A new turning point for TV games in 2016 from LeTV's new policy

January 20, 2016, the Great Cold, the last solar term of the 24 solar terms, just like the climate, many industries ushered in the coldest and most difficult days.

Every time this time comes, there are always people who are ruthless enough to snatch others' cotton-padded jackets to survive the winter. On the same day, 50 game CPs, well-known institutional investors, and LeTV executives gathered together to discuss the development strategy of smart TV large-screen games in 2016.

Unlike other industries, the video game industry has chosen to stick together to keep warm through the winter.

"I have dealt with many TV manufacturers, and we are very clear about their attitude towards the gaming business. I dare say that no domestic TV terminal manufacturer attaches so much importance to the development of TV games as LeTV does." said a TV game developer who has been cooperating with LeTV for a long time.

Is it really as he said? Faced with the reality of the industry's cold winter and the slowdown in terminal sales, LeTV, as the first Internet company in China to launch smart TVs, must make some progress in 2016 if it wants to give game CPs a reassurance.

Content is still king. Fine operations fully tap the value of the ecosystem

"For large-screen games, there will never be an era where channels are king like with mobile games. Content will always be king. LeTV is not a CP's thigh. Content is what everyone should embrace." Yu Gang, head of LeTV's TV game business, pointed out that he called for high-quality blockbuster games to fill the lack of large-screen game content.

In 2015, although many well-known game manufacturers turned their attention to the smart TV market, judging from the platform's annual performance, content above grade A accounted for less than 5%, and there was a gap in AAA-level games, leaving users with a very narrow range of choices.

Therefore, the primary strategy of LeTV Game Center in 2016 is to unite with powerful partners to attract potential users with well-known IP and console-quality games; to convert active users into paying users by improving the control experience through somatosensory peripherals; to deepen user operations and discover and cultivate high-value users with member-customized games. Yu Gang said that the operation of the large-screen game business is essentially the operation of large-screen game users.

After the meeting, we also learned that this year LeTV will also provide CPs with more self-made film and television IPs for game development, and truly realize the linkage between film and games in the future. In addition, LeTV has also proposed segmented operations, matching different ecological resources according to their attributes for the children's education field with large demand for smart TV large-screen terminals, IP games that are strongly related to film, television and animation, etc., and cooperating with developers at key nodes for key marketing and promotion, giving full play to the power of LeTV's ecology and tapping user value.

Build an evaluation system to ensure the best commercialization of the game

At present, the content of TV games is a mixed bag, and it is common to see low-quality mobile game ports and plagiarized foreign games. However, the attitude of some domestic TV game platforms or terminal halls towards game content is "indifferent, the more the better." The current situation of mixed quality has affected users' perception of TV games to a certain extent.

In response to this situation, in 2016, LeTV Game Center will use a new evaluation system to rate games, ensuring that products above grade A can obtain the most core recommendation resources. From game selection, project establishment, access to operation iteration, there are full-time product managers responsible for docking and optimization. For the first time, a complete cooperation mechanism has been established on the large-screen side to operate users and products together with partners.

In addition, LeTV also hopes that developers can provide LeTV with first release of games. Judging from the reactions of developers at the meeting, if LeTV is willing to treat TV games with sincerity, some developers are willing to accept exclusive first release. CP was interviewed on this.

"Exclusive first launch will only have opportunities in mature markets. Otherwise, it depends on who is more willing to invest. At present, it is not ruled out that LeTV or CP is willing to try. TV games are different from mobile games and cannot be made according to the idea of ​​mobile games. It is possible that CP will not make income to support LeTV, or LeTV will give a certain amount of advance payment. The latter is more likely. LeTV still has opportunities in this regard."

After the meeting, we also learned that this year LeTV is preparing to try external distribution services on mobile phones and TVs.

Subsidizing game CPs encourages developers to maintain industry enthusiasm

As the valuation of the living room economy centered on smart TVs continues to rise, large-screen games, as an important component of smart TV content, are also gaining more and more attention.

Data from LeTV Game Center in 2015 showed that LeTV Super TV had about 1.43 million game users, of which 360,000 were active users, accounting for 25%, and 21,000 were paying users, accounting for 1.47%. Among the 5 million actual users, 80% were potential users who clicked on games. The ARPPU value of online games was as high as 266.79. The quarterly ARPU grew by more than 40% month-on-month, and revenue grew by more than 80% month-on-month.

These data verify that large-screen gaming is gradually being accepted by users. On the one hand, the ever-enhanced TV performance provides a fertile ground for the development of games; on the other hand, LeTV's deep cultivation in the field of smart TV games in recent years has accumulated a group of high-quality game users, and the exploration of the large-screen somatosensory gaming ecosystem with user experience as the core has also attracted more and more users to participate.

Yang Yongqiang, CTO of LeTV and Chairman of LeTV Cloud Computing Co., Ltd., believes that being the first in the industry does not mean business prosperity. The lack of user experience has meant that large-screen games have not been truly activated, which also means huge opportunities for TV game developers.

It is understood that in 2016, LeTV's Super TV ownership target is 11 million, and LeTV Game Center is targeting to increase the user share to 36%. The annual revenue of the game business is expected to be 189 million. At that time, partners will share at least 40 million in profit in advance. LeTV's somatosensory game partner plan is still being implemented. Liang Jun, president of LeTV Zhixin, also made it clear that he does not rule out opening up equity at the capital level to outstanding partners in the future.

At present, LeTV is not the only one that has clearly expressed its support for developers. Xiaomi has also publicly stated that it will give benefits to TV game developers to stimulate their creative enthusiasm. Liu Tangzhi, president of Skyworth Group's color TV business unit, has also clearly stated that he will reserve development space for the development of TV games in TV hardware configuration.

Although the development of the TV game industry is not as hot as in early 2015, with the joint efforts of many parties, LeTV believes that the domestic large-screen game explosion period will come three years earlier and will detonate the global large-screen game market in 2017.

The Beginning of Spring is not far after the Great Cold. After the meeting, Yang Yongqiang posted the following message on his circle of friends: "Today is the Great Cold. After enduring the loneliness of winter, we can see the spring flowers of March." Finally, he also used this sentence to encourage his colleagues.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.