Eight months later, the domestic game version number was approved. On the evening of April 11, the State Press and Publication Administration issued the version number of April games, and a total of 45 domestic games won the version number, including Wuhu 37 Interactive Entertainment Network Technology Group Co.Ltd(002555) ‘dream Voyage’, Shenzhen Zqgame Co.Ltd(300052) the caster, etc. After the opening of U.S. stocks on the same day, the shares of Netease, station B, tiger teeth, Betta and other companies with game business or game related enterprises rose immediately.
In fact, in 2018, the game industry also experienced several months of version number suspension, and some small and medium-sized game companies fell into a trough. According to the relevant data of the game Working Committee (GPC) of China audio and digital Association and China Game Industry Research Institute, the actual sales revenue of China’s game market in 2021 increased by 6.4% year-on-year, and the growth rate was nearly 15% lower than that of last year.
The resumption of approval by relevant departments is undoubtedly good news for the game industry. In addition, during this period, the state strictly controls the game time of minors, which promotes the high-quality game products, the survival of the fittest and the standardized development of the industry.
39 mobile games, 5 end games, 1 switch game
From July 22, 2021 to April 11, 2022, a new batch of domestic online game version numbers were issued, with an interval of more than 260 days.
According to the latest notice of the State Press and publication administration, a total of 45 games have received version numbers, including 39 mobile games, 5 client games and 1 switch game, including the mobile game “the attacking rabbit” of Beijing Baidu duoku Technology Co., Ltd., the origin of sword net 3 of Chengdu Xishan jushiyou Technology Co., Ltd., the mobile game “dream Voyage” of Wuhu 37 Interactive Entertainment Network Technology Group Co.Ltd(002555) (Shanghai) Technology Co., Ltd Shenzhen chuangmeng Tiandi Science & Technology Co.Ltd(600582) .
It is worth noting that before the official announcement of the State Press and publication administration, it has been reported that a number of games have obtained version numbers. Some employees of game companies said frankly to the reporter of Beijing business daily, “it’s good to be happy when the version number is restored for approval, no matter whether the new batch has their own games or not”.
Companies that have experienced the suspension of edition numbers in 2018 are even more sympathetic. From a set of data, we can see the impact of game version number on the development of game industry.
According to the 2021 China game industry report released by GPC and China Game Industry Research Institute, the actual sales revenue of China’s game market in 2021 was 296513 billion yuan, an increase of 17.826 billion yuan over 2020, a year-on-year increase of 6.4%, but the growth rate was nearly 15% lower than that of the previous year.
Many game companies experienced layoffs and closures during the suspension of edition numbers. Statistics show that from July 2021 to February 2022, about 2000 game related enterprises were cancelled, of which enterprises with a registered capital of less than 1 million accounted for 3.16%.
Another set of data is also very intuitive. On July 22, 2021, when the national press and Publication Administration last issued the version number, the ETF of Huaxia China Securities animation game fell 10.47% in five trading days. In late February 2022, after the news of “no new game version in 2022” came out, the share prices of Tencent, Netease and other game giants fell during this period. Accordingly, after the release of a new batch of game titles on April 11, 2022, Netease’s share price rose immediately after the opening of U.S. stocks on that day. As of the press time of Beijing business daily, the share price rose by 8.7% compared with the closing price of the previous day. However, Netease and Tencent did not disclose the application for their own game version number.
strengthen supervision and eliminate inferior Games
During this period, the state has carried out a series of norms for the game industry, the most representative of which is to strictly control minors’ game time. In August 2021, the notice on further strict management to effectively prevent minors from indulging in online games (hereinafter referred to as the notice) issued by the State Press and publication administration requires that all online game enterprises can only provide one hour service to minors from 20:00 to 21:00 every day on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and legal holidays, and shall not provide online game services to minors in any form at other times.
Gao Dongxu, founder and chief analyst of China Entertainment think tank, also mentioned state regulation. He said bluntly, “The suspension of the distribution of edition numbers after July 2021 is an accidental event. At present, the whole industry has actively implemented the anti addiction measures for minors and achieved good results. The opening of edition numbers is conducive to the healthy development of the industry, the supply of game products is back on track, and alleviates the shortage of new products in the market and the problem of internal entanglement in the industry caused by the suspension of edition numbers”.
It is worth noting that the relevant national departments are strict with the trend of issuing game version numbers. Relevant data show that since 2019, the State Press and publication administration has approved 3352 game edition numbers, including 1365 in 2019, 1308 and 679 in 2020 and 2021 respectively, and the number of edition numbers continues to decrease. In 2016 and 2017, 4050 and 9369 game versions were approved respectively.
Bida analyst Li Jinqing stressed, “this requires game companies to focus on high-quality games and improve their competitiveness. Moreover, due to the suspension of version number distribution for several months, it has squeezed a large number of games, and it will take time to fully release them.”.
Beijing Business Daily reporter Wei Wei
