At this year’s ChinaJoy, the scale of the event reached a new record, with as many as 500 game companies showcasing over 1,000 game titles. The dazzling array of new games left visitors “dazzled by the sheer variety,” prompting companies to come up with innovative stage designs to keep the audience engaged.
This year, the crowds at Hall N1 were brought to a standstill by a bluish-gray fortress. With its vermilion city gates, fluttering banners, and thunderous war drums, *Three Kingdoms: Hearts United* had essentially transported the entire in-game city of Guixin into the exhibition hall.As a new SLG title from Kaiying Network that just entered open beta this year, the game has achieved impressive results since its launch. The long line in front of the demo area wound its way, stretching nearly halfway around the fortress.
The stage for Kaiying's products isn't limited to Hall N1.
Passing through two exhibition halls and arriving at N3, a statue of “The Greatest Battle Under Heaven,” standing over six meters tall, looms impressively, its austere presence commanding respect under the spotlight;The two-tiered city of Shabak soars skyward, and the battle cry for the siege booms from massive speakers, making visitors’ eardrums tremble.This is the 996 Legend Box exhibition booth. Nearly every visitor passing by has their gaze drawn to that colossal statue, causing them to look up and pause for quite some time.
One is “Guixin City,” the other is “Shabak City.” They symbolize Kaiying’s two business lines that currently hold the greatest promise: on one hand, the exploration of diverse and innovative new product categories; on the other, the platform ecosystem that deeply engages Legend users.One traditional, one innovative—amid the bustling crowds at the ChinaJoy venue, this contrast hints at Kaiying’s pace and ambition.
Kaiying’s 2026 interim report preview indicates that strong performance from games such as *Tianxia Guixin* and its user platform business (996 Legend Box) drove a year-over-year increase in net profit of 36.84% to 64.20% in the first half of the year.Today, based on its existing businesses—including R&D, publishing, and investment and IP—Kaiying has added a fourth major business segment: the user platform.
The two cities at the CJ booth serve as a tangible embodiment of this new business framework. While deepening our commitment to the Legend ecosystem, we are also expanding into new markets with innovative product categories.
01
All Realms Return to the Box: The Legendary Ecosystem Finally Has a Platform to Take Root
The year 2026 marks the fifth anniversary of the launch of the 996 Legend Box. As a key part of the anniversary celebration series, the company clearly put a great deal of thought into its booth presentation at this year’s ChinaJoy.
From the giant statue of the God of War at the entrance to the iconic replica of the Shabak City walls, every visual element serves as a highly recognizable symbol of the Legend IP. For veteran players who have been playing Legend for over a decade, stepping foot here is practically like coming home.
"All Worlds, One Box"—this is the slogan promoted by 996 Legend Box at the event. The various versions, servers, and gameplay styles of Legend from the past are fragments of memories cherished by hundreds of millions of players.Over the past five years, the 996 Legend Box has been dedicated to gathering, integrating, and organizing these scattered experiences onto a single platform.
Inside the exhibition area, a nostalgic, retro-style internet café has been set up, recreating the bustling atmosphere of those days; the walls are lined with collectible Legend game cards, each bearing a specific year, and passing players can’t help but praise the “thoughtfulness” of the display;The “Shabak Armory,” composed of various versions of the Dragon-Slaying Sword, gleams with a chilling, icy brilliance. Veteran players who once fought in Shabak could likely tell a story about each piece.
Legend is not just about looking back at the past; it also possesses a vitality that looks toward the future. As the Legend ecosystem continues to thrive, it has yielded new achievements in both cultural heritage and cross-industry collaboration.
The “Legendary Treasures” section of the exhibition features classic elements from legendary tales, recreated using techniques recognized as national-level intangible cultural heritage.The Dragon-Slaying Sword, weighing over forty jin, is as sturdy as steel; the Hengshui painted-on-the-inside teapot, no larger than the palm of one’s hand, intricately depicts numerous legendary characters of all sizes—a world within a hair’s breadth; and the Holy War helmet, forged from Miao silver from Western Hunan, shimmers with a radiant silver glow.
Legendary Treasures
In the game, these items represent the glory and combat power that players strive for. Back in the real world, these legendary items—recreated using intangible cultural heritage techniques—embody a deeper cultural significance. The "Legend" IP is not just about fighting and killing; it can also be integrated with traditional culture to reveal a more profound side.
A legendary fusion of art forms goes beyond still life.
The "Dragon-Slaying Sword" chocolate ice cream, created in collaboration with World Flavors, is flying off the shelves in Shanghai’s sweltering heat—one bite cools you down and stirs up nostalgia.The “White Wild Boar Jerky” from Daoxiangcun is a collaboration whose name alone is a playful reference—veteran players will smile knowingly upon seeing it, instantly recalling the days of slaying monsters and looting gear in the Pig Cave. When classic in-game elements are turned into food, players not only enjoy a mouthful of deliciousness but also a dose of nostalgia.
From a business perspective, it is precisely because the Legend IP has a solid player base and immense market appeal that it has attracted well-known brands to proactively pursue cross-industry collaborations.These collaborations are not merely one-sided attempts to “ride the coattails” of the IP’s popularity; rather, they involve the mutual cross-pollination of both parties’ user bases. This further amplifies the intrinsic value of the Legend IP and enables it to enter a broader range of everyday consumer scenarios.
After five years of incubation and development, the 996 Legend Box has evolved from a simple "server-finding tool" into a fully-featured, self-sustaining platform.
The ultra-fast, cross-platform micro-client solves the long-standing pain point of players having to worry about compatibility; the official marketplace supports escrowed transactions for gear and accounts, making trading more secure.The establishment of the player community and live-streaming ecosystem has solidified the content ecosystem; the esports tournament system, refined year after year, continues to energize the player base and inject momentum into the long-term development of the Legend IP.
Legendary Esports Tournaments
Today, the "996 Legend Box" has an average of approximately 500,000 daily active users and annual revenue exceeding 1.2 billion yuan, and has become a new engine of growth for Kaiying Network.
The platform’s growth has also attracted an increasing number of leading companies to join. Key players in the “Legend of Mir” sector—such as 39 Interactive Entertainment, Tanwan Games, and Zhangwan Technology—have successively joined the platform, bringing their flagship products with them.
One particularly noteworthy development this year is that the "Hot Blooded Jianghu" IP has officially joined the platform. This marks a crucial step for the platform as it transitions from being a "hub for Legend-series IPs" to a "hub for classic retro IPs." In the future, the platform will also introduce more classic retro IPs, such as "Red Moon."
"All Worlds in a Box"—a slogan that has gradually become a reality. The 996 Legend Box is not just a gateway to Legend; it is actively building an ecosystem around this nostalgic, classic IP.
02
New Game Pavilion: A Blossoming Array of Titles; Promising Newcomers in the SLG Genre Make Their Debut
After passing by Hall N3, head back to Hall N1—where the new games are all gathered—to check out Kaiying’s new SLG title for this year, *Tianxia Guixin*.
Launched in April, the game’s servers were so overloaded on the first day of open beta that players had to wait in line; it topped the iOS Free Games chart and ranked second on the overall chart that same day.According to estimates by China Merchants Securities, the game’s first-month revenue exceeded 100 million yuan. In the highly competitive Three Kingdoms SLG market, *Tianxia Guixin*’s first-month performance was impressive, a fact also reflected in the latest financial report.
Just on the eve of CJ, the game released an update for Season 3, titled "I Rule the Land." The update introduced the Battle of Yiling—a cross-server alliance battle—the Lord Cultivation System, and a series of limited-time skills. Naturally, discussions about the new season’s gameplay have remained a hot topic in the player community recently.
Armed with its first 100 days of performance and riding the momentum of the newly launched Season 3, *Tianxia Guixin* connected with players up close at the ChinaJoy expo.The *Tianxia Guixin* booth was modeled after Guixin City, making it highly recognizable. Blue-gray “city walls” paired with vermilion “city towers,” along with antique-style banners and war drums, infused the booth with the solemn atmosphere of the Three Kingdoms era.
On stage, the interactive performance by the “Guixin Supermodel Group” drew waves of cheers from the players, while their stunning looks attracted a crowd of photographers with their long and short lenses, creating a bustling scene.Offstage, a large number of players participated in the “Lord for a Day” immersive event, playing the game to redeem Three Kingdoms-themed merchandise. In particular, the crossbody bag modeled after the Green Dragon Crescent Blade really caught the eye of many passersby.
03
Is this still the Kaiying who made "Legend"?
The "996 Legend Box" is the cornerstone of Kaiying. According to Gamma Data’s "Legend IP Ecosystem Development Research Report," the Legend IP market is projected to exceed 40 billion yuan by 2026.The Legend IP has been operating in the Chinese gaming market for over 25 years. It has stood the test of time and continues to captivate a massive player base, maintaining a market size in the 40 billion yuan range—a feat rarely seen even in the global gaming industry. With such a vast market, there is immense potential for growth.
Image source: Gamma Data
Kaiying has been deeply involved in this sector for many years. From *Blue Moon Legend* and *Primitive Legend* to *Blazing Awakening*, a string of blockbuster titles has demonstrated its R&D and publishing capabilities; the 996 Legend Box has extended these strengths from the product level to the platform level and is emerging as a premier gateway to the Legend genre.
In February of this year, the issue regarding the “Legend” license was resolved, removing a major obstacle to compliant operations. Armed with an official license, Kaiying has been organizing a variety of esports tournaments for many years and has also expanded into the online literature and short-form drama sectors, covering the entire “Legend” IP ecosystem, which has further solidified its competitive advantages.
But "Legend" is not the whole story for Kaiying; diverse new product categories and emerging technology fields are also areas where they will focus their efforts in the future.
The impressive debut performance of *Hearts of the World* has signaled Kaiying’s entry into the SLG market. As is well known, SLG games are among the genres with high commercial value and long lifecycles; if long-term data remains stable, they have the potential to become Kaiying’s second growth engine.
The Three Kingdoms: The Hearts of the People Turn Toward the Throne
With a stable cash flow, Kaiying continues to invest in the hottest AI sectors.SOON (Ji Yi AI), the game creation platform they incubated, has launched a new round of testing, while Natural Choice, the AI companion company they invested in, has rolled out several AI-native applications for testing. These investments may not yield direct returns in the short term, but with patience, they could open up new possibilities for the future.
From the City of Shabak in N3, guarded by a 6-meter-tall War God, to the City of Guixin in N1, with its vermilion city gates, the walking distance is no more than a few hundred meters. What lies between them is the path Kaiying has taken in its evolution from a “Legend developer” to a “diversified gaming company”:
The 996 Legend Box, celebrating its fifth anniversary, is solidifying its core user base and continuing to deepen its platform ecosystem; *Tianxia Guixin*, which has been live for 100 days, is breaking into a new market segment and striving to carve out a share of the SLG market. The image Kaiying presented at this year’s ChinaJoy was significantly different from previous years.
原创文章，作者：游茶妹儿，禁止转载：https://youxichaguan.com/en/archives/208814
