The game market in China experienced a “double decline” in revenue and user size in the first half of the year.
According to the report of Gamma Data, the expert who analyzes the factors that reduce the willingness to spend of gamers in the report is also indicated.
The data shows that in the first half of 2022, the actual revenue of the mainland games market was 147.789 billion yuan, down 1.8% year-on-year, a year-on-year decrease in the previous years. recent years. The number of game users decreased 0.13% year-on-year to 666 million.
Firms continue to invest in game companies.
Gamma analysis attributes the drop to a drop in user income during the pandemic, a decrease in willingness to spend, and a continued increase in gaming companies’ operating costs.
From January to May 2022, total consumption in online games decreased by 1.5% compared to the same period last year. The public’s entertainment consumption and even gaming spending has also decreased, although the player’s gaming time has not been significantly shortened, the payout ratio and ARPU have decreased.
The performance of global game companies is also declining. Sony Corporation released overall results for the first quarter of fiscal 2022 in August, showing that its games and network services (G&NS) business had an operating profit of 52.8 billion yen in the first quarter, down from last year.
According to Sony’s financial report, this decline was mainly due to a decrease in sales of first-party games and non-first-party games including additional content, as well as an increase in spending. existing game software development fees. Sony has lowered its fiscal 2022 revenue forecast for its gaming and network services division.
In addition, Tencent’s latest Q2 2022 financial report shows that online game revenue for this quarter was 42.5 billion yuan, down 1.2% year-on-year. With the full rise of the global pandemic, overseas games and mainland games have experienced negative growth. The game industry is facing transitional challenges such as reducing consumption, reducing the number of large-scale game releases, and protecting minors.
The game team expands on many different themes in the game.
The data decline does not affect investment activity. Despite the arrival of Waterloo in 2022, the gaming industry is still optimistic about the growth of the gaming market next year, and many major manufacturers are still increasing their investment in IP games. In the opinion of a longtime game industry insider, the industry’s current decline is just a narrow swing, not a huge data drop.
The aforementioned game makers say that the global game industry cannot be called down, after all, console game developers are still increasing their investment. “Since last year, Sony and Microsoft have been acquiring game studios, because the core competition of the content industry is exclusive content, and this investment has strategic implications,” said one. mentioned report.
Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that it would acquire Activision Blizzard (ATVI), the world’s largest game developer and publisher, for a staggering $68.7 billion. The acquisition of Activision Blizzard must have been a lot of research before the investment, considering financial security and other aspects. So international mergers and acquisitions and investments give all insiders that the industry is still evolving, and with the emergence of times like the metaverse, it can be a profitable place. maximum profits in the future.
In addition to Microsoft, despite declining business pressure, Tencent and Sony are also investing more globally to partner with game developers. At the end of August, Tencent and Sony’s companies jointly invested in From Software from Japan, becoming the second and third largest shareholders. Just a week later, Tencent invested in Ubisoft, a famous French game maker, to further expand its presence in the overseas game market. Liu Chiping, Chairman of Tencent, said he is looking forward to bringing more Ubisoft 3A products into the mobile game segment.
In this industry it is generally believed that Tencent hopes to have more IP resources to develop its mobile game products. Tencent has invested in gaming giants like Riot Games and Epic Games, but over the past year it has also accelerated its investment and acquisition of overseas game makers.
