[People's Livelihood and Economic Highlights] Over 12,000 closed down in a year, where are the Internet cafes?

　　In an era when personal computers are scarce, many young people feel the joy of the Internet in Internet cafes.

But now, Internet cafes have gradually faded out of people's vision, and the former glory is long gone.

　　Why the Internet cafes that once swept the country are not popular now?

Where is the future of Internet cafes?

A reporter from the Workers’ Daily conducted an interview.

　　Stop buying after 00

　　"When the lease expires, I won't do it." The 51-year-old Lao Jin has been running an Internet cafe in Jinan, Shandong Province for 16 years. This year may be his last year of opening an Internet cafe.

　　In the second year of opening an Internet cafe, Lao Jin rented a shop of more than 200 square meters to expand the scale.

"At the best time of business, there are six Internet cafes of this size on this 600-meter-long street. In the evening and holidays, the houses are full."

　　What contrasts sharply with the glorious past of Internet cafes is the bleakness of today.

"Now there is only my family left here. If someone told me that one day my Internet cafe would go bankrupt, I would not believe it." Recalling the highlight moment in 2007, Lao Jin was full of emotion.

　　According to the data from Tianyan Check, in 2020, 3,638 Internet cafe-related companies will be revoked, 9,250 will be cancelled, and 12,888 will go bankrupt.

As of February 2021, the total number of existing businesses nationwide was 124,818.

　　Some people in the industry believe that when Internet cafes were more popular, the popularity of home computers was not high.

If people want to go online and play games, they can only choose to go to Internet cafes.

But with the development of the Internet, computers have gradually become a must-have for most families.

As the main consumer of Internet cafes, the post-80s and post-90s generations have gradually become the mainstays of the family and society. They no longer have a lot of time, energy and friends to go to the Internet cafes to play games in teams.

Many post-00 consumer groups are diverted by mobile games and can play games anytime and anywhere. For them, there is no longer a reason to go to Internet cafes.

　　Soaring operating costs

　　With the continuous emergence of client games, the requirements for computer configuration are getting higher and higher.

Chen Guanxu, the owner of an Internet cafe in Beijing, recalled that the game "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" released in 2017 had a tendency to sweep the world, and the entire industry was thrilled.

　　In order to attract customers and seize the industry's "new trend", Internet cafe owners have invested money to upgrade Internet cafes to Internet cafes.

"The difference between an Internet cafe and an Internet cafe is the hardware configuration. The processor, graphics card, high refresh rate gaming screen, high-end mechanical keyboard and mouse, and professional gaming chair are standard equipment. A computer costs more than 10,000 yuan." Chen Guanxu It is said that Internet cafes have added supporting services such as water bars, mobile games, and board games, and are positioned as a place for gamers to relax and socialize.

　　In this round of reshuffling of Internet cafes to upgrade Internet cafes, Internet cafes that failed to be upgraded were the first to be eliminated.

　　During the opening of the National Day in 2017, the Internet cafe with a high profile for Edison Chen attracted many customers, and the membership recharge amount reached 500,000 yuan in half a month.

However, due to some loopholes in the "PUBG Mobile" game itself and the appearance of plug-in software, the number of players has dropped sharply.

　　According to analysis by industry insiders, this rebirth is undoubtedly a huge blow to the Internet cafe industry. After upgrading to an Internet cafe, equipment fees, maintenance fees, and labor costs have all increased, but consumers do not buy it.

Although some consumers are willing to pay for the sense of experience, Internet cafes with similarities still cannot meet the demand.

In addition, “e-sports halls” with strong ability to attract customers have appeared in some big cities, and practitioners in the Internet cafe industry are mostly self-employed. Their weak anti-risk ability and high financial pressure are their common pain points, and they have been in competition. Defeated.

　　Transformation of the business model is imminent

　　Internet cafe owner Wang Mengshang, who has also undergone the transformation of Internet cafes, said that in recent years, there have been no new hot games in the client game market, and fewer and fewer customers come to Internet cafes to play games, but the average monthly income is about 100,000 yuan. , The continued operation is still no problem.

"At the beginning, I envisaged that it would take three years to pay back, and when the equipment was facing obsolescence, I decided to withdraw or continue to invest. Who knows that the violent epidemic in 2020 has directly crushed me."

　　Some insiders said that the epidemic has accelerated the decline of the Internet cafe industry, but it is not the last straw to overwhelm the Internet cafe industry.

The payback period of investing in an Internet cafe is getting longer and longer, and the equipment configuration is updated very quickly. Internet cafes that focus on game services may have to update the hardware once every three years to ensure that the consumer experience is not affected.

"But the cost will naturally increase. If all the cost is passed on to the consumer, the consumer will definitely not buy it."

　　According to data from the "China Game Industry Report 2020", the actual sales revenue of the Chinese game market is 278.687 billion yuan, and the number of domestic game users has reached 665 million.

"The future of the game industry is still promising, but for Internet cafe operators, the era of waiting for customers to come to their door has passed, and the only thing that lies ahead is the transformation of the business model." The above-mentioned industry insiders analyzed.

　　It is reported that some Internet cafe owners have begun to explore transformation, and some have combined Internet cafes with e-sports events to attract customers.

Zhou Yi

Zhou Yi