【招银研究|行业深度】传媒行业之电子游戏篇②——千亿蓝海，破壁远航：游戏出海全景洞察

Development History and Market Size - The development of domestic games going overseas has gone through four key stages: pre-2012 trial in Southeast Asia with PC games; 2012-2018 explosion of SLG mobile games; post-2018 entry into a full-category era; and 2024 marked by the release of a landmark AAA title, "Black Myth: Wukong," leading a new phase of cultural export [1][6][21] - By 2024, China's self-developed games' overseas revenue reached $18.557 billion, accounting for approximately 11% of the global market share, demonstrating strong growth momentum [1][5][21] Regional Market Structure - The global market shows a "core stable volume, emerging incremental" pattern, with the US, Japan, and South Korea contributing 57.27% of revenue, but with divergent growth rates (South Korea growing rapidly, the US stagnating) [1][6] - Europe has become the "fourth pole" market with a scale of €24.5 billion, while Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America represent significant emerging incremental markets [1][6][21] Hardware Ecosystem and Cultural Preferences - The share of mobile games in China (73.13%) is significantly higher than the global average (52.25%), leading to a focus on mobile games for overseas expansion, with potential opportunities in console games in the future [2][7] - Game type preferences are heavily influenced by regional cultures: the US leads in gambling games (28.9% revenue), Europe prefers SLG (33.7%), and Japan dominates in RPGs (52% share) [2][7] Industry Chain Collaboration and Corporate Strategies - The overseas industry chain has formed a three-layer system of "R&D-localization-channels," with companies possessing full-chain capabilities adopting a "R&D-operation integration" model, retaining over 70% of revenue [3][6] - Leading companies like Tencent and NetEase diversify their product lines to mitigate risks, while others like Lilith focus on vertical tracks, with single products contributing over 80% of revenue [3][6] Business Models and Emerging Opportunities - Product positioning determines the profit model, with high-cost projects relying on direct user payments, while lighter games bind deeply with traffic platforms for ad monetization [3][6] - To break growth bottlenecks, companies need to focus on emerging markets (Southeast Asia's user base, Middle East's payment power, and Latin America's casual gaming demand) and localize deeply [3][6] Market Trends and Future Outlook - The game export process is now seen as a key pillar of digital trade globalization, with significant financial service opportunities arising from the robust demand in mature markets like the US, Japan, and South Korea, as well as emerging markets [5][6] - Future trends include the export of high-quality "flagship products," capital outflows through mergers and acquisitions, and the export of a complete soft and hardware ecosystem [5][6][27]