Today, the entire Internet platform is facing a bottleneck period of peak traffic and incremental slowdown, and the game streaming industry is not spared. User growth is nearing the ceiling, and the game streaming industry has entered the stock game stage. This also indicates that the second half of industry competition has officially begun.

In this context, the development strategies of major platforms are also quietly shifting, from a model that pursues rapid expansion in the past to a path that focuses more on sustainable development. Simply put, be steady and far-reaching, find practical ways to develop and achieve breakthroughs in performance in the face of many challenges.

Before the US stock market on March 26, DOYU.US (DOYU.US) released its 2023 financial report. By analyzing the gray line of the financial report, you will find that the development of Betta also confirmed this logic.

Accelerated business transformation and continuous optimization of revenue structures

According to the announcement, in 2023, Betta's revenue reached 5.53 billion yuan (RMB, same below). Despite a year-on-year contraction in revenue, the company's net profit gave the market some surprise. In the same period, Betta successfully turned a loss into a profit, and adjusted net profit reached 154 million yuan.

This has also aroused many investors' questions and confusion. Why is revenue falling? Under these circumstances, why did net profit turn a loss into a profit?

According to the author, the decline in revenue is mainly due to the short-term pain caused by Betta's active contraction of some inefficient businesses.

As far as game streaming platforms are concerned, for a long time, in order to compete for market share, they once conducted a wide-ranging and high-investment business layout. And as the industry as a whole reaches a more complex stage, it is necessary for the platform to re-examine the overall business. Therefore, at a time when Betta is determined to follow a long-term sustainable development path, actively reducing inefficient businesses is a normal commercial consideration, which also means that the industry is returning to more rational management. By actively shrinking inefficient businesses, reallocating resources to core businesses with higher profit potential and market competitiveness, and achieving refined operations, Betta can concentrate more energy and improve the operational efficiency and profitability level of the core business.

Judging from Betta's earnings report for the current period, this strategy has been the first to receive feedback on the revenue side.

Financial data shows that in 2023, Betta's new non-live streaming business revenue in the fourth quarter reached 275 million yuan, a sharp increase of 226.5% over the previous year. After rapid growth, Betta's non-live streaming business revenue in Q4 of 2023 accounted for 21.22% of its total revenue for the same period. Behind the sharp increase in revenue, the scale effect was unleashed, driving the platform's ability to monetize continuously.

More importantly, along with the rapid growth in revenue from the non-live streaming business and a significant increase in the share of total revenue, it indicates that the company's business transformation is steadily accelerating and has moved towards a deeper stage of development. As the pace of transformation accelerates, the non-live streaming business, as an important gripper for Betta to achieve diversification, will help the platform gradually eliminate its dependence on rewards and optimize the revenue structure, and is expected to gradually evolve into a key force driving the company's performance recovery and growth.

The impressive performance of the new non-live streaming business does not mean that the live streaming business has declined. Betta focuses on improving operational efficiency and profitability in the live streaming business, which is also an important reason why the company turned losses into profits. It also proposed an optimal solution for the industry competition mentioned at the beginning.

First, it still depends on the content.In recent years, due to the gradual shift in audience preferences towards high quality, the entire market has also gradually returned to the essence of content. For game live streaming platforms, focusing on content products, creating highly specialized and controllable content and activities, retaining existing users and continuously attracting new users by improving the content ecosystem is the key.

This is also something Betta has been doing for many years since it has taken root in live streaming games. Over the past year, Betta continued to create quality content around games, events, and pan-entertainment. Examples include “Gemini Lucky Cup S2,” which features anchor Gemini as the core. Today, the diverse content ecosystem has become a moat that Betta has built for itself.

Second, it depends on refined operation.Fundamentally, being able to accurately capture user needs and provide corresponding content is the key to increasing user stickiness. Based on a diverse competition system, Betta has built a content ecosystem that includes various forms of live streaming, video, graphic information, and community interaction in response to the specific needs of different user groups.

This efficient operation strategy not only deepens the game culture within the Betta community, but also effectively enhances user loyalty and activity through the appeal of high-quality content. In this way, Betta successfully used content as a key factor in increasing user stickiness, further consolidating its leading position in the field of game streaming.

epilogue

Betta has always focused on building a gaming e-sports content ecosystem and is constantly seeking to develop new businesses. Today, the live streaming business is developing steadily, and new businesses are accelerating, laying a solid foundation for the company's long-term development.

Furthermore, the live game circuit is still a 100-billion-level growth track. According to the “2023 China eSports Industry Report”, domestic e-sports users will be around 488 million in 2023. The counterpart behind this is an increasingly diverse user base and demand for richer live streaming content. Betta, which returns to the essence of content, will also benefit from this.

Now, Betta has found the best solution to the game. Following this route, which has been proven to be viable, Betta's future has made people see endless possibilities.