Astheworldbeganreflectingonthepassingof2016,ChinesegamersbeganfocusingontheGoldenPlumeAwards,thecountry’sannual“OscarsoftheGamingIndustry.”360Gameswalkedawaywiththemost-sought-afterprize,theMostInfluentialMobileGameChannel,anditsindividualgamestooktwomoreawards.
MorethanayearhaspassedsinceXuYiranbeganleadingthe360Gamesteam.Bornintheearly1970s,Xuearnedadoublebachelor’sdegreeinprecisioninstrumentsandautomationfromTsinghuaUniversityandanMBAfromtheChineseUniversityofHongKong.Sincegraduation,hehasworkedingamingformanyChineseandinternationalcompaniesincludingSohu,GiantInteractiveGroup,PerfectWorld,andElectronicArts.
XuYiranhaswide-ranginginterests,includingmoreactivehobbies,butasheputsit,“Gameshavecapturedmostofmytimeandblendallmyhobbiesandexpertise.”
MorethantwodecadeshavepassedsinceXubecameimmersedinthegamingindustry,duringwhichtimeChina’sroleinthesectorhasballoonedatbreakneckspeed.In1999,onlinegamesemergedalongwiththepopularizationoftheinternet.Around2008,aboomofindependentlyproducedgameswasledbytitlessuchasDragonOathandJadeDynasty.AlongwiththetirelesseffortsandcreativityofChina’sgamedesigners,therapidgrowthinthenumberofinternetusersplayedthekeyroleinfacilitatingtheboom.
“China’sgamemarketstartedbyimitatingoutputfromplaceslikeSouthKorea,”explainsXu.“Atthetime,China’sgameslaggedfarbehindtheirforeigncounterpartsinfineartsanddesign.Thegaphasshrunkconsiderablysincetheturnofthecenturywhenwegraduallybeganshiftingtoindependentproduction.”
AFreshly-PavedRoad
Since2010,China’sgamingindustryandmarkethavedevelopedrapidly.TheReportonChina’sGameIndustry2016,jointlycompiledbyChinaAudio-videoandDigitalPublishingAssociation,Gammadata,andtheInternationalDataCorporation,waspublishedattheendof2016.AccordingtotheReport,revenuesfromgamingreached165.57billionyuanin2016,upby17.7percentyear-on-year.OnlinegamesindependentlydevelopedbyChinaearned118.25billionyuan,increasingbyabout20percentoverthepreviousyear,andrevenuesfromoverseasmarketssurpassed7.2billionyuan.Moreover,themarketingarmofChina’sgamingindustryhasbecomemoredefined.
Despiteanew,hopefulenvironment,XuYiranmaintainsthatthegamingindustrywillnotgrowwithoutnewideas.“Thesecretformulatowinmustberevisedacrossvariousstages,”heasserts.“Intheearlystages,techniqueprevailed,andthestabilityofserverswasmostvital.Thenextstagewasdeterminedbycreativityandgraphicdesign.Thelaststageisaboutoriginalityandintellectualproperty.Thecoreelementshavecontinuouslychanged.”SuchaphilosophyinspiredXutobringnewideasforbusinessdevelopmentwhenhetookovertheteamattheendof2015.
Eventually,hisideasformedtwomajorplans.The“HeavenlyPlan”offersasubscriptioninexchangeforbetatestingandbigdatafordeveloperstoreference,capitalizingontheadvantagesof360Games’popularchannel.Theyear-longplanhasprimarilybenefitedoverseasgamesuppliersbyprovidingvaluablefeedback,whichhasinturnminimizedtheriskofdistributioninChina.
The“PinpointPlan,”ontheotherhand,ismeanttoeliminateroadblockshinderingnewdevelopers.“TodayinChina,manyyoungR&Dteamsarecompletingbigprojectswiththeircombinedskillsinfineartsandprogramming,”explainsXu.“Buttheystilldon’tsucceedbecausetheylackveteranproducersanddesignerstoensurethatallthenecessarypointshavebeencovered.”Tohelpoutyoungerteams,360GamesrecruitedindustryveteransfromaroundtheglobeandestablishedaspecialdesigncentertoprovidetimelycounselingonallR&Dproceduresandincreasedistributionopportunities.In2016,TheTaleofLostCity,amassivemultiplayeronlinerole-playinggameformobiledevicesdevelopedwiththehelpof360Games,rankedamongthetoptenbestsellersontheChinesemainlandandtoppedbestsellinglistsinTaiwan,evidencingtheeffectivenessofthe“PinpointPlan.”
Theofficeof360Games.XuYiranintroducednewbusinessdevelopmentideassuchastheHeavenlyPlanandthePinpointPlanwhenhetookovertheteamattheendof2015.byGuoShasha
July28,2016:ChinaJoy,shortforChinaDigitalEntertainmentExpo&Conference,kicksoffinShanghai.Alongwithonlinegames,appsformobiledevicesalsoattractconsiderableattention.ICBrightFuture
InJuly2016,Newzoo,amarketresearchcompanyfromtheNetherlands,publishedareportanalyzingtrendsandregionalnumbersofthegamingindustry.Understandably,ChinaisalreadythemostvaluableofanygamingmarketatUS$24.4billion.
TheChinesegovernment’stremendoussupportinrecentyearshasacceleratedthesustainabledevelopmentofthegamingindustry,enhancingXuYiran’sconfidenceinthelong-termprospectsofthemarket.“Chinawillbecomeamorematuremarketforgames,”hepredicts.
“Alongwithgreatsupportfromthegovernment,someotherfactorsmakemebullishonthemarket,”Xucontinues.“First,Chinahasexperiencedchangesinitssocialenvironment,whichisnowfarmorediverse.WhenIwasyoung,gamersanddeveloperswereconsidereduseless.Today,however,youngpeopleenjoymoretolerancefromtheworldandoldergenerations.Still,thegamingindustrywillnotadvancewithoutsupportfromseveraldifferentgenerations.Becausetoday’syoungpractitionersgrewupinaneraofquickdevelopment,theyhavegreatersupportandguidancefromsociety,theindustry,andeventheirfamilies.”
Healsoexpressedconcernssuchasdifferentproducerscopyingeachother.“Mobilegameshavebecomesopopulartodaythateverycompanyisprobablyworkingontheirown.”
ChinahasyettobuildagametobecomeaspopulargloballyastitlessuchasCivilizationandFinalFantasy,despitemanystunningoriginalworks.“Thegamingindustryneedsqualityteamstoconcentrateoneachspecificrealm,includingmarketing,”Xuconcludes.“Youngpractitionersneedmoreopportunitiestobecometougher,gainexperience,expandtheirhorizons,andbroadentheirvision.”