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全球“宅经济”最大的赢家是腾讯?

全球“宅经济”最大的赢家是腾讯?

Yvonne Lau 2021-05-24
尽管面临国内诸多游戏公司的激烈竞争,但随着游戏和相关知识产权价值的增长,腾讯在游戏投资方面的热潮将持续下去。

新冠疫情之下催生的“宅经济”令游戏公司获益颇多,而最大的赢家莫过于手握《王者荣耀》和《英雄联盟》(League of Legends)等热门游戏的腾讯。

2020年年初,受新冠疫情影响,宅在家中的人们开始转向数字游戏和娱乐,腾讯的游戏收入随即开始飙升。

腾讯游戏收入在2020年前三季度持续攀升,分别大增31%、40%和45%,虽然第四季度缓慢降至29%,但全年仍然同比增长了36%(2019年全年游戏收入增长10%)。

而现在看来,随着热潮褪去,腾讯游戏正在回归现实。2021年第一季度,腾讯游戏收入同比增长17%至67亿美元,虽然增长依旧令人瞩目,但远不及去年同期增速。

整体来看,腾讯第一季度营收210亿美元,同比增长25%,超过分析师预期,净利润约74亿美元,同比增长65%。

考虑到疫情期间的高增长可能无以复制,腾讯正在大幅拓展海外市场,以期争取更多的国际用户,并试图借助“下一代”游戏体验技术,让自己在激烈的竞争中保持领先地位。

一季度,腾讯针对其下载量最高的手机游戏《王者荣耀》发布了有史以来最大的一次更新。据该公司称,改进的图形和新的游戏内头像令其2月的付费用户数量创下新高。

游戏研究公司Niko Partners的高级分析师丹尼尔•艾哈迈德表示,腾讯在这场疫情中的成功体现了该公司“对全球游戏主导地位的默默追求”。他说,腾讯游戏成功的一个关键是它决定维持其收购品牌。例如,腾讯在2015年全资收购了《英雄联盟》的游戏开发商Riot Games,并持有《堡垒之夜》(Fortnite)的开发商Epic Games 40%的股份。艾哈迈德说,要让游戏在粉丝的心中扎根,就永远不要给游戏重新命名。

2020年,腾讯共完成31笔游戏相关的交易,是2019年中交易量的三倍多。

而当下,腾讯必须面对一个缓慢开放且竞争日益激烈的世界。

虽然腾讯掌握着中国游戏市场43%的份额,处于霸主地位,但也面临着来自科技巨头阿里巴巴、字节跳动、以及网易、三七互娱等游戏公司的激烈竞争。

2020年,阿里巴巴凭借《三国志•战略版》成为中国第四大手机游戏发行商,该游戏改编自日本游戏开发商光荣特库摩(Koei Tecmo)于1985年首次发行的广受欢迎的《三国志》(Romance of the Three Kingdoms)。与此同时,字节跳动正计划全面进军游戏产业。艾哈迈德说,该公司雇佣了3000名新员工,以提高其内部开发能力。

腾讯表示,将加大对游戏开发的投资,尤其专注于能够吸引全球用户的大型及高工业化水平游戏。腾讯的国际游戏收入在2020年几乎翻了一番,达到15亿美元。

它还将投入更多资金开发面向小众群体的新游戏。比如,如《小森生活》(Komori Life)和《核桃日记》(Walnut Diary)等“日常生活”游戏,这些被称为“新兴流派”的游戏已经超越了主流受众。

腾讯还计划投资先进技术以提供下一代游戏体验,例如云游戏。

交银国际(BOCOM International)的分析师谷馨瑜表示,腾讯“短期内强劲的新游戏计划,及技术投入驱动长期增长”使其处于“业务稳健增长的阶段”。不过,她说:“鉴于其投资战略,包括增加游戏和商业服务的研发投入,其利润率应该会面临压力。”

谷馨瑜估计,腾讯第二季度总收入将增长25%,至224亿美元,游戏业务增长13%。与此同时,艾哈迈德预计,随着游戏和相关知识产权价值的增长,腾讯在游戏投资方面的热潮将持续下去。

与国内科技同行一样,腾讯也面临着更为严格的监管和约束。今年4月,中国国家市场监管总局以违反《中华人民共和国反垄断法》为由对腾讯处以50万元的罚款。

腾讯总裁刘炽平在5月20日的财报电话会议上表示,该公司与监管机构的合规和合作“实际上相对可控”。

虽然4月的罚款对腾讯而言实在是微不足道,但这家中国第二大互联网公司已经从各方面感受到了持续、不可预测的打击带来的痛苦。腾讯的股价已经从1月的峰值下跌了25%,现在的市值为6000亿美元。(财富中文网)

译者:梁宇

新冠疫情之下催生的“宅经济”令游戏公司获益颇多,而最大的赢家莫过于手握《王者荣耀》和《英雄联盟》(League of Legends)等热门游戏的腾讯。

2020年年初,受新冠疫情影响,宅在家中的人们开始转向数字游戏和娱乐,腾讯的游戏收入随即开始飙升。

腾讯游戏收入在2020年前三季度持续攀升,分别大增31%、40%和45%,虽然第四季度缓慢降至29%,但全年仍然同比增长了36%(2019年全年游戏收入增长10%)。

而现在看来,随着热潮褪去,腾讯游戏正在回归现实。2021年第一季度,腾讯游戏收入同比增长17%至67亿美元,虽然增长依旧令人瞩目,但远不及去年同期增速。

整体来看,腾讯第一季度营收210亿美元,同比增长25%,超过分析师预期,净利润约74亿美元,同比增长65%。

考虑到疫情期间的高增长可能无以复制,腾讯正在大幅拓展海外市场,以期争取更多的国际用户,并试图借助“下一代”游戏体验技术,让自己在激烈的竞争中保持领先地位。

一季度,腾讯针对其下载量最高的手机游戏《王者荣耀》发布了有史以来最大的一次更新。据该公司称,改进的图形和新的游戏内头像令其2月的付费用户数量创下新高。

游戏研究公司Niko Partners的高级分析师丹尼尔•艾哈迈德表示,腾讯在这场疫情中的成功体现了该公司“对全球游戏主导地位的默默追求”。他说,腾讯游戏成功的一个关键是它决定维持其收购品牌。例如,腾讯在2015年全资收购了《英雄联盟》的游戏开发商Riot Games,并持有《堡垒之夜》(Fortnite)的开发商Epic Games 40%的股份。艾哈迈德说,要让游戏在粉丝的心中扎根,就永远不要给游戏重新命名。

2020年,腾讯共完成31笔游戏相关的交易,是2019年中交易量的三倍多。

而当下,腾讯必须面对一个缓慢开放且竞争日益激烈的世界。

虽然腾讯掌握着中国游戏市场43%的份额,处于霸主地位,但也面临着来自科技巨头阿里巴巴、字节跳动、以及网易、三七互娱等游戏公司的激烈竞争。

2020年,阿里巴巴凭借《三国志•战略版》成为中国第四大手机游戏发行商,该游戏改编自日本游戏开发商光荣特库摩(Koei Tecmo)于1985年首次发行的广受欢迎的《三国志》(Romance of the Three Kingdoms)。与此同时,字节跳动正计划全面进军游戏产业。艾哈迈德说,该公司雇佣了3000名新员工,以提高其内部开发能力。

腾讯表示,将加大对游戏开发的投资,尤其专注于能够吸引全球用户的大型及高工业化水平游戏。腾讯的国际游戏收入在2020年几乎翻了一番,达到15亿美元。

它还将投入更多资金开发面向小众群体的新游戏。比如,如《小森生活》(Komori Life)和《核桃日记》(Walnut Diary)等“日常生活”游戏,这些被称为“新兴流派”的游戏已经超越了主流受众。

腾讯还计划投资先进技术以提供下一代游戏体验,例如云游戏。

交银国际(BOCOM International)的分析师谷馨瑜表示,腾讯“短期内强劲的新游戏计划,及技术投入驱动长期增长”使其处于“业务稳健增长的阶段”。不过,她说:“鉴于其投资战略,包括增加游戏和商业服务的研发投入,其利润率应该会面临压力。”

谷馨瑜估计,腾讯第二季度总收入将增长25%,至224亿美元,游戏业务增长13%。与此同时,艾哈迈德预计,随着游戏和相关知识产权价值的增长,腾讯在游戏投资方面的热潮将持续下去。

与国内科技同行一样,腾讯也面临着更为严格的监管和约束。今年4月,中国国家市场监管总局以违反《中华人民共和国反垄断法》为由对腾讯处以50万元的罚款。

腾讯总裁刘炽平在5月20日的财报电话会议上表示,该公司与监管机构的合规和合作“实际上相对可控”。

虽然4月的罚款对腾讯而言实在是微不足道,但这家中国第二大互联网公司已经从各方面感受到了持续、不可预测的打击带来的痛苦。腾讯的股价已经从1月的峰值下跌了25%,现在的市值为6000亿美元。(财富中文网)

译者:梁宇

The pandemic was good to gaming companies. Few benefited more than China's Tencent, owner of blockbuster hits like Honour of Kings and League of Legends.

Tencent's gaming sales soared beginning in early 2020, as users, stuck at home, turned to digital games and entertainment.

As 2020 progressed, Tencent's gaming revenue climbed—31% in Q1, 40% in Q2, 45% in Q3—before inching down to 29% for the fourth quarter. For the whole year, gaming revenue surged 36%, compared to 10% for all of 2019.

But now it seems Tencent's gaming boom is coming back down to earth. In the first quarter of 2021, gaming revenue still grew an impressive 17% to $6.7 billion, but didn't match the sky-high rates of 2020.

Overall, Tencent's first-quarter revenue increased 25% to $21 billion, beating analyst estimates, and profits grew by 65% year-on-year to roughly $7.4 billion.

Tencent may not be able to replicate the growth it reported in a once-in-a-generation pandemic, but it's now going after more international users and trying to capitalize on 'next generation' game experiences to maintain its title of world's largest gaming company amid tougher competition.

In the latest quarter, Tencent released its biggest-ever update to its top-downloaded mobile game, Honour of Kings. The improved graphics and new in-game avatars led to a record number of paid users in February, according to the company.

Tencent's success in the pandemic reflect its "silent pursuit of global gaming domination,” says Daniel Ahmad, senior analyst at gaming research firm Niko Partners. One key to Tencent's gaming success, Ahman said, has been its decision to maintain the brands it acquires. For instance, Tencent fully acquired Riot Games, publisher of League of Legends, in 2015, and it controls a 40% stake in Epic Games, developer of Fortnite. Never rebranding games allows the titles to thrive under the names that lured fans in the first place, says Ahmad.

In 2020, Tencent ramped up its deal-making, closing 31 game deals compared to 10 in 2019.

Now Tencent must contend with a world that's slowly opening back up and growing more competitive.

Tencent controls 43% of China's gaming marketplace, but faces competition from tech giants—Alibaba, ByteDance—and gaming-focused companies—NetEase, 37 Interactive Entertainment—alike.

Alibaba became China's fourth-largest mobile games publisher in 2020 due to the success of Three Kingdoms: Tactics, which is based on Japanese game developer Koei Tecmo's popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms, first released in 1985. Meanwhile, ByteDance is planning to expand further into gaming; it's hired 3,000 new employees to ramp up its in-house development capabilities, Ahmad says.

Tencent says it will increase investments in game development, focusing on large-scale and high-production value games that can garner a global appeal. Tencent's international game revenue almost doubled in 2020 to $1.5 billion.

It also will pour more money into new games that target niche audiences. Such "emerging genres," as the company calls them, go beyond mainstream audiences, such as 'daily life' games like Komori Life and Walnut Diary.

Tencent also plans to invest in advanced technologies for next-generation gaming experiences, such as cloud-based games.

Connie Gu, analyst at BOCOM International, says Tencent's "strong game pipeline in the near-term and tech-driven growth in the long-term" puts it in "a solid growth position." However, "margin should come under pressure in the rest of this year [given] its investment strategy, involving increases in R&D input for games and business services," she says.

Gu estimates Tencent's overall revenue in the second quarter will grow 25% to $22.4 billion, with gaming business growth at 13%. Ahmad, meanwhile, anticipates Tencent's hot streak in games investment to continue, as the value of games and related IP grows.

Like its Chinese tech peers, Tencent has endured stricter regulatory enforcement from Beijing. China's State Administration for Market Regulation in April hit the company with a $77,500 penalty for anti-monopoly law breaches.

Tencent President Martin Lau said in its May 20 earnings call that the company's compliance and cooperation with Chinese regulators is “actually relatively manageable.”

The April fine is pocket change for the tech behemoth, but China's second-largest Internet firm has felt the pain of the on-going, unpredictable crackdown in other ways. Its market cap, now at $600 billion, is down 25% since January.

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