Tencent’s hit game stays on top despite rival’s latest release


FILE PHOTO: The Tencent Games logo is seen on its game on a mobile phone in this illustration picture taken March 19, 2024. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/Illustration/File Photo

SHANGHAI: Tencent Holdings Ltd’s Dungeon & Fighter Mobile (DnF Mobile) kept its spot as China’s top-grossing game despite the launch of a major rival from Genshin Impact studio Mihoyo Co, passing a key test of popularity in an intensely competitive market.

Zenless Zone Zero (ZZZ) brought in US$3.4mil from iPhone players in China on July 4, falling shy of the US$8.5mil spending in DnF Mobile, according to Sensor Tower data provided to Bloomberg News. Globally, ZZZ racked up US$5.9mil on iOS and Google Play on its first day, and it topped the download charts in dozens of markets from the United States to Japan and South Korea.

Tencent’s DnF Mobile was the first of a string of big summer releases in China’s US$40bil-plus games market. Its resilience against Mihoyo’s big debut bodes well for the online entertainment leader’s prospects.

Tencent has struggled for years to find the next big hit to augment or replace ageing titles like Honor of Kings and Peacekeeper Elite.

Tencent in June became one of China’s best-performing stocks. It’s up 29% so far this year thanks to the strong debut of its latest blockbuster title, which was originally developed by South Korean studio Nexon.

“DnF Mobile’s momentum is still going strong, but it’s worth noting that ZZZ is a global, cross-platform play,” said Zeng Xiaofeng, Niko Partners analyst.

Mihoyo is spreading its marketing internationally and across PC and console platforms alongside mobile, unlike Tencent with its narrow focus on smartphone players in China, he added.

More tests of DnF Mobile’s popularity are due in the coming weeks.

Hangzhou-based NetEase Inc is slated to release the mobile version of its three-year-old action game Naraka: Bladepoint on July 25, and Tencent’s similarly styled Breaking Dawn – an extension of the Honor of Kings franchise – is also expected to roll out later this month.

Mihoyo is among the world’s fastest-growing gaming companies, riding its 2020 sensation Genshin Impact to quickly become one of China’s leading creative studios alongside Tencent and NetEase.

Its 2023 release, Honkai: Star Rail, also struck gold among anime enthusiasts worldwide, tapping into a burgeoning genre its older Chinese peers have yet to crack.

ZZZ is set in a post-apocalyptic world where players rotate a roster of three fighters to slay monsters. It marks Mihoyo’s first attempt at a fast-paced hack-and-slash game, but still retains familiar Mihoyo hallmarks. ZZZ’s art design is evocative of Mihoyo’s prior work and its monetisation system is centred around drawing up new characters.

Producer Li Zhenyu, who started the project in 2020, drew inspiration from action and fighting classics like Dark Souls and Street Fighter, which he’s played for over 2,000 hours, he said in a June interview with video game magazine Famitsu.

Mihoyo started in 2011 as a student business project among three coders and gaming fanatics.

It now has 5,000 employees.

With next to no external funding, the studio has emerged as one of Tencent’s most formidable rivals in China, leading a cadre of young firms in search of multiplatform hits with global appeal. — Bloomberg

Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates!

Tencent , DnF , mobile , gaming

   

Next In Business News

MSM Malaysia’s 3Q net loss widens to RM49.7mil on forex loss
UEM Sunrise on track to hit RM1bil sales target
Perodua teams up with PETRONAS Dagangan and Gentari to improve services and EV support
Karex 1Q net profit tumbles 73.4% to RM1.4mil
DRB-Hicom focuses on digital transformation
FBM KLCI falls for third day, weighed down by Tenaga, YTL stocks
Oil prices climb as geopolitical tensions outweigh US inventories
Indonesian rupiah at three-month low; Asia stocks drop on Russia-Ukraine tensions
PM Anwar: Value of Malaysian business ventures in Vietnam exceeds US$13bil
Bank Rakyat issues inaugural RM500mil Asean sustainability SRI sukuk

Others Also Read