China Game Industry Annual Conference 2017

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尊敬的总局各位领导老师、各位游戏行业朋友，
Dear leaders and teachers from the General Administration, as well as friends from the gaming industry,

首先感谢协会及游戏工委的领导老师邀请我们米哈游参加今天的2017年度中国游戏产业年会。今天很高兴与各位分享和交流。
First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to the leaders and teachers of the [China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing] Association and Game Publishing Committee for inviting us to participate in today's 2017 China Game Industry Annual Conference. It's a pleasure to share and exchange ideas with everyone today.

我们米哈游从2011年开始创业就是做移动游戏，所以我主要分享我们经历的移动游戏市场情况。移动游戏市场从我们创业开始的2011年到今年2017年一直处于高速增长的时期，到今年仍然在增长，但是绝大多数移动游戏企业都感受到了前所未有的压力和市场的残酷，市场上的流量成本急剧增加，赚钱的游戏产品数量几乎没有增加，《王者荣耀》这种国民级游戏产品挤压用户的时间，不少游戏公司面临裁员和倒闭。通过扩充产品数量来堆高流水的打法已经玩不转了，疯狂粗暴的换皮时代也已经过去。在这样残酷的市场情况下，新时期游戏市场增长点在哪里？今天我们游戏产业年会的主题是“匠心筑梦”，提倡创作为先、内容为王的工匠精神。我觉得这个主题非常的好，因为我认为只有回归匠心，去探索和满足用户的需求，我们的游戏市场才能健康可持续的增长。
miHoYo, since its inception in 2011, has been involved in the mobile gaming industry. Therefore, I will primarily share the market conditions of the mobile gaming industry that we have experienced. From the year we started our business in 2011 until 2017, the mobile gaming market experienced a period of rapid growth, and it continues to grow this year. However, the majority of mobile gaming companies have faced unprecedented pressure and the harsh reality of the market. The cost of acquiring users has sharply increased, and the number of profitable game products has hardly increased. Games like *Honor of Kings* have occupied users' time, leading to many gaming companies facing layoffs and closures. The strategy of expanding product quantity to generate revenue streams is no longer effective, and the era of reckless skin-swapping is also over. In such a brutal market situation, where are the new growth points in the gaming market? Today, the theme of our Game Industry Annual Conference is "Craftsmanship Builds Dreams," advocating the spirit of craftsmanship that prioritizes creativity and content. I believe this theme is excellent because I think only by returning to craftsmanship, exploring, and meeting the needs of users, can our gaming market achieve healthy and sustainable growth.

我们米哈游从创业以来，一直专注做国产ACG游戏，也就是国产动漫游戏，我就从我们创业和做动漫游戏产品的经历谈谈我的观点和看法。这两年二次元游戏行业很火，经常有移动游戏行业的从业人士问我这样几个问题：二次元到底是什么？什么是真正的二次元游戏？二次元游戏的用户到底是怎样的？什么样的团队才能做出好的二次元游戏？
Since our establishment, miHoYo has been focusing on developing domestic ACG games, specifically domestic anime games. I would like to share my opinions and views based on our experience in entrepreneurship and creating anime game products. In the past two years, the two-dimensional gaming industry has been thriving. I often receive questions from professionals in the mobile gaming industry, such as: What exactly is two-dimensional? What constitutes a genuine two-dimensional game? What are the characteristics of users in the two-dimensional gaming community? What kind of team is capable of creating excellent two-dimensional games?

什么是二次元？其实我们刚开始创业的时候，还没有二次元这个词，我们米哈游是我跟我另外两个交大同学在2011年的时候创业成立的，那时候我们还是上海交通大学研二的学生。我跟我的合伙人都是典型的交大理工科宅男，宅男嘛，所以特别喜欢看动漫。那时候还没有二次元这个词，我们把我们喜欢的东西称为ACG，A-animation动画，C-comic漫画，G-game游戏。我们特别热爱ACG，所以想做ACG相关的事情，但是那个时候市场上几乎没有什么国产动漫ACG相关的公司，所以我们觉得要想做ACG，只有自己创业才有机会做自己想做的事情。那个时候我们根本不敢想国产动漫ACG，二次元游戏会有今天这么大的市场。所以，就是简单的自己非常热爱，从自己的需求出发开始创业做国产ACG。由于那个时候市场上还没有任何国产ACG，或者二次元游戏，所以当11年我们出去找天使投资的时候，一方面因为我们几个都是学生，大学生创业，另外一方面市场没什么投资人懂二次元，所以我们当时想要找100万天使投资都没什么人愿意给我们。
What is two-dimensional? In fact, when we first started our business, the term "two-dimensional" didn't exist. miHoYo was founded in 2011 by me and two of my classmates from Shanghai Jiao Tong University. At that time, we were all second-year graduate students at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. My partners and I were typical engineering and science geeks, or "otaku" as they say. Being otakus, we had a special love for watching anime. Back then, the term "two-dimensional" hadn't emerged yet, so we referred to the things we loved as ACG: "A":for animation, "C" for comic, and "G" for game. We were passionate about ACG and wanted to engage in ACG-related endeavors. However, there were hardly any domestic companies in the anime and ACG industry at that time. Therefore, we believed that if we wanted to do something related to ACG, we needed to start our own business to have the opportunity to pursue what we wanted. At that time, we couldn't even imagine that domestic anime, ACG, or two-dimensional games would have such a large market today. So, simply because we had a strong passion for it and wanted to fulfill our own needs, we embarked on our entrepreneurial journey to create domestic ACG content. Since there were no domestic ACG or two-dimensional games in the market at that time, when we sought angel investments in 2011, we faced difficulties. On one hand, because we were students and university students starting a business, and on the other hand, there were few investors who understood the concept of two-dimensional entertainment. Consequently, it was challenging for us to find an angel investment of 1 million RMB as no one was willing to support us.

虽然当时市场上没有任何二次元游戏，但是我们坚信一定有一群跟我们一样的宅男用户，想要玩我们喜欢的国产二次元游戏。我们就想我们自己是一群什么样的用户呢，我们口味极端挑剔，市场上当时主流的三国题材，武侠题材我们都不感冒，再酷炫我们也不感冒，但是动漫风的galgame文字冒险游戏，只有几张简单的立绘和剧情我们却很喜欢；而且我们一旦喜欢上某个角色，我们就非常忠诚。我的合伙人是EVA新世纪福音战士的粉丝，从高中开始就喜欢这个动漫，喜欢时间超过15年，现在每年夏天还只穿EVA主题的T-Shirt。所以，对于我们这样的用户，一旦你塑造的这个虚拟世界让我有沉浸感，我们对这个世界的认同远远超过大家的想象。所以，当我们开始创业的时候，虽然几乎还没有国产二次元游戏这个市场，我们完全从用户的需求开始探索，开始专注研发二次元游戏产品“崩坏”系列，从z《崩坏1》到《崩坏3》，从最开始被少量的核心用户喜欢和接受，到最终被越来越多的用户和市场认可和接受。所以我认为从用户的需求开始探索，新时期我们才能发掘更多的市场增长点。
Although there were no two-dimensional games in the market at that time, we firmly believed that there must be a group of otaku users like us who wanted to play domestic two-dimensional games that we loved. We wondered what kind of users we were ourselves. We had extremely picky tastes. We weren't interested in the mainstream Three Kingdoms or martial arts themes, no matter how cool they were. However, we really liked anime-style *bishoujo* visual novels with simple character illustrations and plots. Once we became attached to a character, we were extremely loyal. My partner was a fan of *Neon Genesis Evangelion*, and he had been a fan since high school, loving the anime for over 15 years. He even exclusively wore Evangelion-themed T-shirts every summer. So, for users like us, if the virtual world you create immerses us, our identification with that world far exceeds everyone's imagination. Therefore, when we started our business, even though there was hardly a market for domestic two-dimensional games, we started exploring based on user needs. We focused on developing the *Honkai* series of two-dimensional games, from *Houkai Gakuen* to *Honkai Impact 3rd*. Initially, only a small number of core users liked and accepted it, but eventually, it gained more and more recognition and acceptance from users and the market. So, I believe that by starting with user needs, we can explore more market growth opportunities in this new era.

当我们真正开始创业做二次元游戏的时候，我们还遇到了一个难题，商业模式探索的难题。当时市面上的国产游戏，尤其是赚钱的国产游戏，都是大R付费模式游戏，就是游戏的主要收入都是靠大R付费用户贡献的，一个服务器排名前几名的用户可能能够充值几十万，甚至上百万。这些主流游戏的收入因PK仇恨而来，来源于玩家之间的竞争，我要比别人更强大，我要排名服务器第一；但是我们自己就不是这类用户啊，我们几个学生，玩游戏最多也就花几百块，哪里能够体会大R玩家充值几十万的心理啊，所以当时非常痛苦，真的不能理解。我们自己不玩这样的游戏，自己也觉得自己做不了这样的游戏。但是创业要赚钱啊，怎么赚钱呢？我们又回到了探索我们自身的需求，我们自己为什么喜欢二次元，因为我们喜欢沉浸在二次元的虚拟世界；我们自己为什么会付费呢？因为热爱啊，我爱这个角色，所以愿意为她付费。而这种付费冲动，跟当时主流的游戏正好相反，主流游戏都是强PK，因仇恨付费；而我们自己做的二次元游戏，就是要做为爱买单。
When we actually started our business in the two-dimensional gaming industry, we encountered a challenge: exploring the business model. At that time, most domestic games, especially the profitable ones, followed the Big R[MB] (spender) monetization model. The main revenue of these games relied on a small number of spenders, where a top-ranked player on a server could spend hundreds of thousands or even millions of yuan. The income of these mainstream games came from competition and rivalry between players. It was about being stronger than others and aiming for the top rank on the server. However, we were not those types of users. We were just a few students who, at most, spent a few hundred yuan on games. We couldn't comprehend the mindset of big spenders who would spend hundreds of thousands of yuan. So, it was very painful for us at that time, and we truly couldn't understand it. We didn't play those kinds of games ourselves, and we felt that we couldn't make such games either. But as a startup, we needed to make money. So, how could we monetize? We went back to exploring our own needs. Why did we like the two-dimensional world? Because we enjoyed immersing ourselves in the virtual world of two-dimensional characters. Why were we willing to pay? It was because of our love for the characters. We were willing to pay for them. This desire to pay was the complete opposite of the mainstream games at that time, which heavily relied on competitive rivalry and hatred for monetization. In the two-dimensional games we created, we wanted to make love the driving force behind the monetization.

那么怎么才能做到让用户“为爱买单”呢？我们需要非常鲜明的角色设计，所以我们游戏里面考虑推出一个新角色是非常考究的；其次，当时主流的游戏，基本没有人重视剧情。但是我们自己作为二次元用户是非常重视剧情的，要想为用户创造一个美好的能让他们沉浸的虚拟世界，没有足够丰富和完整的世界观是不够的，所以我们崩坏系列从一开始就有轻小说，漫画，音乐，不是作为游戏的一部分，而是共同组成崩坏IP这个整体。这两年游戏行业也流行开发IP游戏，我认为一个好的IP游戏，它不是消耗IP，而是帮这个IP创造更多的内容和价值。所以，那些拿一个IP然后做换皮游戏的做法，是不可能帮助这个IP继续扩大这个IP在用户中的影响，也不可能积累更多的粉丝和用户。
So, how can we achieve the goal of having users "pay for love"? We need to have distinct character design, so introducing a new character in our game is a very careful consideration. Secondly, at that time, mainstream games didn't pay much attention to the storyline. But as two-dimensional users ourselves, we placed great importance on the storyline. In order to create a beautiful virtual world that allows users to immerse themselves in it, having a rich and complete worldview is essential. That's why our Honkai Impact series has had light novels, comics, and music from the very beginning. These elements are not just part of the game, but they collectively form the entire *Honkai* IP. In recent years, there has been a trend of developing IP-based games in the gaming industry. In my opinion, a good IP game shouldn't just consume the IP; instead, it should help the IP create more content and value. Therefore, the practice of taking an IP and making a reskinned game is not capable of further expanding the IP's influence among users or accumulating more fans and users.

我们今天游戏产业年会的主题是“匠心筑梦”，提倡创作为先、内容为王的工匠精神。党的十九大精神指导，我们要坚定文化自信，我们今年将我们的国产二次元动漫游戏出口到日本，韩国、东南亚都取得了非常好的成绩，我们在日本市场最好到过第五，在韩国市场进入第三，并且在日本和韩国都长期保持不错的成绩，充分说明我们国产动漫游戏，已经达到了相当的水准，具备国际竞争力，所以我们要坚定文化自信，敢于走向海外。
The theme of today's Game Industry Annual Conference is "Craftsmanship Builds Dreams," advocating the spirit of craftsmanship that prioritizes creation and emphasizes the importance of content. Guided by the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, we are determined to have cultural self-confidence. This year, we have achieved great success by exporting our domestic two-dimensional anime games to Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia. In the Japanese market, we have reached the top five, while in the South Korean market, we have entered the top three. We have consistently maintained good results in both Japan and Korea, which fully demonstrates that our domestic anime games have reached a considerable level and possess international competitiveness. Therefore, we must have confidence in our culture and dare to venture overseas.

游戏行业在不断发展，我们看到用户在不断进化，到底什么样的游戏产品能够成为新时期的游戏市场增长点，我认为是要满足特定用户的需求，回归游戏作为文化产品的本质，为用户创造更美好的世界，这也是我们米哈游一直所追求的，谢谢大家。
The gaming industry is constantly evolving, and we see users constantly evolving as well. What kind of game products can become the growth points of the new era's gaming market? I believe it is about meeting the specific needs of users, returning to the essence of games as cultural products, and creating a better world for users. This has always been the pursuit of miHoYo. Thank you, everyone.