Hot products are frequent, data looks good! The 2024 market for listed game companies is "reshuffling", with many regions announcing incentives for the gaming industry.

2024 According to data released by the China Audio and Video Publishing Association, in 2024, the actual sales revenue of the domestic gaming market and the scale of gaming users both experienced double growth, setting a new historical record. Several industry insiders interviewed by Caixin reporters said that this year, due to the outstanding contributions of various new mobile games and single-player boutique games, combined with policy support, the domestic gaming industry ecosystem continued to improve, and the market size remained stable and growing. Looking ahead to next year, with the stabilization of licensing approvals and the mutual penetration of domestic and overseas markets, the domestic gaming market is expected to further growth. Market hits are frequent In August, "Black Myth: Wukong" was globally released, igniting the heat and enthusiasm of the Chinese gaming market. This AAA masterpiece, planned for years, broke several historical records on the global gaming platform Steam as soon as it was launched, achieving amazing sales results on various platforms. The success of "Black Myth: Wukong" directly led to a significant increase in the scale and user base of the Chinese console gaming market. According to data from the China Audio and Video Publishing Association, the actual sales revenue of the Chinese console gaming market in 2024 was 4.488 billion RMB, a year-on-year increase of 55.13%. In fact, the hit products in the gaming industry in 2024 are not limited to just "Black Myth: Wukong". Caixin reporters noticed that this year, games such as "Endless Winter", "Dungeon & Warrior: Origin", "Zero Zone", and many other new games with excellent production quality and innovative gameplay have received considerable market popularity and player reputation. Furthermore, the performance of mobile games is also a highlight of the gaming market. According to data from the China Audio and Video Publishing Association, the revenue of the domestic mini-game market in 2024 was 39.836 billion RMB, a nearly 100% year-on-year increase, with actual sales revenue generated from in-app purchases reaching 27.364 billion RMB, accounting for 68.7%. Driven by hit products and mini-games, the domestic gaming market continued to grow in 2024, with total annual sales revenue of 325.783 billion RMB, a year-on-year increase of 7.53%, and a user base of 674 million, a year-on-year increase of 0.94%, both reaching historical highs. Shuffling of listed companies Although the overall domestic gaming market is growing, the situation at the A-share listed company level is not optimistic in terms of overall profitability levels and the number of companies experiencing performance growth. Rough statistics by Caixin reporters show that in the first three quarters of this year, the 38 gaming companies listed on the A-share market had a total net profit of approximately 7.297 billion RMB, a 37.22% decrease from the same period last year. Among them, only 8 companies achieved growth in revenue and net profit in the first three quarters. Moreover, the landscape of A-share gaming companies has quietly changed. Among the traditional gaming giants, 37 Interactive Entertainment Network Technology Group (002555.SZ), Zhejiang Century Huatong Group (002602.SZ), and Perfect World (002624.SZ), Perfect World's performance fell out of the top 3, with the company's revenue in the first three quarters only reaching 4.072 billion RMB, a 34.26% year-on-year decrease, and a net loss of 389 million RMB, a substantial 163.25% decrease year-on-year. Zhejiang Century Huatong Group, on the other hand, topped the A-share gaming companies in the first three quarters with a revenue of 15.528 billion RMB, and the company achieved a new high since its listing with a revenue of 6.25 billion RMB in the third quarter alone, thanks to the performance of "Endless Winter". In terms of net profit, Zhejiang Century Huatong Group also became the strongest gaming company in terms of ability to attract investment with a performance of 1.899 billion RMB. 37 Interactive Entertainment Network Technology Group ranked second with a marginal profit of 0.02 billion RMB. It is worth mentioning that the recent popularity of the "grain economy" has attracted market attention to many gaming companies once again, and the soaring stock prices of gaming companies such as Zhejiang Jinke Tom Culture Industry (300459.SZ) and Alpha Group (002292.SZ) have become daily topics of conversation for many investors. Industry experts generally believe that the current market's understanding of the "grain economy" is more inclined towards IP derivatives, and gaming companies, as natural developers of IP, are likely to take the lead in the industry's development process by seizing opportunities in product development and capturing the industry dividends to become their own growth points. Stable licensing approvals The development of the industry also depends on policy support. This year, the gaming industry's policy environment has been favorable, with stable issuance of gaming licenses, especially a noticeable increase in the frequency of import gaming licenses. Data from the National Press and Publication Administration on the approval of imported online games shows that as of now, 7 import game licenses have been issued this year, approving a total of 110 new games. The frequency of approvals has accelerated compared to the past four years, and the total number of licenses is also showing a growth trend. Industry insiders told Caixin reporters that based on past experience, there are many large IP and production games among the approved imported licenses that have already been verified in overseas markets. The influx of these games will actually intensify competition in the local market, but it will also push domestic manufacturers to innovate in product development. It is worth noting that not all games approved for importing licenses are products of overseas mature products localized for the local market. Many of them are products authorized by overseas IP holders and developed by domestic manufacturers. For example, the game "Marvel Duel" approved in August is developed by NetEase Games under a license from the official Marvel IP; and the game "Final Fantasy 14: Crystal World", also approved in the same month, is authorized and produced by SQUARE ENIX.Products developed by Tencent Photon Studio Group.As of now, a total of 1416 game approvals have been issued this year (including 110 imported approvals), exceeding the total of 1075 issued last year and reaching the highest number in nearly five years. Alongside the increase in game approvals, various regions across the country have been introducing policies to encourage the game industry towards the end of the year. It has been noted by reporters from Caixin that documents supporting the development of the game industry have been issued in several places including Beijing and Xiamen. Recently, Beijing officially launched the Network Game Boutique Publishing Project, where selected works will be included in Beijing's network game key topic library, be prioritized for national promotion and evaluation projects, and receive incentives and support; Xiamen recently invited public opinions on several measures to promote the high-quality development of the game industry, with the highest reward for eligible game companies exceeding 10 million yuan. Industry insiders believe that the stable issuance of game approvals has increased confidence in the industry and stabilized expectations. At the same time, under the guidance of relevant departments, quality games will become the focus of various companies and are expected to drive growth in the game industry next year. This article is reproduced from "Caixin", edited by GMTEight: Chen Xiaoyi.