Game console market dilemma: Microsoft and Sony are sluggish and content is hard to break through

Although domestic policies have been relaxed, allowing the two major game console giants Microsoft and Sony to officially enter the Chinese market, their sales have been embarrassing. During the recently held 2015 ChinaJoy, Microsoft and Sony only talked about the upcoming games and virtual wearable devices whose listing information has not yet been clarified, but did not mention the most critical sales data.

Market research firm Niko Partners predicts that total sales of Xbox One and PS 4 in China may reach 550,000 units this year; and a report released by HIS predicts that PS4's global sales this year will reach 34 million units and Xbox One will reach 20 million units, which means that console sales in the Chinese market only account for 1% of the world's total.

The long-term ban has made Chinese console game players prefer to buy products from underground and gray markets, which has resulted in a lack of real demand even after the market opens up. In particular, Xbox One and PS4 have been sold overseas for a long time. Unless the next generation of products are launched in the domestic market at the same time as overseas, and policies further open up restrictions on some functions and content, it will be difficult to attract mainstream console game users to purchase through formal channels.

On July 24, the Ministry of Culture lifted a 15-year-old ban and announced the liberalization of domestic production and sales of gaming equipment, which will also bring new shocks to the existing market.

However, potential domestic game consoles that have not yet been launched will also face the same dilemma as Microsoft and Sony. In addition to the impact of the above-mentioned parallel import channels, more importantly, the rapid development of PC and mobile games has also accelerated the erosion of the market share of console games. Previously, Nintendo, a veteran manufacturer that has always adhered to the console territory, had to sound the clarion call to enter the mobile game market.

Cao Di, an analyst at iResearch Consulting, said that what can really help after the policy is relaxed is the content, rather than the sales of the host device itself.

In the past six months, the sales revenue of the Chinese game market of RMB 60.51 billion and the growth rate of the mobile game market of 67.2% all show that ordinary users have increased their recognition of games themselves and their payment habits have matured. It seems to be a good idea to attract and cultivate these users to become console game players, but the biggest difficulty at present is that the existing consoles do not have a large amount of game content to match them.

The gap in the Chinese domestic market has made it impossible for game console giants to escape their current predicament.

Content review period is too long

At the 2014 Shanghai Game Industry Report Conference, Oriental Pearl executive Hu Yong revealed that after the release of the Chinese versions of Microsoft Xbox One and Sony PS 4 consoles, game sales in the country reached more than 300,000 sets (physical version + download version); the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association's Game Working Committee stated in a report that based on an average price of 250 yuan, the overall game sales revenue was less than 100 million yuan.

On July 29, Sony held an event with the slogan "Everything for players". Its Japanese executives even gave an introduction in Chinese only and showed a series of cool game clips. However, information showed that there were only three games that would be launched soon.

Data shows that Xbox has launched 40 games in China, of which 8 are domestically produced games, 20 are under review, and 60 are under development. However, Hu Yong revealed that the number of developers signed has reached more than 150.

One of the main reasons for the scarcity of game products on the market is that the government's censorship system on game content remains strict.

The game "Halo: The Master Chief Collection", which is about to be launched in the Chinese version of Xbox One, applied for it in October 2014, but it was not approved by the relevant departments until the end of May this year.

"Approval cannot be generalized, and some games take longer." The head of the game developer 343 Industries told Tencent Technology that although some games have passed the review, there are still intermediary agencies to help them ensure that the game content does not contain content and images banned by the Chinese government.

Such strict requirements and time-consuming review process have directly caused many game developers to dare not rush into this market.

Ledo Games once supported Microsoft in porting its games to Windows Phone. The company's COO Su Meng told Tencent Technology that the console game has begun communicating with Microsoft and may be restarted recently, but he also emphasized that the market still needs to be observed to see the specific direction of the policy.

Concerns of domestic game manufacturers: not adapting to the local environment

"They can sometimes provide a certain degree of porting, and even provide a certain amount of development fees for particularly large works." A Chinese game developer told Tencent Technology that Microsoft and Sony have promised to provide corresponding help and resource support to many Chinese game developers, but the effect does not seem to be obvious.

Chen Libiao, COO of Youzu Interactive, said: "We have always kept an eye on this market, but I think China entered the console market too late. From the perspective of the entire gaming industry, the degree of freedom of gaming devices is getting higher and higher." In his view, in the future, games themselves will be related to application scenarios and types, but not to devices.

Most Chinese game developers have adapted to a series of new rules resulting from the rapid rise of the mobile game market in recent years, such as the shortened development cycle compared to PC games and the large-scale use of IP to promote marketing results. However, these methods are difficult to apply to the development of console games.

"Some of our IPs are influential enough, but they are not suitable for this platform because professional console players have higher requirements for the visuals and interactivity of the game itself," said Chen Jianyu, president of Feiyu Technology.

In fact, Chinese game developers generally believe that most users do not want high-end heavy games, but still value fun, simplicity and ease, which makes Android game boxes, which also occupy the living room screen, more marketable than game consoles. The latter only needs to optimize mobile games accordingly without content review.

Giants paint a rosy picture: pinning hopes on virtual reality

The rise of virtual reality in China this year seems to have provided game console manufacturers with another way to attract users and developers.

When the Chinese version of PS4 was still in its early stages of sales, Sony Computer Worldwide Studios President Yoshida Shuhei showed Chinese developers its latest virtual reality device Project Morpheus and announced support for the latter's development. Yoshida Shuhei said, "The development cost of Project Morpheus is lower than that of ordinary PS4 applications."

Sony said that developers with experience in PS platform development will find it easier to get started, especially those who also have experience in 3D game development. They also said that it can take as little as two days to port products on the Oculus platform to Project Morpheus. However, there are still some basic technical requirements behind this.

However, Sony said that this wearable product, which was developed simultaneously with the PS4, may not be released globally until 2016, and the specific launch location and time are still to be determined.

Many senior executives of game manufacturers who were interviewed by Tencent Technology generally believe that the increase in hardware types can create a more exciting gaming experience, and believe that the future of the game industry will include diversified development. Some of them have even tested products that have been launched and prototypes, but for now they have only expressed interest.

Analyst Cao Di said, "Whether it is based on virtual reality or augmented reality, it will definitely be an important part of future entertainment, but the market itself has not yet been well developed."

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.