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chao news client reporter tang junyao, ding shan, he xianjun, correspondent chen hui

recently, the domestic 3a game "black myth: wukong" (hereinafter referred to as "wukong") topped the sales in 29 countries and regions around the world within one hour of its release. the phenomenal popularity of the game made the main creative team hangzhou youke interactive technology co., ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "youke") "in the limelight". just like the question "why did hangzhou give birth to alibaba" back then, the online space is now also hotly discussing "why was this monkey born by the west lake".

amid heated discussions among netizens, high praise from the industry, and competition and cooperation from "brother" cities, the entire gaming industry chain that hangzhou has been "cultivating" for 20 years has slowly surfaced - in 2023, the city's animation and game industry will have an annual output value of 50 billion yuan, with more than 270 animation and game companies and more than 20,000 animation and game talents. this is the confidence of hangzhou to incubate "wukong" and create "huge traffic".

zhejiang is a province with a large cultural industry, and when it comes to the animation and game industry, hangzhou accounts for more than 60% of the province. if you want to explore the industry code behind the "hot products", the "animation capital" is the most suitable observation point and weather vane.

leader of the “new first-tier”

the birth of "wukong" in hangzhou is not "water without source". behind it is the accumulation of more than 20 years of hangzhou's game industry. after visiting for several days, a three-dimensional coordinate map of hangzhou's game industry gradually became clear.

from a time perspective, since the birth of the first batch of game companies such as bianfeng network in 1999, hangzhou's game industry has experienced a growth curve from nothing to something, and from weak to strong.in the past four years, the output value of hangzhou's animation and game industry has grown at an average annual rate of over 20%, exceeding 50 billion yuan in 2023. it has more than 270 animation and game companies, making it a well-deserved "leader" in zhejiang.

from the perspective of spatial coordinates, hangzhou's game industry has the characteristics of cluster distribution. the high-tech zone (binjiang) is the most concentrated area of ​​hangzhou's game industry, with a number of leading and mid-sized companies such as netease, dianhun, and xuanji; the west lake art and creative town around the china academy of art, where the "wukong" development team youke is located; there is also the hangzhou greater city north area around liangzhu and the grand canal, and the hangzhou northwest area around zhejiang university zijingang.

photo provided by the interviewee of netease building

from a national perspective, the scale of the game industry in beijing, shanghai, guangzhou and shenzhen has exceeded 100 billion yuan. compared with them, hangzhou still has a big gap. for example, in terms of the number of companies, although the statistical caliber is different, the number of game companies in shenzhen and guangzhou is in the thousands, while hangzhou currently has hundreds; in terms of the company echelon, shenzhen has many leading companies such as zhongshouyou and chuangmeng tiandi, shanghai has formed the "four little dragons" of mihoyo, lilith, eagle point, and paper games, while hangzhou has fewer mid-level companies; in terms of r&d operations, beijing, shanghai, guangzhou and shenzhen are also ahead of hangzhou. but among the "new first-tier" cities, hangzhou is "the leader".

look at the whole picture and then look at the details. in the upstream, midstream and downstream of the industrial chain, hangzhou companies are digging deep into their "moats".

the ultimate light and shadow presentation of "journey to the west" on the screen of "wukong" has made the game engine unreal 5 behind it enter the field of vision of many observers.

in the upstream of the game industry, the game development engine is a key technology. on august 28, the reporter witnessed the opening of the player test of the game "yanyun sixteen sounds" at netease. on the huge pc screen, the campfire crackled, sparks flew everywhere, and the face of the old knight was meticulously wrinkled and every hair was visible. these extremely realistic pictures are from messiah, the game engine developed by netease.

"game engines are comparable to chips in the it industry." a relevant person in charge of netease games said that over the years, netease's self-developed game engines messiah and neox have been applied to many games such as "fantasy westward journey" and "onmyoji", and it is expected that the domestically developed engine can "compete" with the well-known foreign unreal engine.

"hangzhou game manufacturers' catch-up in key technology areas is the potential for the industrialization of hangzhou's game industry." zhao xuan, secretary-general of the zhejiang game industry association, believes that not only netease, but also dianhun network and buming technology are relying on self-developed engines to break the overseas monopoly on underlying game technology.

photo provided by the interviewee of dianhun network's offline events

as for the more familiar midstream and downstream - development, planning, art, distribution, and operations, hangzhou's game industry chain is flourishing and has an orderly ecology.from script setting to animation production, to motion capture to music production, the mature online animation and comics industry empowers the gaming industry with 3d modeling, texture mapping and light and shadow rendering technology.

take the cg (digital) animation in the game as an example. the stop-motion animation used in the second animation of "wukong" "deaf" was produced by "runwu dingge" 300 meters away from youke. another example is the short film "stars" produced by "honor of kings" using virtual shooting technology, and the motion capture effect was also completed by hangzhou company "bocai media".

"the emergence of animation and cartoon companies in hangzhou has invisibly nurtured the growth of the gaming industry."fu man, a lecturer at the school of culture, creativity and media at hangzhou normal university, said that this year the school is compiling the latest "china animation and game industry development report".judging from the distribution volume of online animation in 2023, hangzhou ranks first with 139 works; followed by shanghai and beijing, which shows how confident hangzhou is.

but behind the "glamorous" popularity, we should realize that hangzhou and even zhejiang still have a lot of room to catch up in the new blue ocean of the gaming industry.

take guangdong, the leading province in the gaming industry, for example. according to relevant statistics, guangdong's gaming output value accounts for more than 80% of the country's total, with revenue reaching 245.08 billion yuan, a five-year high. shenzhen began planning its gaming industry transformation three years ago. in 2023, it offered a subsidy of up to 10 million yuan and proposed a plan to build itself into an international e-sports capital.

compared with leading cities in the gaming industry, hangzhou’s gaming companies need to improve their innovation capabilities. “wukong” is a phenomenal work born out of innovation, but it is undeniable that compared with beijing, shanghai, guangzhou and shenzhen, hangzhou’s gaming companies have developed fewer phenomenal products, with a higher proportion of board games, and face the dilemma of homogeneous competition.

in addition, hangzhou also has problems such as a relatively scattered industrial chain layout, a relatively small number of gaming talents, and a gap in high-end talents.

being able to see your opponent means there is room for surpassing him."hangzhou has the first-mover advantage in the asian games e-sports events, and now has the support of the popular ip of "wukong", which gives the gaming industry an opportunity to overtake others." zhao xuan believes that the key lies in the next step, whether hangzhou can implement policy guidance and industrial chain planning and further release the industrial dividends brought by "wukong".

why are tourists so eager to come?

seven years ago, feng ji, the founder of youke, moved the r&d team of "wukong" to hangzhou yichuang town, thus planting a seed. in the years since then, game manufacturers such as kuaishou, bytedance, and hero games have moved from cities such as beijing and shanghai to hangzhou to focus on their own research.

what first attracts these tourists is the temperament of this city.

"hangzhou is located in the southern wing of the yangtze river delta. it can not only take on the spillover effects from shanghai and other places, but its relatively low-cost living environment can also retain young people, giving us space to slowly polish an excellent product." the person in charge of hero games said that their company came to hangzhou from beijing in 2021 and has now entered its third year of research and development.

photo provided by the interviewee of xihu district art and innovation town

this is similar to feng ji's original intention when he came to hangzhou art and creation town seven years ago - "the pace is not as fast as shenzhen, the housing prices are not too high, and everyone can be patient."

in "poetic and picturesque zhejiang", the landscapes of the south of the yangtze river and cultural contexts are intertwined. hangzhou, the provincial capital, is one of the ancient capitals and has three world heritage sites. it has always been a city with stories. its profound humanities and history nourish the inspiration and creativity of game creators.the youke team based in hangzhou visited the west lake, the "divine beast" under the incense burner in front of the "jigong temple", the iconic statue of maitreya buddha on feilai peak... these scenic spots that are very familiar to hangzhou people have been reproduced one by one in the "wukong" game and have been studied by players around the world.

"hangzhou is surrounded by mountains and rivers and has rich cultural connotations. in an environment where the city and nature are in harmony, creators are naturally influenced and influenced subtly, and then project the city's cultural temperament and historical connotations into their artistic creations." xuan xuejun, professor and vice dean of the school of animation and games at the china academy of art, said.

if the city's temperament gives hangzhou a high "appearance", then digital technology is the key core of its appeal.

the game industry is a "digital + cultural" industry. as early as 2001, hangzhou was selected as one of the 10 national software industry bases in the country, and was awarded the title of "china's famous software city" in 2014. driven by zhejiang's "no. 1 development project" for the innovation and quality improvement of the digital economy, hangzhou is making every effort to build the "no. 1 digital economy city in the country".

"in 2023, hangzhou's digital cultural enterprises will achieve a revenue of 806.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.0%." according to the relevant person in charge of the hangzhou cultural and creative industry development center, new-generation digital technologies such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality are being integrated into game development at an accelerated pace. for example, netease digital intelligence has developed a game ai agent based on game battles, marketing and other scenarios to better enhance player experience and activity.

over the years, hangzhou has been deeply promoting the integration of culture and technology, and currently has 6 national demonstration bases for the integration of culture and technology. hangzhou's industrial accumulation in the digital economy has opened up imagination space for creativity and content.

the "softness" behind the "hard" policy

the profound cultural heritage and developed digital economic foundation made game manufacturers "hit it off at first sight"; and the government's 20 years of consistent policy "composting" and "cultivating" the fertile land of the animation and game industry have allowed more small manufacturers to get rid of their burdens and show their talents.

"hangzhou has been the first city in the country to introduce policies for the development of the animation and gaming industry since 2005. by the end of 2022, the relevant policies have been iterated to the sixth round, and it has promised to allocate 100 million yuan in special funds each year to support the in-depth integration and development of the animation, gaming and e-sports industries," said a relevant person in charge of the hangzhou cultural and creative industry development center.in the two years since the latest round of policies were implemented, 289 projects have completed the application, review and allocation of special funds, including "wukong".

photo provided by the interviewees of china online writers village

no matter how "hardcore" the policy is, it still needs "heartwarming" service to complete the last mile.after the big hit of "wukong", a story like this spread like wildfire on weibo's hot search list:

seven years ago, the staff of xihu district art creation town took feng ji to xiangshan art commune to look for a venue. feng ji "felt attracted to" the office building that had a garden in front and a river in the back, which provided a wide view. however, feng ji, who was still in the early stages of research and development, made an embarrassed request, "can you please not rent out the two buildings next door for now? i'll take them when my project expands."

this seemingly unreasonable request was quickly agreed to by yichuang town. to fulfill this promise, the two office buildings of the town remained vacant for three years, and many celebrity studios and potential enterprises were rejected.

"in order to wait for wukong, two buildings by the west lake have been vacant for three years." behind this is hangzhou's attitude of being willing to stand with a team like youke that has potential, strength and dreams and wait for the flowers to bloom.

liu yong, deputy general manager of hangzhou yanhun network technology co., ltd., also mentioned the "temperature of hangzhou" several times. every time a special policy is applied, the local cultural and creative office and the street will set up a special group for connection. "the service specialist usually informs us of the materials required for policy application half a month in advance and patiently and carefully answers our questions. it is also very fast to apply online on qinqing. usually, the application is made in the morning and the funds are received in the afternoon."

behind these "heart-warming" services is the effective implementation of zhejiang's "no. 1 reform project" to optimize and improve the business environment and promote the reform of value-added government services. hangzhou has been ranked first in the national business environment evaluation for two consecutive years, and has been ranked first in the list of cities in the "ten thousand private enterprises evaluating the business environment" of the all-china federation of industry and commerce for four consecutive years...

photo provided by the interviewee at the 18th china international cartoon & animation festival industry expo

after the success of "wukong", hangzhou has been making frequent moves to develop the cultural and creative industry in the future.

on august 28, the main person in charge of the hangzhou municipal government conducted a special investigation on the development of the cultural and creative industry and related key enterprises, including youke. the person in charge proposed that the "hangzhou games" brand should be further promoted to produce more phenomenal ips; at the same time, requirements were put forward for all localities and departments to strengthen reform breakthroughs, talent support, policy support and organizational guarantees, accelerate the cultivation of a number of leading backbone enterprises, cultural and creative technology enterprises, and strengthen various emerging industries such as digital culture.

just one day later, the hangzhou cultural and creative industry development center, art and creation town, the provincial e-sports association board of directors, and others sat together to discuss and seek good strategies for the future of hangzhou's animation and gaming industry.

the tropical rainforest-like business environment silently nurtures the "wukongs".

the future is a battle for talent

after the success of wukong, youke’s employees immediately became popular. data from a popular recruitment website showed that youke’s employees were constantly receiving messages from headhunters seeking to poach them, and many employees had to indicate in their personal profiles that they were “not looking for a job” and “do not bother with recruiting.”

there is a consensus in the industry that the game industry is a creativity-intensive industry, and talent costs account for 90% of the initial r&d costs. in other words, the competition in the game industry is essentially a competition for talent.

as early as june this year, when the pre-sale of "wukong" began, the market sensed the direction of the trend. according to the latest data from zhaopin.com, the median salary for online game positions in the country increased from 8,490 yuan in the first quarter to 9,001 yuan in the second quarter of 2024; the average annual salary for key positions such as game developers and technical artists exceeded 300,000 yuan.

zhejiang is a province with a large net inflow of population. in 2023, an average of more than 3,400 college students will flow in every day. at the first meeting of the spring festival this year, zhejiang proposed to focus on the construction of "three teams". while attracting global talents, it also pays attention to building a talent training system and cultivating local innovative talents.

as a "digital + cultural" industry, the key technical talents of the game industry are mainly concentrated in computer technology and art production, which are the strengths of zhejiang's higher education. zhejiang university and china academy of art have become the "huangpu military academy" of hangzhou's game industry. for example, li xin and zheng ming, founders of wuduan technology, chen bo, founder of legang games and miaoju network, and yu jiazi, founder of jedi technology, all graduated from zhejiang university.

photo provided by wuduan technology interviewee

liu yong said: "more than 50% of the company's art design positions come from the china academy of art. in addition, 40% of game development and programming positions come from the school of computer science at zhejiang university and hangzhou dianzi university."

china academy of art is one of the earliest institutions in china to offer a major in game design. xuan xuejun, vice president of the school of animation and games, told reporters:"in recent years, games and the internet have become one of the main areas of employment for students in the creative industry. nearly 70% of the college's students will go into the game and internet industries and become management, planning and design talents in the field."

in addition to college training, another major source of talent for hangzhou's game industry is the spillover effect of large companies. in particular, domestic leading game companies such as netease are stationed in hangzhou, and the local animation and game industry policies are frequently favorable, attracting game talents from all over the country to "vote with their feet."

at present, hangzhou has more than 20,000 game industry talents, ranking first among the "new first-tier" cities. the large gathering of talents makes the birth of the next "wukong" not seem too far away.

"the 'main battlefield' of hangzhou's game industry is concentrated on online games and mobile games. there are relatively few 3a game production companies like youke." shen yuliang, secretary general of the hangzhou animation and game association, believes that hangzhou has great market potential in the development of large-scale games with large investments, long cycles and high technology. "the performance of "wukong" that exceeds expectations in terms of commercial value and cultural value is likely to change the market trend and let all parties see the significance of "strong content."

practitioners who are interested in making high-quality games are looking forward to the government's "long-termism spirit". "i believe that the governments at all levels in hangzhou are willing to be patient governments, give game companies space and time to create, and support more high-quality games produced in hangzhou." zhang ge, deputy general manager of zhejiang wuduan technology co., ltd., suggested.

"'wukong' is just a starting point. we believe there will be a second, third, or even more 3a game works that will go from hangzhou to the world." zhang ge said this with great determination.