By April
Magic Weekly Report, review the news of the week and learn the latest industry trends.
Investment and financing
Chinese comic platform "Kuaikan" App completes $240 million financing, with a total number of users exceeding 340 million
The Chinese comic platform "Kuaikan" App has completed a new round of financing, with a financing amount of US$240 million. Kuaikan's current round of financing includes multiple investors, including new investors such as CCB International and One Store, and old shareholders Tencent and Tiantu Capital continue to support. Currently, Kuaikan has more than 340 million users, with Generation Z users accounting for between 90% and 94%, and the total monthly active users of various products are close to 50 million.
Bilibili invests in "Secret Skills: Good Kung Fu" to develop the game Fantasy Temple
Xiamen Huanmosi Game Technology Co., Ltd., the developer of "Secret Skills: Good Kung Fu", recently completed its equity change and added a new shareholder, Shanghai Huandian Information Technology Co., Ltd., which holds a 15.00213% stake.
Illusion Temple Games was founded in 2020. Its founder, Wang Wenjiang, is a game artist. He first worked at Target Software and later worked as a producer at Black Pulse Games. He was responsible for developing the mobile game Blade Heart series. He started his own business last year. Illusion Temple Games is currently developing Codename: Peerless Martial Arts. This open-world martial arts RPG product recently appeared at Bilibili's annual game conference and has been exclusively represented by Bilibili.
Tencent invests in Zheng Yuanjie's fairy tale IP company Pipilu General Mobilization
Recently, Beijing Pipilu General Mobilization Culture and Technology Co., Ltd. has undergone industrial and commercial changes, among which a new shareholder, Guangxi Tencent Venture Capital Co., Ltd., has been added, with a shareholding ratio of 26.98%. The major shareholder and actual controller of Pipilu is Zheng Yaqi, the son of Zheng Yuanjie, and the company is an IP operation and incubation service provider for Zheng Yuanjie's fairy tale characters.
Pippi Longstocking was founded in April 2010 with the exclusive authorization of the famous fairy tale writer Zheng Yuanjie. Topup Mico is a brand management company founded around the fairy tale characters and fairy tales written by Zheng Yuanjie, such as Pippi Longstocking, Luxixi, Shuke, Beta and the Big Bad Wolf Rock. Its business involves animation, publishing, Internet, education, film and television and other fields.
●Enterprise
ByteDance applies for trademark for "TikTok Cloud Game"
The Qichacha APP shows that recently, Beijing Zitiao Network Technology Co., Ltd. has added a number of "Tik Tok Cloud Game" trademark application information. The international classification involves advertising sales, education and entertainment, communication services, etc. The current trademark status is "registration application in progress".
The person in charge, Xu Peixiang, resigned and the business will be re-divided
On August 23, ByteDance announced a personnel change through an internal email. The person in charge, Xu Peixiang, resigned for personal reasons, and his position will be taken over by Zhao Qi, the current person in charge of Pangolin.
In addition, after Xu Peixiang left, the three departments of game platform, R&D center, and distribution are currently under the charge of Zhao Qi, the head of ByteDance's growth platform, while the original four departments of business, marketing, distribution operations, and products have been merged into the distribution department.
MiHoYo's revenue revealed! In 2020, it reached 10.1 billion, and its net profit soared 474%
Shangguan News, a subsidiary of the Liberation Daily, released the list of the top 100 companies in Shanghai in 2021. On this long list, we found a game company: MiHoYo's revenue in 2020 was approximately 10.128 billion yuan, ranking 88th on the list.
As a company that has not yet gone public, we have never known about miHoYo's revenue situation. The authoritative figures released by Shangguan News this time are truly amazing. With "Genshin Impact" only being online for four months, miHoYo's total revenue in 2020 has exceeded 10 billion. Based on the continued strong performance of "Genshin Impact" this year, miHoYo has every hope of becoming the third largest domestic game company after Tencent and NetEase.
After the merger between Huya and Douyu was halted, Tencent restarted Penguin Esports
In mid-August, Tencent Interactive Entertainment Group (IEG) announced a series of department and personnel adjustments and established the Penguin E-sports Product Center, which will be fully responsible for the product development and operation and promotion of Penguin E-sports. The general manager of the Penguin E-sports Product Center is Huang Lingdong (general manager level), who reports directly to Ma Xiaoyi, senior vice president of Tencent Group. Huang Lingdong also serves as the chairman of Huya. In the merger agreement signed by Huya and Douyu, Tencent intends to transfer the rights and interests of Penguin E-sports' game live broadcast business to Douyu for US$500 million.
●Product
The main creator and lead artist of "Four Leaf Clover Theater" resigned
Recently, Fanqie, the main creator and project lead artist of "Four Leaf Clover Theater", announced his resignation from Huanmeng Games. In a blog post, he said: "Because the previous work intensity was a bit hurt (and my creativity was temporarily exhausted), I took the initiative to resign from the company and was approved. I have now resigned and returned home to rest. I wish Four Leaf Clover will continue to do better and better, and the quality control of the game will be handed over to my colleagues who are still in the company!"
"Ni Shui Han" and "Jian Wang 3" are fighting fiercely, the former wants the latter to make a good game
On August 18, the chief planner of Jian Wang 3 from Xishanju published a Weibo post, responding to several recent criticisms of Jian Wang 3, mainly about the new martial arts school and the similarities between the appearance and other games. He also made a statement on a post in Tieba that was suspected to be a smear campaign by NetEase employees.
Afterwards, the official of NetEase's game "Ni Shui Han" commented on the planner's Weibo: "Friend, make the game well and solve the demands of your players well, don't always use me as a shield." This operation not only made the players furious, but also the chief planner of "Jian Wang 3" Yu Yuxian couldn't sit still. He even posted several screenshots of articles, implying that the neighboring "Ni Shui Han" hired water army to write a lot of negative articles, and @Tencent's "Tian Ya Ming Yue Dao OL" official in the comment area, but Tian Dao did not respond. The official of "Ni Shui Han" was not to be outdone, saying that "Jian Wang 3" turned black and white and bought a lot of negative articles, and the fashion design also borrowed and plagiarized the clothes of its own sect.
Riot officially announced that the venue of S11 will be changed to Europe
A few days ago, there were rumors in foreign media that the venue for the 2021 World Championship will be moved to Europe, canceling the original venue in the Chinese city without a seat. The reason is that due to the current environmental impact of the world, some event-related production staff are unable to apply for domestic visas, and the LCS team has also encountered difficulties, so the venue of the finals was temporarily changed.
Subsequently, Riot officially confirmed this statement and issued a real announcement explaining the update of the 2021 World Championship, and officially announced the cancellation of the S11 World Championship's scheduled Chinese competition city and changed it to Europe. The specific host city has not yet been determined and will be announced to the public as soon as the subsequent plans are finalized.
Miracle Nikki's underage curfew system is online, further strengthening the protection measures for minors
The operation team of Miracle Nikki released a "Healthy System Rules Upgrade Announcement", mentioning that further restrictions will be imposed on the game time and consumption of underage players after the next update. Under the new rules, underage users are prohibited from playing games from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. the next day, and are limited to 2 hours of play on national statutory holidays and 1 hour of play per day at other times; users under the age of 12 cannot recharge, and users aged 12 to 16 are limited to a single recharge of RMB 50 and a monthly recharge limit of RMB 200. The amount for underage users aged 16 and above will be doubled. The measures will take effect gradually starting from August 27.
Gardenscapes' global revenue exceeds $3 billion, with the U.S. being the largest market
Tower data shows that since its launch in August 2016, global App Store and Play players have spent more than $3 billion on Dream Garden.
In the first half of 2021, the game's in-app purchase revenue reached $405 million, ranking second in the global best-selling list of mobile games for elimination and decoration, second only to "Dream Home" (US$469 million), surpassing another work "Dream Aquarium". The United States is the highest-grossing market for "Dream Garden", contributing $1.1 billion, accounting for 37% of the game's global total revenue. The Japanese and German markets ranked second and third, respectively, and the Chinese iOS market ranked fourth.
The mobile game "Yijianxing" will be launched on August 28th.
The domestic mobile game "Yijianxing" was previously announced to be officially launched on August 6, but on the day of the launch it was attacked by the hacker group ACCN DDoS, causing the server to crash and the official announced a temporary suspension of service.
On August 24, the game officially announced that the production team had put together a simple stand-alone version with existing resources, which would be available for download on August 28. In addition, the official said that subsequent online content and other updates would be released in about a month.
●Data & Reporting
Doomsday survival mobile games have attracted more than $1.1 billion in revenue worldwide in the first half of 2021, becoming the highest-grossing mobile game genre
Tower game classification data shows that in the first half of 2021, doomsday survival mobile games generated more than US$1.1 billion in revenue on the global App Store and Play, an increase of 167% compared to the first half of 2019, replacing superheroes to become the highest-grossing mobile game theme.
The United States is the largest market for doomsday survival mobile games, with revenue reaching $420 million in the first half of 2021, accounting for 36.6% of the global total, an increase of 286% from $110 million in the first half of 2019. The Japanese market ranked second with $140 million in revenue, accounting for 12.3% of global revenue, a two-year increase of 378%. In addition, in Western markets represented by Germany, Britain and France, revenue from this theme has increased by more than 200%.
The five doomsday-themed mobile games with the highest revenue in the world in the first half of 2021 were all developed by Chinese teams, and each has its own unique gameplay.
●Financial report
Zhongyou Mobile Games H1 financial report: revenue reached 2.18 billion yuan, of which overseas revenue increased by more than 62 times
On August 23, Zhongshouyou announced its financial report for the first half of 2021. The report shows that during the first half of the year, Zhongshouyou's total revenue was 2.18 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 27.2%. Net profit attributable to the parent company was 393 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 36.8%. Adjusted net profit was 402 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 17.6%.
In terms of revenue structure, the publishing business maintained steady growth, with revenue reaching 1.5253 billion yuan, a slight increase of 2.4% year-on-year. The revenue from the R&D game business doubled to 567 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 156.8%. The licensing business revenue reached 87.8 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2012.6%. In addition, during the period, the company's self-developed business revenue was 567 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 156.8%; the overseas business revenue was 220 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6250.4%. Gross profit increased from 31.0% year-on-year to 38.5%.
With the development of the IP game ecosystem, the user data of Zhongshouyou has also increased significantly. As of June 30, the number of monthly active users of Zhongshouyou reached 19.084 million, a year-on-year increase of 26.8%; the average monthly paying users reached 1.442 million, a year-on-year increase of 27.05%. The financial report shows that in the first half of 2021, underage players (under 18 years old) accounted for about 0.026% of Zhongshouyou's domestic game revenue.
Kingsoft Software Financial Report: H1 Online Games and Other Revenues of RMB 693.3 billion, a 22% decrease from the same period last year
Recently, Kingsoft Software announced its revenue for the second quarter and the first half of the year. The announcement showed that Kingsoft Software's revenue in the second quarter was RMB 1.48 billion and its net profit was RMB 48.7 million; online games and other revenues were RMB 693.3 billion, down 22% from the same period last year and down 12% from the previous quarter.
The year-on-year decrease in revenue was mainly due to the decline in revenue from Jian Wang 3, which successfully launched a large expansion pack in the second quarter of 2020 and had a high base due to the impact of the epidemic. The quarter-on-quarter decrease was mainly due to the decline in revenue from existing games, which was partially offset by the revenue contribution of newly released mobile games.
In the first half of 2021, the company achieved revenue of RMB 3.039 billion, an increase of 17% over the same period last year. Net profit attributable to the owners of the company was RMB 165 million, a year-on-year decrease of 98.2%. Revenue from online games and others and office software and services accounted for 49% and 51% of the Group's total revenue in the first half of 2021, respectively. Revenue from online games and other businesses in the first half of 2021 was RMB 1.482 billion, a decrease of 12% over the same period last year. The decline was mainly due to the decrease in revenue from "Jian Wang 3" and the natural decay of the life cycle of existing mobile games.
Kuaishou Q2 financial report: revenue increased by 48.8%, average monthly active users reached 513 million
On August 25, Kuaishou released its Q2 2021 financial report. In that quarter, Kuaishou's revenue was 19.138 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 48.8%, and the market expected 19.066 billion yuan, and a net loss of 7.04 billion yuan.
In terms of users, the user engagement and activity of the Kuaishou platform have further improved. In the first half of the year, the average number of daily active users of the Kuaishou application reached 294.3 million, and the average monthly active users reached 513 million. The average daily usage time of each daily active user exceeded 100 minutes for the first time, an increase of 7.7% month-on-month; Kuaishou's DAU/MAU ratio has reached 57.9%. In terms of live broadcasting, in the second quarter of 2021, the average daily active user live broadcast penetration rate of the Kuaishou application has exceeded 70%.
Zulong Entertainment's semi-annual report: net loss decreased by about 89.1% year-on-year to 85.835 million yuan
Recently, Zulong Entertainment released its performance report for the first half of 2021. During the reporting period, Zulong Entertainment's revenue was approximately RMB 554 million, a year-on-year decrease of 8%; gross profit was 441 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 2.7%; the adjusted net loss was 47.1 million yuan, and the adjusted net profit in the same period last year was approximately RMB 151.6 million; the net loss was 85.835 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of approximately 89.1%.
The announcement stated that the decrease in revenue was mainly due to the self-release of the first SLG game outside mainland China during the reporting period. Compared with games, SLG games have a longer growth stage, which is used to build a player base and gain market coverage; during this stage, the growth rate of the number of players and recharges is relatively slow. In the future, as the types of mobile games expand to multiple categories such as SLG and female-oriented games, and with rich and diverse styles, various types of mobile games are released globally, and the integrated R&D and operation model is continuously improved, the life cycle of the company's games is expected to be further extended.
As of June 30, 2021, Zulong has launched 16 high-quality mobile games in more than 170 regional markets, supporting more than 70 regional versions in 14 languages. Research and development has always been the driving force and engine for the company's continuous progress. At the end of 2020, Zulong established a studio in Shanghai covering East China, attracting high-end R&D and distribution talents in the game industry with Shanghai as the core and covering surrounding areas such as Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui. At present, many core personnel have joined the Shanghai studio, and the project is progressing steadily. Now a R&D layout has been formed with the Beijing headquarters, Shanghai R&D center, Chengdu and Changchun R&D bases working together.
Chiz City Technology's semi-annual report: revenue increased nearly 6 times, former president Li Ping became CEO
On August 25, Chizichuang Technology released its interim performance report, which showed that the company's total revenue in the first half of the year was approximately 1.04 billion, an increase of nearly 6 times year-on-year; of which the value-added service revenue was 820 million, an increase of more than 50 times year-on-year; the net profit in the first half of the year was 140 million, an increase of nearly 40 times year-on-year.
In the first half of the year, the company increased its investment in product research and development, and the R&D team expanded to 276 people, with R&D expenses increasing nearly fourfold year-on-year. At the same time, the company's operating efficiency has been greatly improved, with per capita revenue reaching 2.02 million yuan. The substantial growth in revenue and profit is due to the rapid development of social business. In the first half of the year, the average monthly active users of the company's social products reached approximately 17.41 million, an increase of approximately 38% compared to the second half of last year. Continuous breakthroughs in developed markets will drive the continuous improvement of the ARPU value of social products.
On the day of the earnings announcement, Chizcity Technology announced the appointment of former president Li Ping as the company's CEO, who will be fully responsible for the company's business management. The company's founder Liu Chunhe resigned as CEO and will continue to serve as chairman. In the future, he will focus on the company's long-term strategy, organizational construction, and social value, and create greater value for the company's development.
XD Financial Report: Revenue in the first half of the year was 1.378 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 4.3%
Today, X.D. Network released its first-half financial report, which showed that X.D. Network's revenue in the first half of the year was 1.378 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 4.3%. It recorded a loss in the first half of 2021, with a net loss of 332.3 million yuan. Revenue from gaming business decreased by 12.2% year-on-year to 1.043 billion yuan. Among them, revenue from online games decreased by 15.4% year-on-year to 940 million yuan, and revenue from paid games increased by 75.5% year-on-year to 88.56 million yuan.
As of the end of June 2021, there were approximately 1,270 employees engaged in game development, an increase of approximately 140 people from the end of 2020. Currently, there are 13 games in the development stage, four of which have participated in the "campfire test". Another three games are expected to start closed testing in the second half of 2021. As of June 30, 2021, the current game portfolio includes 24 online games and 14 paid games.
In the first half of the year, the average monthly active users of the Chinese version of the game were 28.67 million, a year-on-year increase of 15.6%, and the number of game downloads was 248 million, a year-on-year increase of 12.8%. The average monthly active users of the international version were 13.18 million, a year-on-year increase of 484.4%.
●Industry
2021 Hurun Global 500 released: Apple ranked first in the world, Tencent ranked first in China
On August 20, the 2021 Hurun Global 500 was released. It is reported that the total value of the 47 Chinese companies on the list is 36 trillion yuan, which is higher than the sum of Japan and France. Tencent is still ranked first in China, with a value drop of 3% to 4.5 trillion yuan, and the world ranking remains sixth; followed by Alibaba, with a value drop of 18% to 3.8 trillion yuan, and the world ranking dropped two places to ninth.
There are 48 new companies on the list. Among the 7 new companies from China, Kuaishou, which went public this year, ranks first with a value of 523 billion yuan, ranking 184th in the world, and Bilibili is valued at 275.6 billion yuan, ranking 425th.
South Korea may legislate to ban Apple and Google from taking commissions from app stores
According to Reuters, South Korean authorities may introduce a new bill to prohibit Google and Apple from forcing developers to use their own app store payment channels. If the bill is passed, it means prohibiting the two app stores from collecting commissions from in-app item purchases. According to reports, the Legislative and Judicial Committee of the South Korean Parliament will approve an amendment to the Telecommunications Business Act to prohibit app store operators from using their market dominance to force software developers to use specific payment channels. After approval, the bill will enter the final voting process.
Under global antitrust, Apple App Store will open third-party payment
On August 26, US time, Apple took the initiative to release an announcement on its official website, announcing that Apple will make a number of changes, pending court approval, to resolve the class action lawsuit filed by US developers against Apple and reach a settlement.
The agreement clearly states that “outside of iOS apps, developers can inform users of other payment methods; expand the pricing range for developers for subscriptions, built-in payment features, and paid apps; and establish a new fund to help eligible US developers. Apple has been committed to making the App Store a better market for users and developers, and this update is the latest progress in this effort.”
“996” is illegal!
The Supreme People's Court and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security jointly released ten typical cases of overtime work. One of the cases clearly stated that 996, or "working hours from 9 am to 9 pm, 6 days a week", was defined as a serious violation of the law.
Duoyi Network offers a reward of 10 million to send its former CEO to prison
Duoyi Network Chairman Xu Bo wrote an article himself saying that the company's former CEO Tang Yilu and others had protected and condoned plug-ins and were suspected of embezzling hundreds of millions of yuan in advertising fees every year. The company will investigate Tang Yilu's corruption case at all costs. Subsequently, Duoyi Network issued a "reward order" stating that if the whistleblower can provide key evidence that leads to Tang Yilu being sentenced to five years or more in prison, the whistleblower will be rewarded RMB 10 million.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced the list of apps that violated user rights and interests, and many games such as "Barbarian Wars" were included in the list
On August 25, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a "Notice on the Removal of the List of Apps that Infringe User Rights". The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology focused on issues such as APPs illegally requesting permissions and harassing users with pop-up messages. It also publicly notified APPs that still have problems (the 6th and 7th batches in 2021). So far, 67 APPs have not completed rectification within the time limit.
According to the notification list, a number of games are suspected of infringing on user rights, including "Barbarian Wars", "Blue Moon Supreme", "All Heroes", "All Heroes Match 3", "Early Game", "Knight and Contract", "Sunshine Pig Farm", "Eliminate Fruit Stars", and "Eliminate Stars".
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