Data research institute DataEye released the "2024 first-half mainland mobile game effect advertising white paper", which showed that the number of mobile game apps that were invested in the first half of 2024 was about 0.0146 million, down 9.9% year-on-year, the lowest in nearly three years compared to 0.0162 million in the first half of 2023.

On the other hand, although the number of small game ads is still growing, the growth rate has slowed down compared to 2022 and 2023. The number of WeChat Mini Games invested in the first half of 2024 exceeded 0.0139 million, an increase of 42% year-on-year. In the same period of 2022 and 2023, they increased by 95% and 73% year-on-year, respectively.

On June 25th, the National News and Publishing Administration announced the approval of 104 domestic online games for 2024 June. There are also 5 games for which approval has been changed.

The number of game licenses has once again increased, and products from Tencent, 37 Interactive Entertainment Network Technology Group, G-bits Network Technology, and iDreamSky have been approved.

In the second quarter of this year, Tencent's Dungeon Fighter: Origin was launched on May 20th, and basically ranks first in the iOS best-selling games list. Bilibili's Three Kingdoms: Destiny was launched on June 10th and is stable in the 3-5 spots on the iOS best-selling games list. Xd inc's Travel Muffin maintains a top 15 ranking, with a high of 4th; some long-line games have also performed well, such as the best ranking of 10th for g-bits' Odyssey on the iOS best-selling games list, which has shifted to 20-40th in the list.

Debon Securities released a research report stating that Tencent's DNF and Bilibili Three Strategies and other outstanding performances may usher in changes in the market for future high-quality game content developers and mobile application stores.

Guotai Junan Securities research is concerned about the summer and the whole second half of the year of the game industry's product schedule. Currently, the overall game industry is at a low valuation, among which the companies with rich and high-quality content reserves and solid fundamentals will be the first to recover. In the medium and long term, the companies with leading advantages in game development, publishing, AI technology application, etc. are also expected to gradually improve.

Internet game-related companies:

NetEase-S (09999): The gaming business started to pick up in the second half of the year and is expected to increase revenue by 10% year-on-year. This is mainly due to the contribution of new games such as the "Endless Haven" mobile game, the gradual elimination of the impact of some PC games adjustment, and the return of Blizzard games. NetEase announced that the "Endless Haven" mobile game will be officially released on July 25th. The "Endless Haven" IP has been hot since 2019, with more than 40 million global IP players and more than 30 million mobile game reservations. While retaining the characteristics of sword collision and light skill duels in the end game, the mobile game has also made some lightweight gameplay and innovations in its operations.

Tencent: Zhong Yin International expects Tencent's game revenue to increase by 10% year-on-year in the second half of the year, mainly due to the increased revenue contribution of the <>(DNF mobile game), and the continuous improvement of overseas game operations and commercialization. Relying on leading gaming development and overseas expansion capabilities, Tencent is expected to maintain its leading position.

Bilibili-W: The mobile game business has recovered. After the pre-download of <> was launched, it ranked in the top three of the iOS free chart for three consecutive days, and ranked in the top five of the iOS best-selling chart on the first day of launch. It is expected to drive Bilibili's game revenue growth better than expected in the second half of the year.

XD INC: The self-developed idle gameplay <> has kept its position in the top ten of the iOS best-selling chart since it was launched on Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Chinese servers. It is expected to be a major incremental contribution to a performance in 2024. With a stable issue of domestic licenses and many blockbuster games in the summer, TapTap platform activity and revenue are expected to maintain rapid growth.

China Ruyi - On May 7, China Ruyi announced the acquisition of 100% equity of Beijing Youai Huyu Technology Co., Ltd. under ByteDance. The transaction price was RMB 259 million. At present, the core asset of Youai Huyu is <>.

Pop Mart (09992): Its first self-developed mobile game, "Dream Home", was officially launched on June 27th.