. Gamma Data believes that this measure can not only improve office efficiency but also deepen the understanding of AI among all employees of 37 Interactive. From the thinking level, it guides employees to spontaneously consider the improvement of AI on games and helps the enterprise always be at the forefront of using AI. On the other hand, in terms of the meticulousness of AI tools, 37 Interactive is also at the forefront of the industry. Judging from the functions already involved, such as motion capture, balance testing, art material translation, imitation learning, and game Q&A elves, the AI tools of 37 Interactive are getting closer and closer to covering all key points of the game. In conclusion, in the future, the upper limit of the improvement brought by AI to the game industry is expected to be referenced in the output of 37 Interactive, and 37 Interactive will also be the first to obtain the AI dividend. Tuyoo Games expands new细分赛道 of casual games. Domestic and overseas markets blossom simultaneously. Tuyoo Games has long been known for casual games. The high potential of enterprises in the casual category track is reflected in the expansion of new细分品类 and overseas market layout. In 2024, Tuyoo Games’ self-developed new product ‘Happy Fishing Master’, a simulated fishing game, quickly topped the free game list of AppStore in mainland China and continued to dominate the list for 33 days.
Upon examining the reasons for its success, the unique theme and gameplay, high product quality, and innovative marketing strategies are all significant factors.
There are few products in the domestic market that focus on fishing as the core gameplay. Leveraging its first-mover advantage in this niche, ‘FishingMaster’ meticulously reproduces gameplay details and presents them with high-quality, immersive visuals. Built on a solid foundation of core gameplay and quality, combined with marketing strategies on emerging social media platforms, ‘FishingMaster’ has created a favorable environment for dissemination and self-propagation. Taking Douyin as an example, in addition to platform KOL promotional collaborations, user-uploaded videos related to ‘simulating casting postures’ have been widely spread and imitated, significantly enhancing the game’s popularity through spontaneous player sharing. After achieving outstanding performance in the domestic market, the company quickly expanded the game to overseas markets, seizing market opportunities. ‘FishingMaster’ (the overseas version of ‘FishingMaster’) topped the free charts in Japan and the United States on the AppStore. It’s important to note that, unlike the domestic market environment, the fishing category in some regions like the United States is relatively mature, with some products holding top positions in the race for years. However, ‘FishingMaster’ still managed to enter the top echelon of the race with its superior visual quality and innovative gameplay details. For instance, compared to some competitors, ‘FishingMaster’ features more delicate and realistic fish and scene modeling, and in terms of gameplay, it adds elements like left-right rod swinging and explosive stabbing to enhance user immersion and ‘thrill points’. Data statistics as of: 2024/10/31. The game was officially launched globally on August 10, 2024, and immediately topped the US iOS download chart. By August 12, the game had entered the top 10 of the iOS game free charts in 31 countries, including Japan, Finland, and New Zealand. Entering the game market early and consolidating its position with innovative differentiated products has solidified TuYou Game’s leading position in the mini-program game track. With early entry and mature R&D and operation experience, in 2018, TuYou Game’s first mini-program game ‘Hulai Three Kingdoms’ was officially launched, achieving a peak daily revenue of about 2 million yuan. Following this, the company produced several high-revenue mini-program games such as ‘Sub-God: Awakening of Light’ and ‘Wandering Supermarket’, gradually expanding the category from light casual to mid-to-heavyweight SLG and others.Currently, Tuyoo Games continues to drive category iteration, with its achievements expected to further consolidate the company’s leading position in the mini-game sector. ‘Three Kingdoms: Ice Age’ is a typical representative of this category iteration: based on the development experience and market performance of ‘Hu Lai Three Kingdoms’, in 2024, Tuyoo Games launched its second original mini-game themed on the Three Kingdoms, developed and published independently.
Unlike the light gameplay of ‘Hu Lai Three Kingdoms’, the new product ‘Three Kingdoms: Ice Age’ adopts SLG+ simulation management gameplay, achieving differentiated competition for the product. In terms of results, after the game’s launch, it ranked as high as TOP4 on the WeChat mini-game bestseller list and has entered the TOP10 multiple times. Its overseas version ‘IceWar’ has also been launched in Indonesia and the Philippines on GooglePlay, and has undergone several iterations of hero characters, buildings, factions, and alliance gameplay, accumulating about 100,000 downloads. The simultaneous development of light and mid-to-heavy categories is expected to keep Tuyoo Games at the forefront of the mini-game track for the long term.Greedy Game’s self-developed technology platform and self-built data center deeply explore technological innovation to empower future growth. While maintaining the advantages of ‘data marketing + in-depth operation + brand development’, deeply exploring technological innovation is one of the important potential points for Greedy Game. Greedy Game has made technological deployments through self-developed platforms and self-built data centers. In terms of achievements, Zhongxu Future Group (the parent company of Greedy Game) has developed a proprietary technology platform ‘Xu Liang Xing Hai’, composed of the advertising effect analysis system ‘He Tu’ and the intelligent advertising system ‘Luo Shu’. Since the platform was put into use, it has accumulated trillions of machine learning training sets and has accumulated more than 600 million registered users. At the same time, Greedy Game has established the Shangrao Big Data Game Industry Center in Shangrao, fully creating an electronic information technology cooperation and technology exchange game incubation platform. With the advantages of existing technological innovation, the Huijin Center office of Greedy Game has been put into use, and the South China Operations Center has also been included in the annual key construction plan of Guangzhou City. It is expected to further enhance the company’s technical strength and empower the potential release of business by leveraging regional innovation resources and high-quality talents.
Diversified layout capabilities are expected to drive growth and steadily advance the globalization strategy with breakthroughs in multiple overseas regions. Another development advantage of Greedy Game is based on the diversified layout capabilities of game products. On the basis of maintaining the advantages of mid-to-heavy categories, Greedy Game has begun to try to layout casual game products and products that are issued in both App and mini-game versions, involving genres such as idle MMO and casual competition. Among them, ‘Little Soldier Big Battle’ has performed stably in both versions, topping the iOS free game list on the second day of launch, and the mini-game version has reached as high as TOP5 on the WeChat mini-game bestseller list.
Meanwhile, Tanwan Games gradually expands its advantages overseas and makes breakthroughs in many regions such as Europe, America, Southeast Asia, Japan, and South Korea. It has won the ‘2023 China Game Overseas Sailing Award’. With the steady progress of the globalization strategy, Tanwan Games’ multi-layout ability is expected to continuously drive growth. In addition, Tanwan Games also enhances brand influence through participating in offline exhibitions and public welfare activities, thus further strengthening market competitiveness. The long-term operation of IP games by Shengqu Games releases long-term potential. Accurate user insight is the main reason. The long-term operation of IP games is one of Shengqu Games’ core potentials. Accurate user insight ability is the deep-seated reason for this potential. Based on user insight, Shengqu Games starts to layout the long-term operation of IP games from aspects such as game content and activities. First, in terms of game content, Shengqu Games focuses on the demand preferences of the target user group and obtains better user feedback at the classic and innovative levels of games. Among them, its ‘Legend of Mir’ ‘New 100 Areas’ is representative. On the one hand, the ‘New 100 Areas’ retains the classic settings such as levels, drop rates, and gameplay of the old 100 areas. On the other hand, it launches optimization measures such as the avatar cultivation system and the idle system. After the version is launched, the scale of active game users has greatly increased. Second, in terms of game activities, Shengqu Games focuses on user ecosystem construction. Combining current hot spots and through in-depth user research, it uses brand linkage and special activities to enhance IP influence and user stickiness. Keeping up with the technological changes in the game industry. The application of artificial intelligence technology expands business value. The continuous exploration of emerging technologies in the industry will become a long-term potential point for Shengqu Games. The application and implementation of its research and development technology help the enterprise’s game business and expanded business release value. To seize the development opportunity of artificial intelligence technology, in 2023, the parent company Century Huatong upgraded the original ‘Cloud Data Business Department’ to the ‘Artificial Intelligence Cloud Data Business Department’ and carried out computing power business on the original basis. At this stage, Shengqu Games has applied AI technology to fields such as game research and development, customer service, virtual anchors, and quality testing, and has invested in the cultivation of AI technical talents. For the produced content, it continuously upgrades and iterates to improve the quality of results. In addition, the enterprise also expands and layouts emerging fields such as AR, VR, metaverse, and brain science, and is committed to enhancing the underlying technical capabilities to achieve a full-industry-chain layout. In the future, the enterprise will radiate multi-field potentials centered on the game industry. Self-developed by Zhongshou Games, deeply cultivating the three categories of open-world RPG, strategy, and legend. Expanding the ‘online + offline’ innovation model and deeply digging IP value. Self-developed games and self-owned IP operation are both the core businesses of Zhongshou Games Group and also important potentials.
In the realm of independent game development, research and development capabilities have increasingly become the core of the industry. Zhongyou Games has not only long focused on R&D but also continues to increase its investment, such as quickly adopting generative artificial intelligence (AIGC) technology, which has achieved tangible effects like reducing R&D costs and improving R&D efficiency. From a product perspective, Zhongyou Games’ independent game development business focuses on three major categories: open-world RPGs, strategy, and legend games. These categories possess potential characteristics such as ‘strong user demand,’ ‘high market size,’ and ‘deep accumulation by Zhongyou Games.’ Currently, some products have not yet been launched but are anticipated by many users. In terms of proprietary IP operations, Zhongyou Games has accumulated numerous IP shaping methodologies relying on the ‘Xianjian Qixia Zhuan’ IP. For instance, more than 60% of surveyed users expressed interest in game IP-derived films, music, and other content. In contrast, the ‘Xianjian Qixia Zhuan’ IP has covered areas such as games, films, animations, content literature, music, derivatives, and real-life entertainment. New initiatives include Zhongyou Games officially entering into a strategic cooperation with the Super Competition Group in 2024, expanding offline traffic scenarios for IP operations, and combining online ecosystems to attract more IP users. The first national style open-world mini-program game has become a new growth point for the company. The national style open-world game and the layout of mini-program games will further promote Zhongyou Group to expand into potential fields. In terms of national style open-world games, the self-developed ‘Xianjian World’ by Zhongyou Games is set to launch on January 9, 2025. It occupies the pioneering position of two sub-elements: ‘domestic, immortal + open world’ and ‘large-scale game + Paru-like.’ The advantage of early layout is expected to enhance product performance. On this basis, ‘Xianjian World’ improves the game scene’s realistic effects through the application of innovative technology and enhances the user gaming experience through multi-terminal layout, ensuring the product’s basic quality. At the same time, it incorporates diverse national style elements to aid in the spread of Chinese culture, strengthening the product’s traditional cultural attributes. With multiple elements emphasized, the potential of ‘Xianjian World’ is worth the industry’s attention. In terms of the layout of mini-program games, under Zhongyou Games’ active layout, several mini-program games have been launched in 2023, bringing in over 600 million yuan in revenue. Additionally, Zhongyou Group is actively planning the overseas business and long-term operation of mini-program games, such as ‘Xiao Ge Chui Zi,’ which is scheduled to launch in Singapore and Malaysia. These layouts will become new growth points for the company. R&D investment by Shengtian Network helps the company keep up with market changes and technological upgrades, covering areas such as games and music. Technology is the core foundation of Shengtian Network’s business potential, and technologies such as big data, game engines, and AI have become key factors for the company’s stable business operations.
For many years, Shengtian Network has been focused on investment in technology research and development. The proportion of enterprise R & D personnel has remained at around half for consecutive years. There are multiple invention patents and software copyrights produced cumulatively. Moreover, the enterprise has also established a technology research laboratory to promote the integration and innovation of emerging technologies and businesses.
It has now successfully developed an AI-SaaS platform tool. In terms of technology application, due to business coverage in multiple fields, the application space of enterprise technology research and development achievements is relatively extensive. Taking AI technology as an example, the enterprise has applied the technology to fields such as its music social platform ‘Geimai’ App, game localization distribution, and AI customer service. In the future, the research and development and in-depth application of technology will further expand the business boundaries of enterprises. The resource accumulation and cooperation capabilities empower business expansion. The platform and content businesses of Shengtian Network all enjoy benefits. The resource accumulation and cooperation capabilities of Shengtian Network are also worthy of focused attention. Thanks to extensive business involvement, Shengtian Network has abundant resource accumulation at both the user and enterprise levels. For example, the platforms and content businesses under Shengtian Network have gathered a large number of users in entertainment scenarios, and the marketing business has accumulated more media resources. On this basis, on the one hand, it can strengthen the cooperation capabilities with enterprises in related fields and expand the business scope. On the other hand, at the marketing level, it can enhance the bargaining power with suppliers, thereby optimizing sales strategies to attract customers. Eventually, a positive cycle of ‘resource accumulation – business capability improvement – acquisition of more users – resource accumulation’ is formed. The technical capabilities of ZuLong Entertainment lay a solid foundation for the refined development of games. Combining long-term operation ideas to extend the product life cycle. Technical capabilities are the core potential of ZuLong Entertainment and provide a strong guarantee for the refined development and long-term operation of games. At the technical level, ZuLong Entertainment has a first-mover advantage especially in game engines. Many of its game products are developed using Unreal Engine 4. As one of the first batch of official cooperation enterprises of Unreal Engine 5 in China, the enterprise has put Unreal Engine 5 into its products under research. In addition, based on technical advantages, the enterprise continuously iterates game content and layouts multi-platform games and other fields. On this basis, combining the forward-looking long-term thinking will help extend the life cycle of products under ZuLong Entertainment, which is mainly reflected in two aspects. First, ‘forward-looking’ means that ZuLong Entertainment implements a refined strategy in the product research and development stage. On the basis of seeking technological breakthroughs, it integrates resources through multi-dimensional considerations to achieve the optimal solution. ‘Long-term thinking’ lies in ZuLong Entertainment’s long-term vision for game IP operation. For example, it formulates a 3-5 year operation plan in the early stage of game launch. This will effectively promote IP brand and enterprise brand building and avoid event risks that consume the brand in advance, thereby extending the life cycle of products and IPs.Zulong Entertainment’s multi-category layout and global research and operation integration strategy have become important potential points. In terms of multi-category layout, Zulong Entertainment takes the MMORPG category they excel in as the benchmark, gradually expanding into SLG, female-oriented, and strategic card categories. While producing high-quality products in multiple new categories, they refine the corresponding operational strategies, thereby turning the initial exploration of categories into areas of expertise, and solidifying a diversified product structure.
Among them, the female-oriented product ‘Shining Name’ stands out with its UGC ecosystem built through continuous new activities and gameplay, which has brought benefits such as reducing the cost of buying traffic and increasing user stickiness. On the global layout level, Zulong Entertainment takes research and operation integration as the leading strategy, enhancing the global self-publishing capabilities of games on the basis of strong research and development. By focusing on different market cultures, regulations, and user needs, they adjust their promotion strategies accordingly and optimize game localization based on development advantages. At present, Zulong Entertainment’s international business has achieved results in multiple categories. In addition, a variety of product reserves in the global market will further promote the company’s global and diversified business layout. Qingci Games’ self-developed products have a vitality exceeding 56.2% of similar competitors, which is an important support for innovative elements both inside and outside the game. ‘The Strongest Snail’ has been operating in China for more than 4 years, and its stable performance in revenue has exceeded 56.2% of products that have also entered the Gamma Data annual revenue list TOP100 and have been online for more than 4 years, which to a large extent proves Qingci Games’ ability to operate self-developed products for the long term. Innovation is an important support for its long-term operation. The company’s innovation capabilities are reflected both inside and outside the game. Inside the game, the company has updated game content and carried out joint activities 27 times in 4 years. The new gameplay of the ‘Divine Realm Reconstruction’ version launched in 2024 and the joint activities with ‘Incredible Labyrinth’ and Kairo Games have all performed well. Outside the game, the product promotes user acquisition and reflow through the launch of derivative products, which are also the preferred game operation methods for 68.8% of surveyed users. On this basis, some derivative products have restored the game’s gameplay and unique symbols, such as the ornament ‘Snail’s Dress-Up Show Series’ that can reproduce the game’s dress-up gameplay by changing inserts, and the physical medals launched for the fourth anniversary. The global market is a source of future potential, ‘The Strongest Snail’ helps Qingci Games accumulate experience in multiple regions, and the global market is another potential source for Qingci Games. From the existing results, Qingci Games’ overseas market revenue has increased from 0 in the first half of 2020.The revenue increased from 0.08 billion yuan to 143 million yuan in the first half of 2024, with a compound growth rate as high as 104%. The main product, ‘Strongest Snail’, is the core factor in stimulating the potential of the global market. However, in addition to directly contributing to revenue, Gamma Data believes that ‘Strongest Snail’ also has more profound value. The value is mainly reflected in accumulating regional experience. The overseas expansion range of ‘Strongest Snail’ has gradually expanded from mainland China to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions of China, Japan, the United States, Canada, Australia, Europe, Southeast Asia and other places. As of now, the product has covered many major regions for the development of mobile games. Judging from the overseas revenue ranging from tens of millions to hundreds of millions of yuan in a single region and the market performance of entering the top 3 of iOS free charts in many places, Gamma Data believes that Qinsu Games has achieved the accumulation of overseas experience of ‘entering one place and fully understanding one place’ with the help of ‘Strongest Snail’. In the future, these experiences will play a role when ‘Strongest Snail’ enters other regions and more products enter the global market, thereby driving the overseas market revenue and the proportion of overseas market revenue of Qinsu Games to further increase.
