"In-depth Analysis" Ma Huateng Rui commented on Tencent's businesses: No achievements in games?

One of the largest Internet companies in China and one of the largest game companies in the world.

However, at the recent Tencent annual meeting, Tencent CEO Ma Huateng made a sharp evaluation of the company's game business:

"Games are our trump card business, currently known as the world's largest Game companies seem to be resting on the laurels of success. But in the past year, we have been faced with great challenges. New generation game companies have emerged one after another. From gameplay to content, we are at a loss as our friends continue to produce products. When we release new products, we feel like we have made no achievements - we have also launched new products, but they are not as good as expected.

The casual family party game "Yuanmeng Star" that we have invested in the past two months is also We have just entered the battlefield. Although it is late, it is not only a game for us, but also has a social component. This is our base camp. We must go all out and require all businesses to be integrated and explore for common development. ”

Ma Huateng’s remarks triggered widespread attention and discussion among the industry and netizens. Some people think that Ma Huateng is making excuses for the decline of Tencent's game business, while others think that Ma Huateng is encouraging the transformation and innovation of Tencent's game business.

So, what kind of difficulties and opportunities does Tencent’s game business face?

First, let’s take a look at the current status of Tencent’s game business. According to Tencent’s latest financial report for the third quarter of 2023, the overall revenue of Tencent’s game business reached 46 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7%. Among them, game revenue in the international market was 13.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14%; game revenue in the local market was 32.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5%.

Judging from this data, the growth rate of Tencent’s game business is not low, and there is no obvious decline.

So, why does Ma Huateng say that the game business has encountered great challenges?

In fact, from a deeper perspective, the growth of Tencent’s game business mainly relies on several of its old popular games, such as “Honor of Kings”, “Peace Elite”, "CrossFire" and other games, these games have become the cash cows of Tencent Games, but they also face problems such as market saturation, user loss, and fierce competition.

However, Tencent’s performance in new products is not satisfactory. Many newly launched games have not achieved the expected results, and some games have even been complained and boycotted by players. The most typical one is the recently released "Yuanmeng Star".

This shows that Tencent’s game business has fallen into an innovation dilemma and lacks new breakthroughs and growth points.

As the game market continues to expand and mature, the needs and tastes of game users are becoming more and more diverse and picky. They are no longer satisfied with traditional gameplay and content, but seek more innovation and experience. At the same time, the supervision of the game industry is becoming increasingly strict, with more restrictions and requirements on game content, duration, fees, etc., which has brought more challenges and pressure to game development and operations.

In the past, Tencent Games occupied a dominant position in the game market with its strong platform advantages, social advantages, channel advantages, IP advantages, etc., and many games have become popular and phenomenal products.

However, in recent years, with the rise of a new generation of game companies, such as MiHoYo, Lilith, etc., they rely on their more flexible innovation capabilities, more sophisticated operational capabilities, and closer to users Product concepts, etc., and launched a series of high-quality games, such as "Genshin Impact". These games not only achieved great success in China, but also performed well in overseas markets, bringing unprecedented competition to Tencent Games. pressure.

The success of Tencent Games in the past was largely based on a keen grasp of user needs and rapid follow-up to market trends, rather than true original innovation.

Many of Tencent Games’ products are based on or imitated other foreign or domestic games, and then through optimization and improvement, combined with its own platform and social advantages, it creates games suitable for the Chinese market. This model was effective in the past, but now, with the improvement of users' aesthetics and taste, and the enhancement of competitors' innovation capabilities, this model is no longer applicable, and may even cause users' disgust and resistance. Tencent Games needs to change from a follower to a leader, from an imitator to a creator, and from an improver to an innovator, in order to maintain its leading position in the game industry.

To sum up, Tencent’s game business faces great challenges, but it also has great opportunities. Ma Huateng's critical comments at the annual meeting may be a warning and encouragement for Tencent's game business. He hopes that Tencent Games can find its main business and direction, strengthen its innovation capabilities and core competitiveness, and continue to launch more games. High-quality games meet the needs of users, win market recognition, and achieve sustainable development and growth of the game business.

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