news

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

black myth: wukong has been a global hit since its release on august 20. on the first day of its release, the number of people online at the same time on steam set a new record for single-player games, and total sales across all channels exceeded rmb 1.5 billion, making a profit on the day of its release. the success of this game has also boosted the popularity of related industries, with stock prices and valuations of companies associated with the game rising sharply. co-branded products such as luckin coffee and lenovo savior were quickly sold out shortly after they were released.

what are the outstanding market performances and excellent game manufacturers behind the global popularity of chinese games?based on this, xiaguang think tank conducted an in-depth analysis of "chinese games going overseas", systematically sorted out the macro background of chinese games going overseas, the global market status of different game types and products, and chinese games going overseas solutions, in order to provide reference for industry players and insiders.

1. chinese games are entering a new stage of globalization

chinese game manufacturers have been exploring overseas expansion since the era of pc games and web games, and the pace has accelerated in the mobile game era, gradually entering a new stage of global exploration:

bud stage : before 2011, the domestic game industry was in the era of pc games. there were few smartphone owners and mobile games were simple to play. domestic manufacturers initially explored overseas markets such as southeast asia, but due to technical and hardware limitations, they had not yet formed a large-scale market.

start-up period ：since 2012, domestic games have entered the era of web games and mobile games. the penetration rate of smart phones has increased rapidly, and mobile games have begun to accelerate their development. however, the domestic mobile game market has insufficient motivation to go overseas due to the rapid development of the market. the large amount of numerical and level setting experience accumulated in the web game era has made slg a key category for going overseas. many slg mobile game products are sought after overseas. sensortower data shows that slg accounts for 50% of the top 30 domestic mobile game products in terms of overseas revenue in 2017;

outbreak : since 2018, domestic games have fully entered the mobile game era. with the tightening of domestic industry supervision and the decline of the traffic dividend of the game market, domestic manufacturers have accelerated their overseas exploration. head manufacturers such as tencent, netease, mihoyo, and lilith have led the overseas expansion. the overseas regions have gradually expanded from southeast asia to europe and the united states, and the categories have gradually expanded from slg to diversification, which has won the attention and recognition of the international market;

steady stage : from 2022 to the present, the overseas market has been affected by the macro environment and post-epidemic effects, with growth slowing down and the cost of buying volume continuing to rise. the enthusiasm of domestic manufacturers to go overseas has subsided, but going overseas is still the general trend. leading manufacturers such as tencent, netease, mihoyo, lilith, and sanqi interactive entertainment continue to invest overseas, and the overseas expansion of games has entered a period of steady development.

in the future, the global game market will still have a lot of room for penetration. global r&d capabilities and differentiated market strategies will become a breakthrough for domestic manufacturers to go overseas. game ips with traditional chinese cultural elements are popular overseas, among which there are many themes based on the history of the three kingdoms and the chinese classic "journey to the west". from the early ips "a chinese odyssey" and "fantasy westward journey" to the recently launched "black myth: wukong", traditional cultural elements have always played an important role in the overseas expansion of domestic games.

this section mainly introduces the types of gameplay, business models, market distribution, competitive landscape, representative players and typical cases of chinese overseas game products.

1. main types of chinese games exported overseas

strategy games have long been the main source of overseas revenue for chinese game companies. from 2020 to 2023, strategy games accounted for more than 35% of the top 100 self-developed mobile games in terms of overseas revenue, and in 2023, strategy games accounted for 40.31%.

the gameplay of chinese games exported overseas usually combines local strategies and cultural elements with globalized gaming experience to meet the needs of players in different regions. for example, puzzles & survival from 37 interactive entertainment is a game that combines match-3 gameplay with slg elements and has achieved impressive results in overseas markets.

2. china’s game overseas expansion model

the main ways for chinese games to enter overseas markets include releasing overseas versions based on existing domestic products, directly launching international game brands or products, cooperating with other overseas game manufacturers to develop game products, and acquiring overseas copyrights of game applications through investment. regarding the overseas expansion model, domestic game manufacturers usually make a suitable choice based on their own business status and market strategy.

3. overseas payment model for chinese games

chinese game companies usually adopt two models in overseas markets: product monetization and traffic monetization. product monetization means that all users must pay for game products and content to obtain the right to use and experience them, including download payment, in-app purchase payment, purchase of point cards, subscription model, card drawing mechanism, etc.; traffic monetization refers to inserting merchant advertisements into game products and content to attract traffic and market for merchants. for high-traffic game products with high download volume and good user activity data, advertising fees are usually also higher.

4. the entire life cycle of chinese game products going overseas

the entire life cycle process of chinese overseas game products covers game design and development, localization transformation, game testing and online distribution, operation and promotion, product and content iteration and optimization, game data analysis and feedback, game community operation and management, and continuous product changes brought about by technological breakthroughs.

(v) distribution of the number of different types of game products in the global game market

according to the gameplay type, subject background and art style, the largest number of game applications in the world are arcade games, western fantasy games and programmed games.

(vi) proportion of different chinese game types in major regions around the world

in addition to hyper-casual games and children's games, strategy and role-playing game products are relatively the largest in major markets around the world.

(vii) typical representatives of chinese game companies going overseas

china's top and mainstream game manufacturers going overseas include tencent, netease, mihoyo, etc., and their core products have achieved good user and market performance overseas.

(viii) typical cases of chinese games going overseas

as an epic aaa game in china, black myth: wukong achieved profitability on the first day of its launch. under the “black myth effect”, the stock prices of related companies surged, and co-branded products were quickly sold out.

china's game overseas service ecosystem covers payment systems, advertising marketing, data analysis, etc.

1. game payment case: payermax

as a financial technology company rooted in emerging markets and with global business layout,PayerMaxwe are committed to providing professional global cross-border payment solutions and offering global merchants a safer and more convenient one-stop payment experience. payermax has established partnerships with 80% of the top 30 social networking companies and 75% of the top 30 game companies in china.

payermax's business covers more than 150 countries and regions, serving more than 1,000 merchants worldwide, with more than 70 transaction currencies, more than 20 local languages, and more than 600 payment methods, with world-leading service capabilities. currently, the countries and regions that have obtained payment licenses include singapore, the united arab emirates, the philippines, thailand, indonesia, and hong kong, china. it also cooperates with global banks and other first-class local banks, such as jpmorgan chase, standard chartered bank, enbd, etc., and is a strategic partner of more than 20 global payment brands.

payermaxcore productsincluding: global acquiring, global export and fund management

global acquiring : processing transactions initiated by users to merchants, such as credit cards, debit cards, e-wallets, and bank transfers, and receiving the funds into the merchant's account;

global withdrawals : merchants can withdraw funds to personal accounts, and support withdrawals to cards, wallets, bank accounts, etc.;

money management : provide merchants with safe and convenient multi-currency account funds management functions.

payermaxmatrix serviceinvolving: risk control services, marketing services, foreign exchange services, and financial, legal and tax services

risk control services : independently build a complete risk control service system, provide standardized risk control service products and customized risk control solutions and other value-added services;

marketing services : provide rapid website construction, operational growth, and in-depth operational services integrating product quality and effectiveness;

foreign exchange services ：provide a relatively complete exchange rate locking service. on the day when the enterprise conducts local currency transactions, it can lock the exchange rate of future settlement funds in us dollars to achieve "peak removal and valley filling";

financial, legal and tax services：help clients solve complex local market tax issues, provide tax payment services and professional tax consulting; timely update clients on policy interpretations of various countries, and provide legal and compliance advice.

(ii) advertising and marketing case: liftoff

Liftofffounded in 2012, liftoff is headquartered in redwood city, california, usa, with operations around the world. as the leading one-stop growth acceleration platform in the mobile industry, liftoff helps mobile app advertisers, publishers, game developers and demand-side platforms achieve business scale growth through advertising and traffic monetization solutions.

liftoff relies on a series of solutions including accelerate (dsp), direct (direct customers), monetize (advertising realization), influence (influencer marketing), intelligence (gamerefinery data analysis) and vungle exchange to serve more than 6,600 mobile companies from 74 countries and regions around the world, covering vertical fields such as games, social networking, finance, e-commerce, entertainment, etc.

(iii) data analysis case: dot-by-dot data

dot datait is the world's leading game data/mobile application analysis platform, providing comprehensive and accurate internet big data for global developers, marketers, investment institutions, and data media, supporting global app downloads/revenue, user behavior data query and real-time monitoring of mobile application markets and console game platforms.