① When will Tencent's gaming business pick up? ② What does the market think about the Dungeon Warriors mobile game?
Today, Sensor Tower announced the global revenue rankings of Chinese mobile game publishers for April this year, including$TENCENT (00700.HK)$,$NTES-S (09999.HK)$They are all on the list. Furthermore, Tencent announced its first quarter results yesterday. Among them, the performance of the game business attracted market attention.
According to the Sensor Tower store intelligence platform, in April 2024, a total of 39 Chinese manufacturers were shortlisted in the top 100 revenue list of global mobile game publishers, drawing a total of 2.07 billion US dollars.
It is worth noting that the share of Chinese mobile game developers in the global TOP100 mobile game publisher revenue list rose to 40.2% in April, up 1.8% from 38.4% in March.
In addition to this list, the top 100 Chinese mobile game publishers in the world are: Sports World, Shengchang Network, Perfect World, Game Card Network, SmartStar Connect, Glacier Games, Bilibili, Duoyi Network, and Yale Technology, in order.
Also, judging from last month's mobile game revenue rankings in the Chinese App Store, Tencent's Wang Zhe Rongyao, Peace Elite, and League of Legends mobile games are all in the top ten on this list.
Tencent's gaming business is expected to pick up
In addition to the game list above, the latest financial report released by Tencent Holdings shows that the company's revenue for the last quarter was 159.5 billion yuan, exceeding market expectations of 158.8 billion yuan, up 6.3% from last year and 3% from the previous quarter. In terms of profit, Tencent's net profit reached 41.9 billion yuan, up 62% year on year and 55% month-on-month, exceeding market expectations of 34.5 billion yuan. Adjusted net profit was $50.27 billion, up 54% year on year, and also exceeded market expectations of 43 billion yuan.
Despite a year-on-year decline in revenue from Tencent's domestic game business, game streaming revenue has resumed a 3% year-on-year increase, leading to a 9.73% year-on-year increase in deferred revenue in the first quarter. This growing trend is expected to gradually translate into corporate revenue, driving a recovery in domestic gaming revenue.
Ma Huateng, founder and CEO of Tencent, pointed out that in the first quarter, the company optimized and adjusted various major game teams in the domestic and foreign markets. These adjustments have already begun to show positive results. Total game turnover has increased, laying a solid foundation for the restorative growth of game revenue in the next few quarters.
Furthermore, Tencent Games recently announced that “Dungeons and Warriors: Origins” (“DNF Mobile Game” for short) will be officially launched on May 21, 2024. Earlier, Tencent executives revealed that the mobile game performed well in closed beta, thus speeding up its launch process.
Industry experts predict that major game companies' key titles will compete fiercely in the second quarter. In particular, Tencent's “DNF Mobile Game”, which returned after a lapse of three years, has become one of the most anticipated new games in China this year, attracting the attention of many players.
Morgan Stanley analysts expect that Tencent's domestic game business may have bottomed out in the first quarter, and “Dungeons and Warriors” launched in the second quarter is expected to be a turning point in business growth.
Editor/Jeffrey