Source: IT Times
Reporter / Fan Xinru
Editor/Wang Xin kicked girl
On June 7, the State Press and Publication Administration issued the second batch of 60 game edition numbers this year.The games of the company where Ah Wu (pseudonym) works are listed.But before he could be happy, messages popped up one after another on his WeChat asking whether their company had transformed.It turned out that their company was "transformed" due to misinformation in the online media.
"The version number came, but the company has closed down." This situation does exist in the game circle. Game companies with poor anti-risk capabilities have not been able to survive the industry's "little winter".Although the version number is "back", for small and micro game companies, before it's time to clap their hands to celebrate, the choice before them is: continue to apply for and wait for the version number, or find another way to invest in the game to the sea.
company collapsed
Although Awu's game company was "transformed", it was just an Oolong incident.But in Ah Wu's view, "the version number has come, the company has collapsed" is not just a gimmick made by the media for clicks.To a certain extent, this status quo also reflects the real ecology of the game industry in recent years.
For 10 years in the business, Ah Wu has witnessed the collapse of many game companies."Especially in the past two years, it has obviously increased." Among them, there are not a few people who can't operate because they can't wait for the version number.
Compared with big game companies with popular games as endorsement, small companies have a harder time in this copyright winter.Especially for many small companies that only have one or two game products, if they can't wait for the version number, it means they can't go online and have no income, plus the capital and labor costs invested in the development of the game in the early stage. It may close down.
"Although the direct cause of the collapse cannot be said to be the lack of a version number, the shackles of the version number have indeed affected the environment of the entire industry." Lao Hu, a senior game practitioner, told reporters that several game companies around him have already written off, " Not sure, maybe after a while, the version number they once applied for will be approved? But it's too late."
After the version number was suspended for 8 months, the game version number approval was restarted.On April 11 this year, the website of the State Press and Publication Administration announced the latest approval information for domestic online games, and a total of 45 games have obtained version numbers.The return of game version number approval has brought a spring breeze to the domestic game market.After the opening of the US stock market that day, the stock prices of listed companies with related concepts such as NetEase, Station B, Huya, Douyu, etc. rose immediately.
It may take some time for the good news to reach the end of the industry chain. At present, domestic game companies still need to tighten their belts to live.
Chen Dong (pseudonym) is a game artist.A few years ago, he left the game company to do personal outsourcing.Recently, he found that several game companies he has worked with have started laying off employees on a large scale."Some companies have only one person left in a project team." Chen Dong sighed, "How many are still listed companies."
In the past two days, a colleague from the former company took the initiative to come to him and chat with him about finding a job. Only then did Chen Dong know that the company he used to work for didn't survive and has closed down.The large-scale layoffs in the game industry made Chen Dong a little nervous. "Now I can have a stable job and be content."
Applying for a version number is not easy
Compared with his peers, Ah Wu is undoubtedly lucky to be able to get the version number after the game version number is restarted.
After 10 years in the business, this is the first time Awu has formed a team to develop games as a game director.In 2019, Awu formed a team of 12 people to develop a new game. After nearly a year of research and development, the game was officially submitted for review in November 2020, and 19 months had passed until the version number was obtained in June this year. .Although 19 months is a little long, it is good luck for Ah Wu to get the version number.
According to data from Tianyancha, as of now, there are more than 372,000 game-related companies in my country.Among them, over 70% of the enterprises were established within 5 years, 25.5% were established within 1 year, and only 8.8% were established more than 10 years ago.With such a large base of game companies, the total number of domestic game version numbers issued this year is only 105.Even if the total number of domestic game copyrights issued in 2021 last year is 679, the issuance rate is only 0.21%.
"It's really good luck that the version number can be approved this time." Awu told reporters that after applying as required, all he and the team can do is wait. As the person in charge of the game submitted for review, he does not know the specific evaluation of the version number issuance. standard.
While waiting, team members depended on operating the company's other games to stay afloat."Because we are a small team, in a small city, the pressure on manpower, operation and other costs is not high, so we can persist until now." In recent years, the country's review of game version numbers has become more stringent.Since 2020, the number of domestic online game approvals in my country has been decreasing.In 2020, the number of approved games is 1,208, and the number of games that have been reviewed in 2021 is only 679, a drop of nearly half.
And this is not the first time that the country has experienced the suspension of the version number.In the second half of 2018, the domestic game version number also suffered a long-term suspension.But unlike this time, in early 2019, after the game version number was resumed, in the first three months, in order to deal with the backlog of version numbers, the number of game version numbers that passed the review was more than 200.However, this time, the number of games reviewed in April and June did not increase significantly. The number of version numbers issued in April was 45. Although the number of version numbers issued in June increased, it was only 60.
It was too late for Ah Wu to think about what happened after the version number was issued."Having a version number at least means there is income." Now, he only wants to launch new games sooner.To this end, he has registered the WeChat public account for the new game, and is ready for the publicity and post-operation of the game's launch.
It's better to go deep into the sea
In the last two editions issued, many people have noticed that in addition to well-known game companies such as Mihayou and Lilith, there are also many small game companies that have obtained editions.However, Tencent and NetEase, the two major players in the domestic game market, did not appear on the list.Does this mean more opportunities for smaller game companies?
The left is the 45 games that received the version number in April this year, and the right is the 60 games that received the version number in June this year
From Lao Hu’s point of view, it is not worth worrying about Tencent and NetEase’s failure to obtain the version number. They have comprehensive capabilities such as R&D and operation to obtain the version number. For small and micro game companies, waiting for the version number is not necessarily a good idea. Choice, "For small companies, in the current market environment, the most suitable way of living should be to expand overseas channels as much as possible and look globally."
In recent years, due to the limitation of the version number, "going to the sea" has become a hot word in the game industry.Tencent, NetEase, Mihayou, Sanqi Mutual Entertainment and other companies have performed well in the game going out to sea.
At the performance conference call in May this year, Ding Lei, the founder of NetEase, said that the current revenue of NetEase games in the overseas market has reached more than 10%.On the list of domestic overseas games in recent years, the top ten positions have been occupied by various domestic manufacturers, and it is difficult for the names of small game companies to appear.
Despite this, in Lao Hu's view, there is still a lot of possibility for small companies to gain survival and profit space by going overseas. "For example, "Sultan's Revenge" in the Middle East market is a good positive example." He suggested, Small and micro game companies avoid the mature game market where large companies such as Europe, America, Japan and South Korea gather, and look for segmented game markets with less competition and newer ones.
"Sultan's Revenge" in Laohu's mouth is a game developed by domestic game manufacturer Longteng Jianhe for players in the Middle East.The game fully refers to the Arabic cultural background. In order to adapt to and respect local religious customs, "Sultan's Revenge" deliberately casts a veil on every female game character.
The down-to-earth setting suddenly attracted the interest of players in the Middle East.After the release of "Sultan's Revenge", it quickly swept the entire Middle East market, performed well in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Oman and other countries, becoming a popular game in the Middle East game market.Since its launch in 2015, it has been in the top five for seven consecutive years, bringing hundreds of millions of yuan in revenue to Longteng Jianhe every year.
"The business model of Chinese games is leading in the world," said Lao Hu. "It is a great opportunity to find a market and themes that suit you, and to be willing to work hard in the local area."
