Grand Games internal and external: agent business is challenged outside the serious

Once the industry overlord Grand game has fallen out of the game industry top three.

February 26, Shanda Game (Nasdaq:game) in the fourth quarter of 2012, when Ti Ying a year-on-year decline of 25.9% to 172 million U.S. dollars, by another game company Sohu swim to a slim advantage-173.5 million dollars beyond. Shanda's net profit for the quarter was 34.1 million, down 29.6%.

The disclosure of the 2012-year financial report revealed that the grand game last year net revenue of 4.682 billion yuan, compared to the 2011 5.282 billion yuan fell 11.36%, while the other has released the earnings of the game giant NetEase, swim are year-on-year growth. Shanda 2012 net profit of 1.113 billion yuan, down 12% year-on-year.

A close to the grand Personage discloses, the grand game today this result, seems already doomed.

The rankings are slipping again.

Shanda Game was founded in 1999 to do end-trip (large client network game) agent started, when the company's "legend" to help its once become China's leading network game operators. Chen also relied on the success of "Legend" and became China's richest man in 2004.

However, in the end of the industry, such as rowing, go backwards. Although the Grand game walk in the fast lane, but Tencent, NetEase and Sohu swim but walk in the Super Lane, will be a grand extrusion of the list of three.

In the second quarter of 2009, Tencent net game revenue from the last year's 2.3259 billion yuan soared 131.5% to 5.3854 billion yuan, and 2009 Grand games total revenue only 4.807 billion yuan, Tencent surpassed.

In the second quarter of 2010, NetEase's game business revenue reached 1.2 billion yuan, an increase of 52.18%; Shanda Games when the quarterly revenue for 1.11 billion yuan, NetEase beyond grand, become China's second largest network game operators. Until today, the grand game has been more than Sohu swim.

At the same time, Shanda is not so well on the key financial index of net profit – a net profit of $34.1 million this quarter and a 75.2 million dollar dip.

The lack of innovative products has been the root cause of the decline in the last two years, according to a staff member who left the game from Shanda. In fact, the foundation of the grand game is still good, with a set of perfect agent network game promotion mode, operating team and operational experience is quite mature.

The number of paid subscribers and the rate of payment for Shanda's games continued to slide in the fourth quarter.

The CEO of Shanda, Zhang, explains that the company's active users are increasing, so the number of paid users has declined. The absolute drop in pay is because the company has turned some users into free users and highly paid users, so the absolute value of the money will fall. And the first quarter is about to launch the "Space-Time Rift" is a time billing game, so the game should be the second quarter of Shanda Games active users and the number of paid users to give some help.

Internal

A close to the grand people think, Shanda as a business to end up the game company, it in the web game development is not very ideal, basically missed the current page travel high-speed growth of this wave. But the two-year web game, mobile phone games and other new games high-speed growth, Shanda in this aspect of the transformation has not been completed. Grand to date a successful web game is not, and Tencent agent of the "seven-male hegemony" monthly revenue has been over billion, the tour of the Seventh Avenue of the "Divine Comedy", "Pinball Hall" monthly revenue has already exceeded 30 million yuan.

For web games, Zhang said at an analyst meeting, Shanda is also considering the needs of users of the web game, while the grand game is characterized by large MMORPG (multiplayer online role play) game, so now the company will combine the two, the introduction of micro-client, I hope that users can travel through the experience of the page, Further experience the game content.

And Shanda has been proud of the game agent business, encountering Tencent's severe challenges.

Grand to do the agency started, almost no independent research and development products. Tencent and other rivals after the rise of the grand market share is gradually preempted.

Tencent has its own direct access to the user channel QQ, with the use of China's most powerful user promotion channels, to talk to the game factory agent, compared to the grand more favorable. A game as long as the promotion through QQ games, you can easily jump over a large scale, Tencent even rarely to other sites to do promotion.

A person familiar with the matter said, Shanda once with Tencent Rob "Sword Spirit"-This is the market is currently the highest expected value of products, the result of the scramble is that Tencent, with 80 million of dollars of copyright money, won the "sword" agent, NCsoft finally chose Tencent, not only because Tencent gave the highest copyright, More important is to fancy Tencent's users in China. This defeat, also seems to show the grand protest in the field of agency.

Copyright is a proxy game as a party, to the developer of one-time copyright fees, in addition to the game is divided, the game will be divided by the developers and agents of the power of the right to speak different.

Grand also in the industry head in the top, in Korea can get "37 open" ratio, Shanda take 70%, game manufacturers get 30%. But then Tencent's game user group gradually developed, and Tencent created a national biggest game platform, and its game developers, the highest can to "91 open", that is, Tencent take 90%, developers take 10%. "Of course, this is not to say that Tencent in the beginning than grand, because most of Tencent games are also" 37 open ", not all" 91 open. " The person said.

In addition, plug is also leading to the decline of the grand game one of the reasons.

A former grand staff revealed: "Agent game in China this market, plug particularly serious." "The Grand game has previously represented the" Eternal Tower ", which is a good product at that time, but this product is to let the plug-in to destroy-" the reason is too much plug, players will not want to play. " It is understood that a grand current game-"The Valley of the Dragon", plug is also more serious.

In the former Grand Staff view, Shanda's biggest problem is the backlog of many agents on the hands of products, in the short term, if you sign more agent products, will likely face great pressure. But he still thinks that Shanda is not without strength, perhaps the next game broke out, grand then can restore their status.