During the national epidemic, many things have happened in the game industry, large and small, and as one of the few tertiary industries that can still maintain high production and high income, it is reasonable to have some lively news from all sides, but when all the conditions are gathered a little, up and down, the situation becomes intriguing.
Version number
The first is the good news after 10 days of "sealing" in Shanghai, and the restart of the version number that has violated most of the year has brought hope to the game market that has been sluggish for more than three quarters. Under the pressure of the continuous slowdown in the steady economy, the release of the version number is to boost the effect, but from the new batch of reviewed game lists, it is not difficult to find the information revealed in it.
In this batch of editions, most of them are games with a long application time, including the developers of games such as "Pottery Master", "Sandstone Town Time", "Sword Net 3 Origins" and so on, who have announced their submission dates on social media, all before the suspension. Combined with the actual situation of suspension for more than half a year, in fact, this batch of games was originally the list of versions that were stuck before the "shutdown" in July last year.
It is impossible for the version number to be stopped without a reason, and the preliminary conclusion is that the games that have been reviewed by the previous version number do not conform to the policy of the competent authorities on the development of the domestic game industry. That is, the old norms do not achieve the old goals.
During the period of version number suspension, the relevant policies were silent, but the restriction policies on the consumption behavior and online time of minors in the use of the Internet were still being optimized. Manufacturers quickly implemented, refunded recharge, and limited one hour of underage play time on weekends. Whether the core appeal of the competent authorities in the recent stage is the control of minors' addiction to games, then as long as the problems of the real-name authentication system are not repaired, the threshold of version number review cannot play any significant role.
notice
The second thing is the "Notice", that is, the "Notice on Strengthening the Management of Game Live Broadcasting on Online Audio-visual Program Platforms" issued by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television on April 15, which mentions six contents such as content management of live broadcasting platforms, code of conduct for anchors, participation of illegal and unethical artists in live broadcasting, and protection of minors, of which the first one is more concerned by the game industry:
1. It is strictly forbidden for online audio-visual platforms to disseminate illegal games. All kinds of online audio-visual programs such as online film and television dramas, online variety shows, online live broadcasts, and short videos must not broadcast online games without the approval of the competent departments, and must not drain illegal game content on all types of platforms through forms such as live broadcast rooms.
The literal meaning is to prohibit the dissemination of illegal games through the platform, and the follow-up explanation is given, mainly all kinds of online audio-visual program platforms. Violations include no version number approval.
Similar to the notice of "banning games without version numbers", in fact, this is not the first case. As early as 2016, among the general provisions on online live broadcasting issued by the Ministry of Culture, it was also possible to find items that prohibited the live broadcast of games without the approval of the version number. At that time, several live broadcasting platforms consciously banned some violent games with sensitive content.
Considering that the notice has just been issued, before the specific penalty clause is introduced, in the next stage of the period, the live broadcast platform may still be in a state of "horse running, dancing photo jump", including the release of the "notice" so far, has not had a big impact on live broadcasting. But the platform side will definitely prepare for the big changes in the future, and maybe we will see some adjustments and changes, such as the home page algorithm and business sharing, etc., to adjust the main business direction.
Other topics of interest are new media platforms, including game media. In essence, game live broadcasting, game audio-visual programs and game industry observation will involve games without version numbers, from the content of the "notice", other new media forms are not within the scope of this notice, but combined with the previous "Game Console Practical Technology UCG" entity magazine publication delay and content adjustment, or let many people feel pessimistic about the future.
Implemented in the form of multimedia, the Jingwei of "spreading illegal games" is relatively vague, can not live game content can not edit the screen, no picture can not be mentioned, the game that is applying for a version number can not be promoted, can not be criticized without publicity, can not publish overseas game awards, and even specific to overseas game developers and manufacturers... This part actually depends on the strength of the platform to follow up, and it is bound to the degree of promotion of the video platform, if the live broadcast is implemented faster, then the pressure to make a program and comment on the media will be greater.
Back to the game, what will happen after the real ban is implemented? In fact, overseas game manufacturers rely on live broadcast platforms to explore the dividend period of domestic users has passed, the new generation of domestic players for the tv large game brand cognition initially established, embodied in the Steam Chinese the number of users almost stopped growing, last year also appeared "Fading Light 2" in the country outdoor advertising light sign debut publicity, the last game of the heat increase is not obvious. In other words, players who are willing to touch AAA games no longer need live promotion, and live viewers who are still on the sidelines will not have a big impact on game sales. For domestic core players, the sound of overseas games in society should not be too large, and the restriction of video channels is not harmful to the game ecology, returning to a niche and stable state of dissemination, just like other entertainment hobbies in modern society.
Light work
The third thing that happened recently, compared to the first two, is more hidden, Tencent adjusted the service of its network accelerator earlier this month, after the so-called "upgrade", the software will not provide overseas game acceleration services. Of course, Tencent also knows that the most important function of the game accelerator is to play external servers, so it provides a refund window, which is actually to withdraw from the competition in this field.
For this situation, the consumer group of the accelerator also questioned, is it tencent received some inside information, this year will have a devastating impact on the accelerator market? At this point, the author believes that it is unlikely, after all, if Tencent can get the wind in advance, then there is no reason for other head manufacturers in this industry not to know, and as of now, only Tencent Accelerator has made changes in the accelerator business.
There are two interpretations of this situation.
The first is Tencent's internal adjustment. To be fair, Tencent's accelerator business has not achieved very good results for many years, compared to its status in other areas of the game industry, and the acceleration package for overseas games is not the first choice of players among many accelerators, and even said, it cannot squeeze into the top five. Therefore, in the case of unclear future forms, Tencent closed the accelerator business. Among the multiple possibilities of common influence, poor revenue is the most intuitive and most important reason.
Second, the emergence of the accelerator market actually lowers the threshold for playing external service games. If you want to connect to the external service, the simplest case is direct connection, which is almost impossible to achieve the transmission requirements of online games in most areas for most of the time. The solution is to proxy virtual private network, which requires certain computer network knowledge, and needs to actively contact professional service providers, which is relatively high. Accelerators provide a difficulty between the two, that is, as long as you can pay, you can basically use game accelerators, and this threshold has become quite low with the marketing of accelerators, and it is not acceptable to the outside world. If you want the accelerator to continue to exist, you must only retreat to the gray industry of virtual private network services and control the promotion efforts. Under this judgment, then as the head manufacturer closes the publicity, the accelerator brand of the late-engine post-production will completely lose its competitiveness, so it will withdraw at the right time.
bullet
Whether it's banning or restricting accelerators, the core point around is the uncensored game. As mentioned above, overseas large game manufacturers are not worried about the problem of domestic market publicity and version numbers, and the final direct blow will be domestic games that have not obtained version numbers - they cannot be broadcast live, and the listing process is slow. According to the scale of 2 batches of version numbers per month before the suspension, it is the lifeline of the entire domestic online game market, so as to achieve the overall control scale and eliminate the goal of minors' addiction. As for this, there may be "salami tactics" that will limit the market space of illegal games and gray industries little by little, and the last one will not have a drastic reaction.
In previous articles, we have likened the future changes in the game market to the sword of Damocles, a warning to wanton thugs at any time, and also to a dark cloud, not knowing when to pour, nor to how long it will last. And this time, surrounded by multiple messages, the author believes that it may have become a bullet, a bullet that has been aimed and fired.