2015 Q3 Mobile Game Market Analysis Report

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After the explosive growth in 2014, the mobile game market has now become a completely red ocean market. And with the disappearance of the mobile phone dividend, user growth has gradually entered a stable period, and mobile game companies have intensified their competition for existing players. This has also led to the debut of many high-quality heavy games in 2015, including some blockbuster games that have dominated the charts for many months. In particular, the full efforts of terminal game manufacturers in 2015 to enter the mobile game market have been a major change in the mobile game market. In the future, it will be more difficult for small companies to survive in the mobile game market, and high-quality resources will be further concentrated in the hands of large companies.

Based on relevant Internet data and surveys, the analyst team of Sutu Research Institute analyzed the mobile game market in the third quarter of 2015 and interpreted the development trends of the mobile game market.

China's mobile game market size reached 12.86 billion in Q3 2015

In the third quarter of 2015, the mobile game market size reached 12.86 billion yuan, a month-on-month increase of 5.83% and a year-on-year increase of 68% compared with the third quarter of 2014. The mobile game market size gradually slowed down in the third quarter, mainly because the mobile game market has entered the mature stage from the primary stage, and the growth of the number of mobile game players is gradually approaching saturation. In addition, in 2015, high-quality heavy games were the main focus, and the quality of games has been significantly improved.

Leading game companies represented by Tencent Games, NetEase Games, and Victory Games (Zhongyou Games) have taken advantage of their own advantages in technology, operations, and distribution to further erode the market share of small and medium-sized enterprises. The overall threshold of the mobile game industry is constantly increasing, and small and medium-sized game companies are facing bankruptcy issues, and the industry reshuffle is gradually intensifying.

In the third quarter of 2015, the number of mobile game users increased to 445.81 million, a month-on-month increase of 1.02% and a year-on-year increase of 50.2%. The mobile game user group has gradually grown slowly. After the explosive growth in 2014, the growth potential in 2015 has gradually reached saturation. The growth rate of mobile game users has also gradually entered a stable period. Mobile game companies have also gradually shifted from the number of games to the quality. Improving the survival time of a single game and the growth of players have become the consensus of the current development of the mobile game industry.

The payment rate of mobile game players has increased significantly this quarter, with the overall proportion of paying users reaching 8.1%. Among them, online games, mainly MOBA, role-playing and other high-quality heavy games, are highly playable and interactive, and are more attractive to players, with significantly higher payment rates.

The mobile game publisher market changed dramatically in the third quarter of 2015. Victory Games (Zhongshouyou) continued to hold the top spot in the publisher market with a share of 18.8%. Longtu Games also performed well in this quarter, ranking second with a share of 14.3%. Ledo Games declined slightly in this quarter, ranking third with a score of 13.6%. Kaiying Network ranked fourth with a score of 10.9%. Kunlun Games, Chukong Technology, Youdaoyi, Feiliu, Recool Technology, and Palm Technology continued to rank first.

In this quarter, Victory Games (Zhongshouyou) launched a number of high-quality heavy games based on its advantages in high-quality IP layout, including "New Chinese Paladin" and "Hello Kitty Happy Elimination". Through the strategic layout of self-development + distribution, it has consolidated its position in the publisher market. Kaiying Network uses online games and mobile application product distribution as the main way to realize traffic, and has successfully completed the closed loop of the Internet ecosystem. Its representative works include "Shushan Legend", "Miracle of All People", "Flame" and so on.

In the third quarter of 2015, in the mobile game R&D market, Tencent Games took advantage of its internal resources to gain 26.2% of the market share, continuing to dominate the charts for several quarters. NetEase Games made a successful breakthrough with several hit games this quarter, taking up 10.1% of the market. Ledong Excellence ranked third with 6.9% this quarter. Wanxie Technology, Victory Games (Zhongshouyou), Yinhan Technology, Digital Sky, Linekong Online, Aiglas, Muhe Network and Palm Fun Technology ranked in that order.

NetEase Games launched a number of blockbuster games in 2015, among which Fantasy Westward Journey and Westward Journey Online are its representative works of porting PC games to mobile games. Mature PC games have attracted many old players to return through porting to mobile games. Old players can reminisce about their feelings and chat with people who share the same aspirations.

Victory Games (Zhongyou Games) released a number of casual mobile games this quarter, among which Hello Kitty Happy Elimination was a casual mobile game masterpiece launched immediately after it released its game brand "Victory Games". With the continuous launch of heavy mobile games, the mobile game market has gradually entered a segmented market. Among them, the casual mobile game market has not seen a sharp decline in the number of players due to the continuous and strong launch of heavy mobile games, but has shown a growing trend. Casual mobile games continue to innovate in the segmented market to meet the growing needs of players, and the diverse game modes bring more fun to players. In addition, "Battle of Sand City" authorized by Shanda and "New Chinese Paladin" jointly developed with Dahua also performed well in the third quarter. Since 2014, it has always adhered to the core of "distribution and self-research" and the three major businesses of "IP, mobile e-sports and fans" as its development strategy, and has achieved relatively excellent results.

The proportion of female game users is gradually increasing

In Q3 2015, male users accounted for 53% of the mobile Internet market, while female users accounted for 47%; while male players accounted for 64% of the mobile game market, which was significantly higher than female players. It can be seen that male players love games more than female players, especially role-playing and strategy mobile games, which are sought after by many male players. Female players have a special liking for casual and simulation games. If the game has beautiful and cute graphics and high playability, female players are much more willing to pay than male players. Mobile games have become a tool for people to kill time in their daily lives. Although the proportion of female players is currently low, its growth potential is high.

Through investigation, it is found that after more than two years of precipitation, mobile game players have gradually moved to third-tier and lower cities. In the future, third-tier and lower cities will become the focus of competition in the mobile game market. First-tier cities have more ways to consume entertainment and leisure, so the phenomenon of mobile game players being diverted is more prominent. However, the leisure and entertainment methods in third-tier and lower cities are relatively simple, especially in the industrialized cities on the southeast coast. The factories are even more closed, and entertainment and leisure tend to be spent through mobile games. In addition, China's third-tier and lower cities have a large population base and are the main population of our country. Combining the above reasons, the mobile game market will develop towards prefecture-level cities in the future.

The distribution of mobile games in Q3 2015 shows that card games and role-playing games are equally popular, accounting for 27% each; casual games are ranked third, accounting for 15%. 2015 is a year of rapid development of heavy mobile games. Although casual mobile games are squeezed by high-quality heavy games, they still have a 15% market share, and the market potential of casual mobile games is still huge.

Zheng Chunhui, executive director of the Sotu Research Institute, believes that the future market potential of casual mobile games is still considerable, especially for female players, which can not only have a higher payment rate, but also a longer game life. In the future, casual mobile games will develop in the direction of segmentation and specialization, and improve the playability of games by continuously meeting the needs of players. The mobile game market is no longer a type-oriented market, but will enter a pattern of a hundred flowers blooming. Popular games are no longer concentrated in card or role-playing products, but are developing in a diversified direction.