China is reshaping the global games market based on vast capital and original content. Tencent's subsidiary Riot Games has risen as the center of esports with 'League of Legends (LoL)' and 'Valorant', while HoYoverse has secured a global subculture fan base with the 'Genshin Impact' and 'Honkai' series. Additionally, the console action game 'Black Myth: Wukong', which modernizes the Journey to the West, has succeeded worldwide.
◇ Tencent, the invisible hand of the global games market
According to the gaming industry on the 22nd, Tencent's game sector revenue was approximately 179.9 billion yuan (35.7 trillion won) last year, maintaining its position as the world's top gaming company. In the first half of this year, Tencent's game sector revenue grew 4.07% year-on-year to 96.6 billion yuan (about 19.2 trillion won), further widening the gap with other gaming companies.
Tencent plays an 'invisible hand' role in the global games market through its immense capital and aggressive investments. Since acquiring Riot Games in 2011, it has strengthened its influence by acquiring renowned game developers such as Finland's Supercell, France's Dontnod, and America's Epic Games.
In particular, Riot Games, incorporated as a wholly-owned subsidiary in 2015, is a prominent success story of Tencent's investments. Although its headquarters is in Los Angeles, United States, it is regarded as a symbol of China's capital's global influence due to Tencent's 100% ownership.
Building on this success, Tencent is shifting the center of esports to China. 'League of Legends (LoL)' and 'Valorant' are blockbuster global hits produced by Riot Games, rewriting the history of esports. Riot Games has completely pushed out Blizzard, which was the absolute leader in the PC gaming ecosystem, based on these two games.
This year's Valorant Champions tournament held in Seoul recorded 9.1 million concurrent viewers and 44.3 million total viewers. The League of Legends World Championship also surpassed 50 million peak concurrent viewers, continuing its global success. These achievements are evaluated as a result of the synergy between Riot Games' content production capabilities and Tencent's capital.
China has proactively pioneered subculture, which has recently emerged as a major genre in the gaming market. A notable example is HoYoverse. Through the 'Genshin Impact' and 'Honkai' series, HoYoverse has showcased the potential of Chinese gaming content and secured a global subculture fan base.
◇ 'Black Myth: Wukong' shows potential in console gaming
China is also expanding into the console gaming market. 'Black Myth: Wukong' (hereafter referred to as Wukong), developed by the Chinese small and medium-sized game company Game Science, is China's first AAA console action game that modernizes the Journey to the West. AAA games are large projects that boast high quality due to significant production costs and manpower.
Console gaming is considered a field with high entry barriers; however, Wukong achieved remarkable success by selling over 20 million copies within just a month of its release in August. Notably, Wukong became the first Chinese game to be nominated for the 'Game Awards' Game of the Year (GOTY), often referred to as the Oscars of the game industry. Although it did not win, there are forecasts that it won't be long before China claims the GOTY, which has been alternately won by American, Japanese, and European game companies.
Path of Exile 2 (POE2), developed by Grinding Gear Games, a New Zealand indie game studio under Tencent, is gaining popularity surpassing the representative hack and slash game Diablo IV. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has attracted attention by verifying himself as a POE2 user. According to SteamDB, a game platform statistics site, POE2 ranked 4th in global popularity as of the 20th.
Experts analyze that the growth of the Chinese gaming industry has benefited from a 'government-led cultural resurgence as a long-term strategy.' They note that in the early 2000s, China laid the foundation by benchmarking Korea's successful online gaming market and has since arrived at the present through thorough preparation.
Professor Kim Jeong-tae of Dongyang University noted, 'China actively attracted Korean game developers and small to medium-sized game companies to absorb online game production know-how' and added, 'After the 2017 Korean Wave ban, they concentrated on developing technology and content based on the domestic market, resulting in major games like Genshin Impact and Wukong.'
As China's presence in the global gaming market grows, Korean game companies are bound to face a setback. Professor Kim stated, 'We should induce fresh ideas and experimental games by expanding research funding for domestic master's and doctoral researchers.'