On April 11, the official website of the State Press and Publication Administration showed that the first batch of domestic game version numbers have been issued in April 2022, and a total of 45 domestic online games have been approved, including 37 mobile games, 5 client games, 2 A casual puzzle mobile game, a Switch game.
Analysys analyst Ma Axin, a mutual entertainment industry analyst, told Shell Finance reporter that among the 45 games released so far, Xishanju's "Jianwang 3 Origins", which is more anticipated by players, as well as the products of Xinxin Network and Gigabit have all passed. Approval, "This time the version number is reopened, the living conditions of small and medium-sized game companies will be greatly improved."
Baidu, Sanqi Mutual Entertainment, Xinxin Network and other games have been approved by the game company "Xida Puben"
Among the games with the approved version number, the key games include Baidu's "Attack Rabbit", Xishanju's "Jianwang 3 Origins", Sanqi Interactive Entertainment's "Dream Voyage", and Xinxin Network's "Party Star". , "Box Fission" and "Tower Hunter" by Thunder Network, a subsidiary of Gigabit.
In fact, many companies have been inquired many times whether they can get the version number.
For example, on the investor relations interactive platform, different investors have repeatedly asked about the impact of the suspension of the game version of 37 Interactive Entertainment on its business. In response, 37 Interactive Entertainment responded that "the company will continue to pay attention to the domestic game version. number distribution".
Many companies started to celebrate the release of the version number.
According to reports, Huang Yimeng, chairman of Xinxin Network, said in a circle of friends, "I finally have a version number, and I cry with joy."
The official Weibo account of "Jianwang 3 Origins" directly issued a statement saying that because of the "first batch of game version numbers", a 10,000 yuan cash red envelope will be distributed.
A programmer of a large game manufacturer publicly stated that the biggest impact of the restart of the version number on employees may be that "the department no longer optimizes people".
In the secondary market, whether the version number is restarted or not will also have an impact on listed companies.
On July 22, 2021, after the game version number was suspended, the Huaxia CSI Animation Game ETF fell by 10.47% within 5 trading days; It caused an uproar, and it fell 5.03% on February 22. Game giants such as Tencent and NetEase also fell during this period.
As of the close on Monday, although most of the stock prices of popular Chinese concept stocks fell, but due to the news of the release of this version number, the stock prices of some Chinese concept stocks with game business rose, and Bilibili, which fell 6.88% in the previous trading day It rose 7.23%, Huya rose 2.59%, NetEase rose 2.12%, and Douyu rose 2.42%.
How do game companies "overwinter" during the suspension of the version number?
borrowing, going overseas
The time when the National Press and Publication Administration issued the game version number this time has been 263 days since the last version number was issued on July 22, 2021.
In this regard, Ma Axin said that the tightening of the version number will have a greater impact on small and medium-sized enterprises.
Some small and medium-sized enterprises have limited game reserves, and most of them have only 1-2 products, which are urgently needed to be launched and output.
Moreover, due to limited development costs, some manufacturers are more inclined to choose products such as leisure, puzzle, chess and cards, etc. These products are subject to stricter supervision and review due to their large base.
"Actually, many small and medium-sized enterprises have limited capabilities in investment, publicity, and research and development. What most small and medium-sized game companies mainly do is to dig one or two plans and masters to develop a game. The reliance on the version number is very strong. During the half-year period when the version number was suspended, many companies maintained their operation by investing or taking out their own loans, such as some game companies in Chengdu and Xiamen. After the version number was reopened this time , their living conditions will be improved, and they will also face a better trend for future financing or recruitment." A game industry-related practitioner told Shell Finance reporters.
During the suspension of the domestic version number, many games began to develop overseas. For example, regarding the impact of the long-term suspension of the game version number on the company, Starlight Entertainment stated in its reply to investors on April 6 that it "did Actively deploy domestic mobile online games for overseas sales."
"The reissue of the domestic version number will not deeply affect the pace of the company's overseas layout." Ma Axin told Shell Finance reporter, "In 2021 as a whole, the overseas investment of game companies and the proportion of overseas revenue in the overall revenue are mostly on the rise. Going overseas is still one of the main development strategies of game companies based on the more abundant and continuous outbreak of user needs overseas.”
How to develop high-quality game industry in the future is the direction
The statistics of Shell Finance reporters found that from 2019 to 2021, the distribution of game version numbers showed a decreasing trend year by year.
According to the official website of the State Press and Publication Administration, a total of 755 games have passed the review in 2021 (including 679 domestic games), while in 2020 there are 1405 games (1308 domestic games); 1595 games in 2019 (1365 domestic games) payment).
The "2021 China Game Industry Report" released by the Game Work Committee (GPC) of the China Music and Digital Association and the China Game Industry Research Institute shows that in 2021, the actual sales revenue of the Chinese game market will be 296.513 billion yuan, an increase of 17.826 billion yuan over 2020. It increased by 6.4% year-on-year, and the growth rate decreased by nearly 15% year-on-year.
Regarding the impact of the suspension of game version numbers, at the beginning of this year, Zhang Jianchun, deputy minister of the Central Propaganda Department, mentioned in his speech at the 2022 National Publishing (Copyright) Work Conference that the suspension of version numbers will cause temporary stagnation of new games in China, but both Some huge game inventories and games with long life cycles will not be affected, and the market structure will not change.
At the same time, domestic game manufacturers will sink their hearts to tap the potential of high-quality games, and have more investment in games going out to sea. Instead, they will have a catalytic effect on the growth of domestic games, and will have a negative impact on some domestic games and manufacturers that have changed their skins and are of low quality. certain elimination.
"In addition, there are still a large number of mobile games with missing version numbers that are still online at this stage. The reopening of the version numbers also means that the supervision and review of the version numbers will be further strict, and products that are illegally launched will face the possibility of being forced to be removed from the shelves. ." Ma Axin said.
Liao Xuhua, a senior analyst at Analysys, told Shell Finance reporters that the opening of the version number will have both short-term and long-term benefits. In the short term, it may solve the problem of product delays for game companies, and in the long run, it will lay the foundation for the continued development of the game market.
"Of course, the version number is not a panacea, but without the version number, it is absolutely impossible. The provincial preliminary review has a backlog of a lot of products, which will definitely take a certain amount of time."
Some practitioners in the game industry said that in the future, the regulatory authorities will have stricter requirements on version numbers. In-game purchases or games that simply have advertisements may also be required to apply for mandatory version numbers. "When game companies develop games We will be more cautious, games without a version number will be removed from the shelves, and many small and medium-sized game companies will generally develop towards quality, and even the overall quality of games in the ultra-casual category will improve.”
Ma Axin told reporters, "The development direction of high-quality games will continue to be maintained, and relevant departments will be more detailed in the review of the game's launch. The release of the version number also means that the current supervision and review have achieved initial results, which will benefit the development of the industry and boost the development of the game. business confidence.”
Beijing News Shell Finance reporter Luo Yidan Baijin Lei