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With Chinese Internet company Alibaba BABA 1.73% breaking IPO records, another Chinese Internet company, Tencent, is poised for huge growth in the online and mobile games business. According to a recent report by IDC and CNG, the number of mobile gamers in China in the first half of 2014 increased 89.5% to 325 million over the first half of 2013. According to video game research firm Newzoo, last year Tencent moved to the number one position in the global games market with $5.7 billion in annual game revenue, and the company shows no sign of leaving the top in the years to come. Peter Warman, president of Newzoo, forecasts Tencent could take over 10% of the global games market in 2017, if it maintains this pace of growth.
就在中国互联网公司阿里巴巴（Alibaba）在美国的IPO一举创下纪录之际，另一家互联网巨头——腾讯（Tencent）则蓄势待发，准备在网络游戏和移动游戏领域谋划巨大的增长。据市场调查机构IDC和CNG的最新报告显示，2014年上半年，中国的移动游戏用户人数较2013年上半年同期增长了89.5%，达到3.25亿人。据视频游戏调查机构Newzoo的数据，腾讯在去年的全球游戏市场中，以57亿美元的年营业收入高居榜首，而且在未来的这几年里，也有望保持龙头位置。Newzoo总裁彼得o沃曼预测，如果腾讯继续保持当前的增长势头，到2017年时，将有望在全球游戏市场中占据10%以上的份额。
“We are seeing incredible growth in the China market and are focused mainly on keeping up with that growth for now,” said Bo Wang, vice president of Tencent Games, when asked about his plans for expansion into the U.S. and other markets. “In fact, the Tencent mobile game platform is the leader in mobile games in China. As of the end of March 2014, the number of daily active users on Mobile QQ and Weixin (known as WeChat outside of China) was a stable 180 million. In addition, revenues of mobile games on the WeChat and Mobile QQ platforms reached $488 million in Q2 2014. Mobile games are in the early stage of development in China. The market is forecast to continue to grow.”
“我们正在见证中国市场的惊人成长，所以我们目前的战略重点是跟上这一增长趋势，”腾讯游戏副总裁王波在被问及公司未来在美国及其他市场的扩张计划时，如此答道，“事实上，腾讯游戏平台在中国的移动游戏领域内处于领先地位。截至2014年3月底，移动QQ和微信（在中国以外地区使用的名称为WeChat）上日活跃用户数稳定在1.8亿人的水平上。此外，微信和移动QQ这两大平台上的移动游戏营收，在2014年第二季度达到了4.88亿美元。移动游戏在中国尚处于早期发展阶段，预计市场还将继续增长。”
Tencent was the top publisher in China’s iOS App Store for free downloads and revenue for each of the first seven months of 2014, thanks to the popularity of free-to-play games like Timi Studio’s internally developed Timi Match Everyday and Timi Run Everyday, which has over 60 million daily users, according to App Annie. Timi Studio uses WeChat, China’s leading mobile social communications platform with over 400 million active monthly users, and QQ Mobile, which has over 848 million monthly active users, to cross-promote new games with Chinese gamers.
2014年头7个月里，腾讯在中国iOS应用商店的免费下载和营收均位于发行商前列。这要归功于若干超高人气的免费游戏，譬如天美艺游工作室（Timi Studio）内部开发的《天天爱消除》（Timi Match Everyday）和《天天酷跑》（Timi Run Everyday），根据应用程序数据分析公司App Annie公布的数据，目前这些游戏吸引了逾6,000万名日常用户。天美艺游通过微信（中国最知名的移动社交应用平台，月活跃用户人数逾4亿人）和移动QQ（月活跃用户人数逾8.48亿人）向中国的游戏玩家们交叉推广新游戏。
Since launching its mobile games platform last year, Tencent has 20 titles covering a wide range of genres including puzzle, action and simulation. Localized versions of King Digital Entertainment’s Candy Crush Saga and Square Enix’ Sangokushi Rumble (now known as Battle of Sango in China) are available on WeChat and Mobile QQ as well as through myapp.com, which is Tencent’s distribution channel of Android apps for local users since Google Play is not popular in China.
自从移动游戏平台于去年上线以来，腾讯已经先后发布了20款游戏，涵盖类型广泛，拼图、动作和模拟均有涉足。英国游戏公司King数据娱乐（King Digital Entertainment）开发的《糖果传奇》（Candy Crush Saga）和日本游戏公司史克威尔艾尼克斯（Square Enix）开发的《三国志乱舞》（Sangokushi Rumble），这两款游戏的中国大陆版在微信和移动QQ的游戏平台上均有提供下载；此外也可通过myapp.com下载，这是腾讯面向中国大陆用户推出的安卓（Android）应用发布平台，因为谷歌应用商店Google Play在中国的使用人数不多。
Wang believes as the Chinese mobile games market matures, new categories such as action games (ACT), ARPG (Action Role Playing Games) and card games (CCG, Collectible Card Game, or TCG, Trading Card Game) will become popular. This will open up new opportunities for game makers interested in navigating this burgeoning new audience of smartphone and tablet gamers.
王波认为，随着中国移动游戏市场日趋成熟，新的游戏类型，譬如动作类游戏（ACT）、动作角色扮演游戏（ARPG）和卡片类游戏（CCG/TCG，前者指卡片搜集游戏，后者指卡片交换游戏）也会日渐盛行。智能手机和平板电脑正在迅速涌现出一批新的玩家，对于有意这一业务的游戏生产商而言，将会打开新的机遇。
“We have a lot of experience working with Western developers, having partnered with EA Sports EA 0.39% to localize and launche their NBA Live and FIFA franchises as online games in China,” said Wang. “The successes of mobile games on WeChat and Mobile QQ in China prove there is a market for developers to explore.”
“我们与西方开发商的合作经验丰富，比如我们曾经与艺电体育（EA Sports）进行合作，将该公司开发的体育竞技类游戏《NBA Live》和《FIFA》本地化，然后将其作为网络游戏在中国大陆地区发行代理权，”王波说，“移动游戏在中国大陆地区借助微信和移动QQ平台所取得的成功证明，这一领域蕴藏着巨大的市场空间，有待游戏开发商们深入发掘。”
Tencent has also partnered with Korean developer SmileGate to bring CrossFire to China, and it is working with leading Korean mobile game maker CJ Games to localize its games as well. International game publishers are flocking to Tencent because the majority of mobile games distributed by the company have topped the charts in AppStore’s free download category in China.
腾讯还曾与韩国游戏开发商SmileGate合作，将游戏《穿越火线》（SmileGate）引入了中国市场；它目前也在与韩国的主要移动游戏生产商CJ Games合作，将该公司旗下的游戏本地化。国外的游戏发行商们开始大量涌向腾讯，因为在腾讯分销的移动游戏中，绝大部分都在中国应用商店的免费下载区占据了榜单前列。
Wang said Tencent actively promotes games in China on its extensive mobile and Internet user network and has proven experience in operating games, which helps ensure that games are adjusted to suit local tastes. In addition, Tencent provides day-to-day operational support and a cloud-based hosted service to enable quick, seamless and reliable game performances across all platforms.
王波表示，腾讯借助自身广泛的移动和互联网用户网络，在中国大陆市场积极推广游戏业务，并在游戏运营方面积累了大量成功的经验，这有助于确保腾讯能够根据本地市场的偏好对游戏进行调整。此外，腾讯还提供日常的运营支持和基于云端的服务器托管服务，因而能够在所有平台上保证迅速、无缝衔接的可靠游戏性能。
“Weixin and Mobile QQ both have highly active user bases who are energetic and willing to try new things,” said Wang. “According to our statistics, because of the social elements of WeChat and Mobile QQ, gamers are 10% to 15% more active in game play.”
“微信和移动QQ均拥有高度活跃的用户基础，这些用户精力旺盛，十分乐于尝试新鲜事物，”王波说道，“根据我们的统计，出于微信和移动QQ本身所具有的社交元素使然，玩家参与游戏的活跃度要高出10%至15%。”
Gamers can use a single sign-in to log in to different Tencent products like Mobile QQ and WeChat, the two leading social communications platforms in China. Tencent localizes access to Mobile QQ and WeChat for each game. Developers can also take advantage of in-game payment systems and Tencent analysis of user behaviors and insights to help improve their game’s experience and success. Wang added that Tencent’s aggressive protection for its partners’ intellectual property in a new market is a valuable asset.
玩家仅需完成一次登录操作，便可登入腾讯集团旗下的不同产品，移动QQ和微信便是其中的两大平台，同时也是中国大陆地区的两款主流社交平台。腾讯为每一款游戏都在移动QQ和微信上创建了入口。开发商也能利用游戏内置的付费系统和腾讯对用户行为的分析及见解，改善旗下游戏的操作体验，从而取得成功。王波还补充介绍说，腾讯对合作方知识产权在新市场积极采取保护措施，本身也是一笔宝贵的资产。
“The total Chinese games market grew even more than expected in terms of (paying) gamers as well as revenue, reaching $13.7 billion in 2013, a 35% year-on-year growth rate,” said Warman. “The share of total app store revenues taken by games has increased more than expected. In the last quarter of 2013, the share of game revenues in the app stores was around 80%, compared to only 65% in 2012. Further, the top-tier mobile games grossed a higher share of the total app store revenues than anticipated, confirmed by public reports of King, SuperCell and GungHo.”
“中国的整体游戏市场在（付费）玩家人数和营收这两方面的增长均超出了预期，其中2013年的营收达到了137亿美元，实现了35%的年同比增长，”沃曼介绍说，“游戏在应用商店整体营收中所占份额的增长，已经超出了市场预期。在2013年第四季度，游戏营收在各类应用商店中所占份额约在80%左右，而在2012年时还只有65%。不仅如此，据游戏公司King、SuperCell和GungHo的公开报告证实，一流的移动游戏在应用商店整体营收中所占比例同样超出了市场预测。”
While the West has seen growth in the free-to-play business model in recent years, the concept originated in Asia as a way to combat piracy as well as a way to deliver games to consumers who played at PC cafes. As a result, Tencent has over 10 years of experience in developing free-to-play online games in China and has now translated that knowledge to the mobile space. Wang believes offering games at no cost lowers the entry barrier for users to start playing, and in return it fuels the growth of the market.
近年来，西方国家见证了免费游戏商业模式的成长，而这一概念最早其实源自亚洲市场，被用于打击盗版和将游戏推向网吧里的游戏玩家。因此，腾讯在中国大陆市场的免费网络游戏开发领域中积累了10多年的经验，如今则将这些经验灵活应用到了移动领域。王波认为，向玩家免费提供游戏能够降低用户加入游戏的门槛，从而加速了市场的增长。
One of the most popular free-to-play games in China, as well as the rest of the world, is Riot Games’ League of Legends. Tencent first licensed the game for China and then a few years later acquired the Santa Monica, Calif.-based independent developer in February 2011 for $400 million. The game, which thrives of eSports, has become a huge spectator “sport” in China, as well as throughout the rest of the world.
美国游戏公司Riot Games开发的《英雄联盟》（League of Legends）在中国大陆地区乃至全世界都拥有超高人气。腾讯先是获得了这款游戏在中国大陆地区的代理权，几年之后，又在2011年2月，以4亿美元的价格收购了这家位于美国加利福尼亚州圣莫妮卡的独立游戏开发商。《英雄联盟》受益于电子竞技游戏业的蓬勃发展，如今已成为中国大陆地区以及世界其他地区玩家甚众的大型“游戏”。
In June 2012, Tencent purchased a 48.4% minority stake in Cary, N.C.-based independent developer Epic Games for approximately $330 million. The developer is best known for its Unreal Engine 4 technology, which powers big games around the globe from companies like Sony (HellBlade), Bandai Namco (Tekken 7) and Deep Silver (Dead Island 2).
2012年6月，腾讯出资近3.3亿美元，买入了美国纽约的独立游戏开发商Epic Games48.4%的少数股东股份。这家开发商拥有享誉业内的虚拟引擎4（Unreal Engine 4）技术，能为全球各大开发商开发的大型游戏提供技术支持，譬如索尼（Sony）的《HellBlade》、万代南梦宫（Bandai Namco）的《铁拳》（Tekken 7）和Deep Silver的《死亡岛2》（Dead Island 2）。
“As we headed towards a new generation of open, live games, we found that partner in Tencent. Rather than a worldwide retail publishing deal, the Tencent relationship gives Epic a solid publishing partner in Asia while we operate our games and directly serve our customers here in North America and Europe,” said Tim Sweeney, founder and CEO of Epic Games. “It provides all of the benefits of both independence here, and a strong partner in China and elsewhere.”
“我们在进军新一代的开放式实时游戏的过程中，发现了腾讯这位合作伙伴。相较于在全球各地签订不同的零售发行协议，与腾讯的合作能让我们安心在北美和欧洲地区运营游戏并直接服务当地客户的同时，在亚洲市场获得一位值得信任的发行合作伙伴，”Epic Games创始人兼首席执行官蒂姆o斯文尼表示，“我们与腾讯达成的合作，既能为我们提供在北美及欧洲市场独立运营所带来的全部优势，又能为我们在中国及其他地区带来一位强大的合作伙伴。”
Wang said Tencent’s internal studios are using Unreal Engine 4 technology on several games. Since the investment, Epic Games has been able to migrate to a $19 monthly subscription model for its game engine technology. Epic is also developing a free Unreal Tournament online PC game for the global market.
王波表示，腾讯的内部游戏工作室正在使用虚拟引擎4技术开发数款游戏。自从拿到腾讯的投资后，Epic Games便有了足够的资金，将自己的游戏引擎技术更换为月费19美元的订阅模式。Epic还在开发一款免费的电脑端虚拟巡回赛（Unreal Tournament）网络游戏，拟向全球市场推出。
“There are a lot of new and traditional game companies that are moving into the MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) space based on Tencent’s success with League of Legends,” said Warman. “They are also the go-to company for all U.S. companies with an Asian ambition and a lot of game developers that are seeking investment. Tencent plays a pivotal role in aligning game business models and individual game titles on a global scale.”
“鉴于腾讯通过《英雄联盟》取得的成功，目前有许多传统及新建的游戏公司都在开始进入多人在线战术竞技（MOBA）游戏领域，”沃曼说道，“所有希望打入亚洲市场的美国公司，以及众多正在寻求外部投资的游戏开发商，都将腾讯视为梦寐以求的合作伙伴。腾讯在全球范围内推广游戏商业模式和各款游戏中，扮演着关键性的角色。”
In addition to Riot and Epic, Tencent has a small office in Palo Alto, Calif., with a group of employees who support the U.S. business. Wang said Tencent Games is always looking for developers who have innovative ideas and properties that could translate and become popular in China.
除了Riot和Epic外，腾讯还在美国加利福尼亚州帕洛阿尔托设立了一间小型的办事处，雇佣了一批员工，负责发展腾讯的美国业务。王波表示，腾讯游戏一直在不断地寻找合适的游戏开发商，希望他们拥有开创性的想法和游戏，适合在本土化后投入中国市场，并且赢得足够高的人气。
“We seek out new talent, cool companies and developers large and small who want to successfully enter the China mobile and online market,” said Wang.
“我们全面寻找想要成功打入中国移动和网络市场的优秀人才、创意公司和开发商，无论其规模大小如何。”王波如此表示。
With a recent evaluation of over $139 billion on the Hong Kong stock exchange, Tencent certainly has the money to invest in games. And it’s early track record has shown nothing but success in an evolving and growing video game landscape.
腾讯日前在香港证券交易所的市值逾1,390亿美元，自然不缺可以投入游戏领域的资金。而其早期出色的成绩已经证明，腾讯在不断发展并成长的视频游戏领域大获成功。
