MiHoYo Tries To Capture China’s Gaming Flag From Tencent

Last month on the eve of the launch of Mihoyo’s latest online game, Honkai: Star Rail, Employees of the Chinese gaming company worked late into the night.

“Everyone was rushing to launch the product. The company has thrown a lot of resources Honkai. It is clear that the intention is to make it at least as large genshin impact And to make it the main headline of the company, ”said an employee prepared to work Honkai’s release.

a space-travel anime game, Honkai: Star Rail Mihoyo has her second new title since the breakout success of Genshin Impact. How it performs will determine whether the Shanghai studio can establish a sustainable role for itself as one of China’s top game developers in the face of competition from industry giants Tencent and NetEase.

Since its launch in September 2020, genshin impactAccording to data analytics group Sensor Tower, an anime role-playing game set in an open-world environment, has generated $4.8 billion in revenue on mobile, making it one of the top three money-spinning mobile titles. .

“I love the open-world mode of the game, which allows gamers to freely traverse the virtual environment. , , And it doesn’t require players to spend a lot of money to get a good experience,” said Ma Ka, an avid Changsha-based gamer.

The 28 year old architect has also been playing Honkai: Star Rail Since its release, it has been enticed by its “generous free items” and format, which it says is “more suitable for tablets and smartphones”. Genshin.

According to Goldman Sachs research, China’s online gaming market is dominated by Tencent and NetEase, with 50 percent and 20 percent market share, respectively. This is in contrast to most other large gaming markets, where large publishers typically capture less than 10 percent of the market.

“It is too early to say that miHoYo will overtake NetEase or Tencent. But their investment strategy and research and development have been very successful,” said Chenyu Cui, a senior gaming analyst at consultancy Omdia.

Genshin’s The popularity has also underscored the growing competitiveness of Chinese gaming studios, which are developing games with international appeal while dealing with slower development, tighter censorship restrictions and a regulatory crackdown at home.

The industry suffered a major setback two years ago when Beijing imposed heavy limits on the time that minors can spend playing online games, with state media branding them a form of “spiritual opium”. Tencent reported that the time spent gambling by minors dropped by 96 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period three years ago.

Many small gaming studios closed due to regulatory restrictions after the authorities stopped issuing new gaming licenses for nine months. Even the big bearers saw their gaming revenue drop.

You are viewing a snapshot of an interactive graphic. This is probably due to being offline or JavaScript is disabled in your browser.

Beijing reopened the floodgates on game licenses late last year, leading to a spike in the share prices of gaming companies. A week earlier, regulators issued licenses for 86 games, including a fighting anime title from NetEase and a Tencent “first-person shooter” game.

Industry insiders and gamers say the content ban has had a less radical effect. Guns, violence and buxom anime girls are still generally allowed, and Chinese game developers have less ability to create global smash-hit titles with uncensored versions.

A Tencent gaming team member said that the intense focus on Beijing’s territory “didn’t change the content of the game too much”.

“We’re still very focused on the game experience. We’ve tightened restrictions on youth’s gaming time, but the content itself hasn’t made a huge difference,” he said.

According to Sensor Tower, Chinese game developers and publishers are set to increase their overseas market share from 14 percent in 2019 to 22 percent in 2022.

Part of genshin impact The strategy to expand international market share has been to release updates every five to six weeks featuring new maps, characters, and actions to keep users coming back and spending money. In contrast, most other major titles typically release large expansion packages every three months.

At home, gaming companies are having to balance creating content that can pass Beijing’s censorship restrictions while securing highly prized gaming licenses with developing games that still engage the player through their entertainment and visual appeal. keeps. The agreement means studios are creating watered-down versions of games, says Daniel Ahmed, senior analyst at gaming consultancy Niko Partners.

He exemplifies the change in the game of patriotic fighting peacemaker elitewhere the blood was changed from red to green and the size of the blood splatter was reduced compared to the international version of the game that inspired it, Tencent’s pubg mobile, Most changes to appease the censors go largely unnoticed, he said, other than hardcore gamers.

Ma says the effect of strictly enforcing censorship rules is clear Honkai: Star Rail. They said genshin impact was trying to appeal to male gamers with a “female avatar with big breasts and sculpted legs in black stockings”. opposite of this, Honkai’s The characters “do not have exaggerated physical features or wear revealing outfits”.

Like many fans of the Mihoyo title, this didn’t stop her from playing. “I don’t need erotic or violent content in games,” he says. “I just enjoy playing the game.”

Last month on the eve of the launch of Mihoyo’s latest online game, Honkai: Star Rail, Employees of the Chinese gaming company worked late into the night.

“Everyone was rushing to launch the product. The company has thrown a lot of resources Honkai. It is clear that the intention is to make it at least as large genshin impact And to make it the main headline of the company, ”said an employee prepared to work Honkai’s release.

a space-travel anime game, Honkai: Star Rail Mihoyo has her second new title since the breakout success of Genshin Impact. How it performs will determine whether the Shanghai studio can establish a sustainable role for itself as one of China’s top game developers in the face of competition from industry giants Tencent and NetEase.

Since its launch in September 2020, genshin impactAccording to data analytics group Sensor Tower, an anime role-playing game set in an open-world environment, has generated $4.8 billion in revenue on mobile, making it one of the top three money-spinning mobile titles. .

“I love the open-world mode of the game, which allows gamers to freely traverse the virtual environment. , , And it doesn’t require players to spend a lot of money to get a good experience,” said Ma Ka, an avid Changsha-based gamer.

The 28 year old architect has also been playing Honkai: Star Rail Since its release, it has been enticed by its “generous free items” and format, which it says is “more suitable for tablets and smartphones”. Genshin.

According to Goldman Sachs research, China’s online gaming market is dominated by Tencent and NetEase, with 50 percent and 20 percent market share, respectively. This is in contrast to most other large gaming markets, where large publishers typically capture less than 10 percent of the market.

“It is too early to say that miHoYo will overtake NetEase or Tencent. But their investment strategy and research and development have been very successful,” said Chenyu Cui, a senior gaming analyst at consultancy Omdia.

Genshin’s The popularity has also underscored the growing competitiveness of Chinese gaming studios, which are developing games with international appeal while dealing with slower development, tighter censorship restrictions and a regulatory crackdown at home.

The industry suffered a major setback two years ago when Beijing imposed heavy limits on the time that minors can spend playing online games, with state media branding them a form of “spiritual opium”. Tencent reported that the time spent gambling by minors dropped by 96 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period three years ago.

Many small gaming studios closed due to regulatory restrictions after the authorities stopped issuing new gaming licenses for nine months. Even the big bearers saw their gaming revenue drop.

You are viewing a snapshot of an interactive graphic. This is probably due to being offline or JavaScript is disabled in your browser.

Beijing reopened the floodgates on game licenses late last year, leading to a spike in the share prices of gaming companies. A week earlier, regulators issued licenses for 86 games, including a fighting anime title from NetEase and a Tencent “first-person shooter” game.

Industry insiders and gamers say the content ban has had a less radical effect. Guns, violence and buxom anime girls are still generally allowed, and Chinese game developers have less ability to create global smash-hit titles with uncensored versions.

A Tencent gaming team member said that the intense focus on Beijing’s territory “didn’t change the content of the game too much”.

“We’re still very focused on the game experience. We’ve tightened restrictions on youth’s gaming time, but the content itself hasn’t made a huge difference,” he said.

According to Sensor Tower, Chinese game developers and publishers are set to increase their overseas market share from 14 percent in 2019 to 22 percent in 2022.

Part of genshin impact The strategy to expand international market share has been to release updates every five to six weeks featuring new maps, characters, and actions to keep users coming back and spending money. In contrast, most other major titles typically release large expansion packages every three months.

At home, gaming companies are having to balance creating content that can pass Beijing’s censorship restrictions while securing highly prized gaming licenses with developing games that still engage the player through their entertainment and visual appeal. keeps. The agreement means studios are creating watered-down versions of games, says Daniel Ahmed, senior analyst at gaming consultancy Niko Partners.

He exemplifies the change in the game of patriotic fighting peacemaker elitewhere the blood was changed from red to green and the size of the blood splatter was reduced compared to the international version of the game that inspired it, Tencent’s pubg mobile, Most changes to appease the censors go largely unnoticed, he said, other than hardcore gamers.

Ma says the effect of strictly enforcing censorship rules is clear Honkai: Star Rail. They said genshin impact was trying to appeal to male gamers with a “female avatar with big breasts and sculpted legs in black stockings”. opposite of this, Honkai’s The characters “do not have exaggerated physical features or wear revealing outfits”.

Like many fans of the Mihoyo title, this didn’t stop her from playing. “I don’t need erotic or violent content in games,” he says. “I just enjoy playing the game.”