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Author | Yang Zhichao

Editor | Yuan Ye

WeChat public account: Lueda Reference (ID:hyzibenlun)

In the 1980s and 1990s, a monkey became the biggest star across the country with the release of the 1983 version of "Journey to the West".

In that era when information channels were limited, Liu Xiao Ling Tong became a true national idol. If there had been Weibo at that time, his number of fans would obviously have reached hundreds of millions. However, what did not match the attention was that the four main actors were paid only 80 yuan per episode.

Decades later, another monkey also became famous across the country.

After six years of development,Black Myth: Wukong"Black Wukong" (hereinafter referred to as "Black Wukong") has recently set off a sensation inside and outside the gaming circle. As early as a month ago, "Black Wukong" achieved a phenomenal sales volume of 1.2 million and nearly 400 million yuan in sales in the pre-sale stage. The latest data shows that the game has sold more than 4.5 million copies across all platforms, with sales exceeding 1.5 billion yuan.

This is certainly not a small amount of money, but compared to the attention it has received, this income is still not exaggerated: on August 19, due to successful co-branded marketing, Luckin Black Goku Coffee sales exceeded 100,000 orders. On the same day, Luckin's pink sheet market stock price soared, equivalent to a market value increase of more than US$400 million.

The sales of 4.5 million copies is a milestone for domestic buyout games, but compared with the mobile game market with hundreds of millions of users, the proportion is not high. And the revenue of 1.5 billion yuan is only a few weeks of revenue for the top mobile games.

However, although the 1983 version of "Journey to the West" did not bring much salary to Liu Xiao Ling Tong, Mr. Zhang Jinlai became a household name performing artist through his personal efforts and the success of his role. Similarly, the greatest value of Black Monkey is not in selling games - this IP may even allow a company to "eat for a lifetime".

01 Youke worked hard for 6 years, and Luckin Coffee reaped the rewards in one day

In 2021, the emergence and popularity of "Naraka: Bladepoint" changed the history of China's buyout games. According to official data released in July 2023, the game's revenue reached 20 million copies.

The initial selling prices of Naraka: Bladepoint were 98 yuan, 168 yuan, and 248 yuan. If we simply calculate based on the middle price, the sales revenue of Naraka: Bladepoint is 3.36 billion yuan. (Taking into account factors such as discounts, the actual average unit price may not reach this figure.)

Although "Naraka: Bladepoint" broke the history of China's buyout games, its performance in the mobile game market is not so outstanding. According to AppMagic data, the annual revenue of "Honor of Kings" on Google Play and App Store in 2023 will reach 1.48 billion US dollars, exceeding 10 billion RMB - in the past eight years, this game has maintained a strong ability to attract money.

This is the embarrassment of a buyout game.

On the one hand, they represent the highest level of game quality, sound effects, and investment. Take "Black Wukong" as an example. The development of this game took more than five years, and the production cost may be as high as 300-400 million yuan. At the same time, there are expensive publicity and distribution costs, as well as a commission of about 30% from the channel.

On the market side, the revenue of popular mobile games is often several times that of buyout games. In 2023, global mobile game revenue reached US$76.7 billion, while according to a report by third-party agency Video Game Insights, the total revenue of global buyout games in the same year was approximately US$9 billion.

These also limit the ceiling of "Black Goku".

Its momentum is fierce. As of July 13, pre-sales of "Black Goku" across all platforms reached 1.2 million copies, with sales of nearly 400 million. After its official launch today, it has become a hot topic. The number of people online on Steam at the same time quickly exceeded 1.4 million, and then exceeded 2 million. Sales across all platforms exceeded 4.5 million copies, with total sales exceeding 1.5 billion yuan, and more than 3 million copies sold on the Steam platform alone.

2 million concurrent online users is considered excellent in the global buyout game industry. But if we look at the entire game market, the 1060 graphics card configuration is enough to block most white-collar workers who use office laptops. In contrast, in the mobile game market, top games can often achieve a monthly turnover of more than 1 billion, and the number of players is more than 100 million.

Compared to buyout games, the audience of coffee is much wider.

Luckin Coffee has once again demonstrated its sensitivity to hot topics. Before the release of Black Goku, it launched co-branded coffee and peripheral gifts. Luckin CGO Yang Fei revealed in WeChat Moments: "The peripherals sold out in seconds around the world, and the male purchasing power overturned the team's cognition." Luckin platform data also shows that the sales of "Tengyun American Coffee" have already reached more than 100,000.

Luckin Coffee has not yet announced how much money "Tenyun American Style" made. But the stock market figures are public: Due to the marketing ability demonstrated by Luckin Coffee in this incident, coupled with other positive factors such as going overseas, Luckin Coffee's stock price rose by 7.14% on the US pink sheet market on August 19, and Luckin Coffee's market value increased by about US$400 million, equivalent to nearly RMB 3 billion.

——Nearly double the latest sales of Black Goku.

02 Capital market is crazy about "Black Goku"

In contrast, Tencent and Black Wukong may have a greater relationship. The gaming company, known for its extensive investments, is rumored to own a 5% stake in Game Science. In addition, Black Wukong has landed on Tencent's own buyout gaming platform WeGame.

The platform was originally a game assistant called "TGP" for Tencent online games, which was used to record players' kills, assists and other data. As Steam and other buyout game platforms became more and more profitable, Tencent transformed it into a game platform, using its own strong traffic in terminal games to divert traffic.

In 2018, the WeGame platform had a hit game: "Chinese Parents", which sold more than 2.8 million copies worldwide. By 2019, the cumulative sales of stand-alone games on the WeGame platform exceeded 10 million sets. However, one and a half hours after the launch of "Black Wukong", the number of simultaneous online users on Steam exceeded 1.4 million, and the latest sales exceeded 3 million (total sales of 4.5 million). It seems that WeGame has not really taken a bite out of Steam.

certainly,A shares will not miss any hot spots.

Scientific Games is not an A-share listed company, but wise shareholders can always find ways to share dividends.

On August 20, the share price of Zhejiang Publishing Group Media rose by 10%. The reason is not complicated: Zhejiang Publishing Group Digital Media Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the company, is the publisher of the game "Black Myth: Wukong".

CITIC Publishing is the producer of the peripheral products of "Black Goku". The company will publish a setting book for the game. The peripheral products are tentatively scheduled to be launched around November. The company's stock price rose by 20.02% on August 20.

Huayi Brothers' stock price surged by more than 19%. The relationship behind this is that Hero Entertainment's Tianjin Hero Financial Holdings Technology Co., Ltd. holds a 19% stake in Game Science, while Huayi Brothers holds about 5.17% of Hero Entertainment's shares.

China Travel United also hit the daily limit on the same day. However, Lueda Reference did not find a clear connection between the company and Black Wukong. Some information showed that the company cooperated with Tencent and was responsible for the placement of game ads. When the media asked China Travel United, the company replied: "I am not sure about the specific reason for the daily limit."

Even the share price of Shanxi Expressway surged by 9.93% on the 20th - its connection with "Black Goku" is that many of the filming locations in the game are in Shanxi, which may boost the local cultural and tourism industry.

The market value of these companies increased by more than 4.5 billion yuan.

——This is about three times the latest sales of "Black Goku".

03 An IP that can last for 20 years?

In 2015, Liu Xiao Ling Tong once again announced on a TV show that the Sino-US co-produced Journey to the West movie would be released the following year, and he would continue to play the Monkey King for everyone. He announced this news almost every year.

Over the past few decades, Mr. Zhang Jinlai has continuously expanded his career by playing the role of Sun Wukong. He has played the role of Sun Wukong many times and even played Wu Chengen. He is also a frequent performer in the TV station's Spring Festival Gala in the Year of the Monkey.

Liu Xiao Ling Tong’s success is due to his superb acting skills, but it is obvious that the success of the role of Sun Wukong in the 1983 version of “Journey to the West” added a lot of emotional points.

In the gaming industry, a successful IP can also “last a lifetime”.

This summer, the mobile version of Dungeon Fighter, Dungeon Fighter Origins, became the biggest winner. Dungeon Fighter is a childhood memory for countless people born in the 80s and 90s. Although nostalgia cannot be eaten, other people's nostalgia can be eaten. The three letters "DNF" are enough to be a reason for players to download or recharge. According to Sensor Tower data, the game's revenue exceeded $100 million in ten days after its launch - higher than the pre-sale of the aforementioned Black Goku (as of July 13).

Prior to this, Tencent had launched several best-selling games around its flagship IP, including "Shovel Wars", "League of Legends Esports Manager", and "League of Legends Mobile".

As for NetEase, to this day, "Fantasy Westward Journey" is still one of its most profitable games.

This MMORPG, launched in 2003, is still a money-making tool for NetEase Games, and even hit a new high in revenue in the first quarter of this year. Not long ago, NetEase's "old game" Naraka: Bladepoint" also landed on mobile phones. According to the forecast of Goldman Sachs analysts, the game's first-year revenue is expected to reach 6.4 billion yuan - the money from high-quality IP is too easy to make.

As the first domestically produced 3A game, the popularity of "Black Goku" is more than just a temporary one. It will maintain a huge influence for many years. Even 10 years later, young people today may still be willing to pay for this sentiment.

To monetize this sentiment, mobile gaming is of course the most direct way.

From the perspective of the game mode, the game form of "Black Wukong" does not fit the common battle mode of mobile games, but considering that "Genshin Impact", which is "half a stand-alone game", has achieved great success, the mobile version of "Black Wukong" is also imaginative. Before "Black Wukong" was launched, the mobile game "Black Myth: Wukong" appeared on the App Store to take advantage of the popularity, staging a farce of "real and fake Sun Wukong".

The imagination space for TV series is also considerable. In 2021, the League of Legends TV series "The Battle of Two Cities" was released worldwide, and the cumulative playback volume reached 290 million times on the domestic Tencent video platform alone. On the other hand, the success of "Nezha: The Devil Child Comes into the World" has proved the potential of Chinese mythology in the film and television market.

The monetization of peripheral products of "Black Goku" has already entered the present tense. As early as two months before the release of the game, the number of reservations for the "Black Goku" physical gift box priced at nearly 2,000 yuan on JD.com exceeded 300,000.

From Blizzard to Tencent, the gaming industry has proven through stories that IP is an industry’s everlasting cash cow.In this era of the trinity of mobile games, film and television, and peripherals, the creation of a successful IP is enough to build an empire.By then, how many copies of "Black Goku" sold at the opening might not be the most important issue.