The 2019 China Global Brand Rankings Are Set to Be Released: An Analysis of Gaming Brands Expanding Overseas

In February 2018, at the “Think with Google” conference, Google and BrandZ jointly released the “2018 BrandZ Top 50 Chinese Brands Going Global” report, which featured nine gaming companies.This year, gaming companies have been stepping up their efforts to expand overseas. In the upcoming 2019 China Outbound Brands Ranking, how will the brand influence of these gaming companies change?

In 2018, 4 out of 9 gaming companies saw their brands decline, with products being the main factor

In 2017, Google and BrandZ collaborated for the first time to release the “2017 Top 30 Chinese Outbound Brands” report, in which eight gaming companies made the Top 30 list.In 2018, given the rapid growth in the number of Chinese brands expanding overseas, the list was expanded from 30 to 50 brands, with the number of listed gaming companies increasing from 8 to 9.However, compared to 2017, four of the listed gaming companies saw a decline in brand influence, and the combined brand influence of the nine gaming companies fell by 11%.

In fact, all nine gaming companies that made the Top 50 list are leading firms with a long-standing commitment to expanding into overseas markets. For example, at Zhixing Mingtong, overseas markets account for 95% of the company’s revenue."Clash of Kings" is a highly popular game developed by Zhixing Mingtong; from January to March 2016, it ranked first on the revenue charts of the overseas Apple App Store and Google Play.

On the Top 50 Overseas Brands list, Zhixing Mingtong’s brand influence declined by 22% compared to 2017, ranking 6th. Additionally, Zhangzu Technology’s brand influence also fell by 22% compared to 2017, placing it at No. 33;Tap4Fun saw a 20% decline and ranked 25th, while Youzu Network also fell by 8% to rank 23rd. Among the other companies on the list, IGG saw a 20% increase in brand influence compared to 2017, ranking 16th; Tencent rose 5% to rank 31st;Cheetah Games rose 3% to rank 10th; Qujia Games remained stable at 17th; and Longchuang Yuedong, a new entrant to the list, ranked 30th.

The report indicates that brands in the mobile gaming category are particularly prone to sharp declines, as last year’s hit games may lack staying power and fail to maintain their popularity.When older products lose steam and new ones fail to capture the market in a timely manner, a decline in brand standing is to be expected. Conversely, brands that launch their next hit game at the right time can significantly boost their brand strength scores.

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Building a Well-Known Gaming Brand Is Challenging

In the 2018 Top 50 Overseas Brands list, the overall influence of gaming brands declined by 11%, underscoring the challenges involved in establishing a well-known gaming brand.

The importance of establishing a strong brand for Chinese companies expanding overseas goes without saying. As Fan Xucheng, General Manager of the E-commerce Industry at Google China’s Key Accounts Department, put it: “Everything we do is to earn customer trust.”Consumers—especially the younger generation—aren’t interested in where a brand comes from; they only care whether your brand and products are good enough. Therefore, companies should focus on brand-building from the very beginning and lay a solid foundation. Moreover, beyond attracting customers, gaming—as a cultural industry—not only generates revenue overseas but also continuously promotes Chinese cultural elements to the world.

Fortunately, in 2017, research by Google and BrandZ found that in the mobile gaming sector, consumers tend to prefer Chinese brands. The development of a gaming company’s brand is closely tied to players’ recognition of its products. Players appreciate the graphical style of Chinese games, as well as the strategic thinking required to play them.Zhong Yingwu, CEO and founder of Qujia Group, stated in an interview that the praise players have given Qujia’s games plays an extremely important role in promoting the growth of the Qujia brand. Games and branding are mutually reinforcing; whenever the Qujia brand launches a new game, players always eagerly anticipate its release.

In Qujia Games’ brand-building journey, Google has been a “key partner” for its business expansion and brand development. Zhong Yingwu noted that Google’s products, such as Google Play and YouTube, have provided significant support to Qujia Games in its global expansion and brand-building efforts.

“This platform offers many useful tools and great features. You can communicate with players as early as the game’s testing phase. There are also tools that allow you to interact with players after the game launches.”he said when discussing Google Play. Zhong Yingwu described the launch of a series of *King of Avalon* videos on YouTube as “a very wise decision we’ve made so far.”

With Google’s help, Qujia Games successfully navigated the game branding process; of course, maintaining the brand’s sustained influence will require continuing to release more high-quality products.Zhong Yingwu stated, “We will continue to build a brand that represents an extraordinary gaming experience—one that people will remember vividly and that sparks lively discussion among players. This kind of gaming experience is even more important than the game itself.”

As gaming companies increasingly set their sights on overseas markets, how will the new rankings change?

In 2018, the domestic market environment for the gaming industry was much more challenging than before. On one hand, the demographic dividend has faded; on the other, the approval of game licenses has stalled. This has led more gaming companies to turn their attention to overseas markets. Among the companies expanding overseas this year, in addition to established players continuing to rise, there are also many companies that have only just begun to make inroads overseas this year.Take NetEase, for example, which announced after its third-quarter earnings report that “overseas game revenue accounted for more than 10% of total game revenue for the first time.”In Sensor Tower’s November 2018 ranking of Chinese games’ overseas revenue, NetEase took the top spot thanks to the outstanding performance of *Knives Out*—marking the fourth consecutive month that the game has claimed the number one position on the revenue chart.

Game Tea House previously reviewed the overseas performance of Chinese games this year, noting that Chinese games have seen significant growth in key global markets such as the United States, Japan, South Korea, Germany, and the United Kingdom, achieving widespread success. Not only have hardcore games shown marked growth, but casual games have also experienced repeated surges in popularity worldwide.

At today’s China Game Industry Annual Conference, the “2018 China Game Industry Report,” jointly released by the Game Development Committee of the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association (GPC) and Gamma Data, revealed that in 2018, actual sales revenue from Chinese-developed online games in overseas markets reached $9.59 billion, representing a year-over-year increase of 15.8%.Overseas gaming markets have become a major source of revenue for Chinese game companies.

The *2018 China Game Industry Report* indicates that flagship export titles such as *Miracle: Awakening* and*Rules of Survival* and other representative exported games generated substantial revenue in overseas markets. In 2018, *Miracle: Awakening*’s global revenue for the first 10 months exceeded 2.15 billion yuan, ranking 10th on the global mobile game revenue chart, while *Rules of Survival* generated approximately 2 billion yuan in the Japanese market.Leading overseas-expanding companies such as Century Huatong, Hero Entertainment, and Changyou Technology have reaped substantial rewards. In 2018, Hero Entertainment’s overseas game revenue accounted for nearly 50% of its total game revenue. The company’s overseas publishing capabilities constitute its core competitive advantage, with Hero Entertainment having released more than 20 mobile games internationally.

In fact, the gaming category has consistently been a major contributor to the brand strength of Chinese companies expanding overseas. This year, overseas gaming companies have repeatedly achieved outstanding results. With the 2019 BrandZ China Global Brands Ranking—a collaboration with Google—set to be released soon, it is believed that the contribution of gaming companies to the list will continue to grow.