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Our reporter Xu Xinyi reports from Shanghai

August 15, 2024Genshin ImpactThe carnival was held at the Shanghai National Exhibition and Convention Center. According to Mihoyo, this carnival is expected to welcome more than 100,000 players, and the venue area has increased by nearly 30% compared with last year.

A reporter from China Business News learned at the scene that this carnival highly restored the classic scenes in "Genshin Impact", and players as "travelers" can immersively tour the "Continent of Teyvat".

Bringing the virtual world offline

As an open world game, Genshin Impact has a vast, seamless map with different regions showing different customs and practices. The Genshin Impact Carnival brings these virtual scenes offline to provide players with an immersive gaming world.

This is the second time that miHoYo has held the Genshin Impact Carnival. Like last year, the carnival site highly restored the classic scenes in Genshin Impact. In this event, you can see the iconic buildings and scenery from Mondstadt, Liyue, Inazuma, Xumi, and Fontaine (different regions in the game).

As a "traveler", players can receive the adventure manual at the entrance of the exhibition and then step into the real "Teyvat Continent" to check in and interact at different installations.

(The "fireplace rotating teacup" installation at the "Genshin Impact" carnival. Photo by Xu Xinyi)

On August 14, a reporter from China Business News visited the Genshin Impact Carnival, where the scene was still under construction. Compared with last year, the Genshin Impact Carnival has become larger, covering Halls 2.1, 3, and 4.1, with content including theme exhibition areas, peripheral sales, creator exchange areas, etc. According to Mihoyo, the venue area has increased by nearly 30% compared with last year.

(On August 14, some scenes of the "Genshin Impact" Carnival were being set up. Photo by Xu Xinyi)

It is reported that from August 15th to 18th, a group of special guests will come to the carnival event, including popular voice actors, popular secondary creators and painters from home and abroad.

The "Fengda Cup" Seven Saints Summoning Open Tournament will also be held at the carnival. "Seven Saints Summoning" will be launched at the end of 2022 and is a card game built into the "Genshin Impact" game.

According to MiHoYo, the creator exchange area is one of the highlights of this carnival. There are 104 creator booths at the carnival, which is three times the number of the first carnival. Hundreds of creators from different fields and with different backgrounds will communicate, share and display their works on site.

This year marks the fourth year since the launch of Genshin Impact. According to data from Sensor Tower, a gaming industry research organization, in the first two years after the launch of Genshin Impact, its global revenue from the App Store and Google Play alone reached $3.7 billion. In June 2024, Genshin Impact launched version 4.7, and its overseas revenue for the month increased by 23% month-on-month, rising to fourth place in the overseas mobile game revenue list.

Genshin Impact said that it will continue to work hard to improve the user experience and create game content that exceeds players' expectations. It is reported that Genshin Impact version 5.0 will be launched on August 28, when players will enter the new area "Nata".

(The "Genshin Impact" carnival revealed information about the game's version 5.0. Photo by Xu Xinyi)

Digging for Gold in the IP Derivatives Market

With the development of content-oriented games, players are not only satisfied with having fun in the game, but also look forward to touching concrete characters and scenes offline.

The "Research Report on the Development Status and Prospects of China's Game IP Derivatives" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report") jointly released by the Game Working Committee of the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association and the Game Committee of the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association shows that "accelerated development" is the prominent feature of the game IP derivatives market in recent years, which is most prominent in terms of market size: the market size of game IP derivatives will reach 4.06 billion yuan in 2023, with a compound growth rate of 17% from 2019 to 2023.

The first factor driving the rapid growth of the game IP derivatives market is "emotional connection". When game elements become the emotional connection of users, they have the ability to provide emotional value to users. Driven by emotional value, users are more willing to spontaneously pay for the elements they like.

Offline activities similar to the "Genshin Impact" Carnival are also a way to satisfy players' spiritual needs outside the virtual world. This not only further enhances the IP influence of the game itself, but also drives the development of hotel, catering, and retail related industries in the event location.

In addition, the "Genshin Impact" Carnival also provides players with a channel to purchase peripheral products.

The report shows that from the comparison of the growth rates of the derivatives market and the game market, even in 2022 when the game industry is experiencing negative growth, the IP derivatives market is still growing, which means that derivatives are an incremental market for the game industry. In addition, companies also attach great importance to derivatives. From 2019 to 2023, more than half of the top mobile new products have launched derivatives, which means that "derivatives" have become one of the regular layouts for companies.

(Editor: Dong Shuguang Reviewer: Wu Kezhong Proofreader: Yan Jingning)