Recently, the gaming industry has been really lively.
On March 12th, the official blog of NetEase's "Legend of the Condor Heroes" reposted the official blog of "Swordsman Online Version 3" (hereinafter referred to as "Swordsman Online 3"), stating that "in 2024, there are still game equipment repair fees to be charged?" Xishanju's official blog of "Swordsman Online 3" released a notice the day before, announcing the permanent cancellation of in-game equipment repair fees.
Regarding NetEase's provocation, Yu Yuxian, the producer of "Swordnet 3", posted a blog that night, directly pointing to NetEase's hype, "suggesting that NetEase games learn to cancel equipment repairs for Swordnet 3!" Afterwards, Tencent's "Tiandao" mobile game came to an end and reached a positive linkage with "Swordnet 3".
Behind this dispute is the overall decline of the MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing, hereinafter referred to as "MMO") track, with competition becoming more intense, and the price war in the gaming industry has already begun.
Fighting and standing in line between giants
On March 11th, the official Weibo account of the game "Swordnet 3" announced a permanent cancellation of equipment repair fees and a 50% reduction in equipment coin prices for all stores starting from next season. After the news was released, it quickly became a hot topic on Weibo.
Jianwang 3 is a domestic 3D martial arts MMO computer client game developed by Kingsoft Software Company's Xishanju Studio. It officially began public testing in 2009. Meanwhile, the mobile game "Swordnet 3 Unbounded" has obtained a license and is planned to be launched in the first half of 2024 to achieve full platform connectivity.
This price reduction was not originally related to other game companies, but NetEase's official blog for "Shooting Eagle" reposted the official blog for "Swordnet 3" and joked, "In 2024, there are still game equipment repair fees? Players can rest assured that Shooting Eagle is here. What are you dissatisfied with? Let's help you roll down the price together!"
Faced with provocation, Yu Yuxian, the producer of "Swordnet 3", posted a blog that night, pointing out that NetEase was riding on the hype, "Cheap or not is not just a matter of words, we will live for 15 years before we say it", and suggested that NetEase games learn from Swordnet 3 and cancel equipment repairs! "
Faced with a verbal altercation between the two sides, Tencent came to an end, but instead of fighting, it chose to stand in line. Tencent's "Tiandao" mobile game official WeChat account has posted Weibo and @ the official blog of "Jianwang 3". The official blog of "Jianwang 3" has also issued a joint announcement with "Tiandao", forming a new camp between the two sides.
In an interview with the Huaxia Times, Tencent stated, "We have always adhered to an original attitude in our work and acted with sincere words. We also reserve the right to restrain reasonable ridicule within our limits. Let's put ourselves in the same shoes and hope that the martial arts industry will develop healthily and get better."
"The MMO track can be dedicated to polishing products and enhancing product strength to achieve long-term development. Tiandao is an IP game that has been around for many years, and we will also strive to listen to players' voices, try to solve shortcomings, enhance the competitiveness of the product itself, and create a new tomorrow for MMO with the industry." The Tencent source mentioned above also said.
Regarding the issue, the reporter interviewed NetEase and Xishanju, but did not receive a response. In an interview with our reporter, Zhang Shule, an industry analyst in the gaming industry, said, "A verbal battle does not have much practical effect on increasing game popularity. Instead, it brings a rhythm to make players happy and promote its promotional measures to maintain user stickiness."
Another industry insider told our reporter, "MMO is one of the more fiercely competitive sub competition systems in the gaming industry. In some cases where it does not violate the legal boundaries, there are obvious acts of intentional similarity, impolite teasing, and stirring up trouble for players, which often occur."
A noteworthy premise is that as early as March 10th, a set of clothing announced by NetEase's "Against the Cold Water" was suspected of plagiarizing a design from "Tian Dao" three years ago.
In addition, Tencent and NetEase, as the two top domestic gaming companies, have been secretly competing. According to public information, Tencent has already reached a cooperation agreement with Xishanju. As early as April 21, 2017, Kingsoft Software announced that Tencent would strategically invest $143 million in its subsidiary Xishanju, with a 9.9% stake.
Competition intensifies and triggers a price war
Under this wave of farce, in addition to the participation of the aforementioned game players, many game official bloggers have also stepped down and joined the price reduction competition.
In the face of the backlash from Yu Yuxian, the producer of "Sword and Net 3", on March 12th, another martial arts game under NetEase, "One Dream Jianghu", bluntly stated on its official blog that "if you want to fight, come to NetEase's self-developed high degree of freedom MMO benchmark, One Dream Jianghu!" "One Dream Jianghu" also stated that "starting from this Friday (March 15th), One Dream Jianghu will cancel all expenses for equipment repair and armor sacrificial twelve tools repair."
In addition, the official blog of "The Legend of Condor Heroes" also announced that the fashion and accessories directly sold on the "The Legend of Condor Heroes" mall will be permanently priced at 9.9 yuan; Tianxia 3 also announced on Weibo that equipment repair fees will be completely cancelled.
Zhang Shule analyzed that the price war in the gaming industry has already begun, and NetEase has been making similar actions and provocations since last year, such as the 6-yuan skin in "Against the Cold Water", all of which have pointed out and planned. "At the very least, NetEase is the first to launch a price war and ride on hot topics. Its fundamental goal is to reverse the negative reputation it has gained from games such as' spending money to harm the liver ',' yin and yang teachers', and 'even breathing money', which is against the cold." Zhang Shule also analyzed.
The latest financial report shows that NetEase's net revenue in 2023 was 103.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.2%, marking the first time NetEase's annual revenue has exceeded the 100 billion yuan mark. In 2023, NetEase's product year was marked by the explosive growth of two popular games, Egg Party and Against Water Cold. The financial report showed that the "Against Water Cold" series of mobile games set a new milestone in the MMO field, attracting over 100 million active users. The "Against Water Cold" mobile game adheres to the MMO "per capita small payment" business model, and its 6-yuan fashion sales exceeded 100 million units in a single season.
According to the reporter's understanding, before the launch of the mobile game "Against Water Cold", it had expressed its intention to launch a "price war" in the MMO field. The price range of the game's fashion was from 68 yuan to 288 yuan. On July 6, 2023, the mobile game "Against Water Cold" underwent its first update after public testing, and two new fashion sets were launched on the mall, one of which was the "cheapest fashion in MMO history" priced only 6 yuan.
And low-priced fashion is also seen by the outside world as one of the reasons why "Cold Water" is aggressively attracting players despite the overall decline of MMO.
Regarding the market situation and development of the track, Zhang Shule analyzed that MMO, as the absolute mainstream of the PC era, is gradually marginalized in the mobile game era. The entire track is more like a maintenance of existing IPs, and the competition intensity is not strong. "Game manufacturers are more concerned with the expansion of vertical subdivision tracks such as anime, women, leisure, etc. Under the condition that the existing carriers will not change significantly, the major companies will not have more aggressive desire on MMO." Zhang Shule said.