Investment Rating - The report maintains a "Buy" rating for the industry, indicating a positive outlook for the sector's performance relative to the benchmark index [6][34]. Core Insights - The media industry saw a weekly increase of 2.04% from January 12 to January 18, 2026, outperforming major indices. Digital media led the gains with a 10.38% increase, while other segments like publishing and advertising also showed positive growth [2][12]. - Key themes for investment include AI applications and cultural exports, with a focus on sub-sectors such as gaming, intellectual property (IP), short dramas, marketing, and publishing [4][34]. Summary by Sections Market Performance - The media industry outperformed major indices with a 2.04% increase during the week of January 12-18, 2026. Digital media surged by 10.38%, while publishing rose by 3.32%, and advertising marketing increased by 2.58%. The gaming sector saw a modest rise of 1.57%, whereas the film and television broadcasting segments experienced slight declines [2][12]. Industry Key Data AI Applications - Recent downloads for AI applications on iOS were estimated at 27.93K for Deepseek, 208.27K for Doubao, 78.91K for Tencent Yuanbao, and 106.66K for Qianwen, with respective week-on-week changes of -8.79%, -0.67%, -9.86%, and +25.84%. The weekly token call volume on the OpenRouter platform reached 7.65 trillion, marking an 18.97% increase [3][18]. Gaming Data - The top five mobile games on iOS as of January 17, 2026, were "Honor of Kings," "Peacekeeper Elite," "Dungeon & Fighter: Origin," "Three Kingdoms: Strategy Edition," and "Genshin Impact: Moonlight Song." Tencent's "Counterattack: Future" launched and quickly gained over 10 million registered users within three days [3][18][20]. Film Data - The total box office for domestic films during the week was 280 million yuan, with "Hidden Kill" leading at 63.73 million yuan, accounting for 22.7% of the total. Other notable films included "Zootopia 2" and "Avatar 3" [26][27]. Investment Recommendations - The report recommends focusing on AI applications, cultural exports, and specific sub-sectors such as gaming, IP, short dramas, marketing, and publishing. Notable companies to watch include Giant Network, Kying Network, Perfect World, and others [4][34].

Investment Rating - The industry investment rating is "Positive" and maintained [7] Core Insights - The new game cycle in January continues with several products like "Duck Duck Goose" and "Heart Town" launching successfully. The trend of Chinese games going overseas remains strong, with leading companies like Dd and others showing impressive performance. The industry is expected to see a series of new game launches, leading to continuous catalysts [2][4] - The gaming sector's product cycle in 2026 shows strong sustainability and performance certainty, indicating room for valuation improvement. It is recommended to continue focusing on investment opportunities in the gaming sector, with relevant companies including Giant Network, Kaiying Network, Perfect World, 37 Interactive, G-bits, Yaoji Technology, Shengtian Network, Tencent Holdings, and Xindong Company [2][4] Summary by Sections New Game Launches - The January new game cycle has seen successful launches, including "Duck Duck Goose," which has gained significant popularity, and "Heart Town," which topped the global free charts in over 50 regions during its pre-download phase [2][4] - The performance of these new games validates the importance of global expansion and social interaction as growth engines in the gaming industry, with a strategy of "evergreen games + globalization" becoming key for leading companies [10] Overseas Market Performance - The overseas gaming market continues to thrive, with Dd's "Whiteout Survival" achieving over $4 billion in global revenue by December 2025. Other games like "Tasty Travels: Merge Game" and "Truck Star" have also shown strong performance in the overseas market [10] Future Game Releases - Upcoming game releases include Tencent's "Counter-Strike: Future" on January 13, "Rock Kingdom: World" on March 26, and several others from various companies, indicating a busy launch schedule that may catalyze further industry growth [10]

Investment Rating - The industry investment rating is "Positive" and maintained [8] Core Insights - In November, the issuance of game licenses reached a new high, with 184 licenses granted, including 178 domestic and 6 imported games, surpassing the previous record since the resumption of license issuance in 2022 [10][11] - Major self-developed games from leading companies continue to perform well overseas, with Point Point Interactive's "Whiteout Survival" and "Kingshot" ranking first and second in the November overseas mobile game revenue chart [10][11] - A new product cycle is approaching as key new games from listed companies are set to launch, with significant titles scheduled for testing and release in December [6][10] Summary by Sections Game License Issuance - In November, a total of 184 game licenses were issued, setting a new monthly record for domestic licenses, with notable approvals for games from Perfect World, Kaixin, and Bilibili [10][11] - Year-to-date, 1,532 domestic game licenses have been issued, exceeding the total of 1,306 for the entire year of 2024 [10] Overseas Performance - The overseas performance of top self-developed games remains strong, with "Whiteout Survival" achieving over $3.8 billion in cumulative revenue and "Kingshot" exceeding $640 million [10][11] - The casual merge game "Tasty Travels: Merge Game" saw a 10% revenue increase in November, ranking fourth in the global merge game revenue chart [10] Upcoming Game Releases - Key new games from listed companies are set to launch, including Giant Network's "Famous General Kill" on December 19 and G-bits' "Nine Muxi" on December 18 [6][10] - Other notable upcoming titles include Tencent's "Counter-Strike: Future" scheduled for January 13, 2026, with over 25 million pre-registrations [6][10]