The 2023 China Game Industry Annual Conference will be held in Huangpu District, Guangzhou from December 14th to 15th.
Wang Yi, Senior Vice President of NetEase, delivered a keynote speech titled "The Next Twenty Years: Three New Development Logic of China's Game Industry".
"20 years ago, among the 'Top 10 Most Popular Online Games in China', domestic games only accounted for four. 20 years later, among the top 100 mobile games with the highest revenue in overseas markets, Chinese games accounted for nearly one-third, far exceeding gaming powers such as the United States and Japan. From overseas games becoming popular in China to Chinese games becoming popular overseas, domestic games gradually won the battle for market discourse power," Wang Yi said in a speech.
Over the past 20 years, the Chinese gaming industry has grown from a "world contract factory" to a "Chinese dream factory". So in the next 20 years, how can Chinese games continue this momentum and achieve high-quality development on the basis of large-scale development?
In Wang Yi's view, firstly, the new technology gaming industry should dare to "shine the sword", be good at "using the sword", and win the technology competition of the global gaming industry.
At its inception, gaming was not just a content industry, but also a technology industry. From 3D technology, touch screens, mobile internet to cloud computing, the emergence of every new technology signifies the emergence of new species in the gaming industry and a new round of ecological prosperity. Since 2023, the technology wave led by AI has gradually penetrated the complete chain of the gaming industry from research and development to distribution and operation.
For domestic game manufacturers, this is both a challenge and an opportunity. Faced with new technologies, domestic game manufacturers finally have the opportunity to stand on the same starting line as world leading game manufacturers, and even become leaders from followers. But if not done well, the Chinese gaming industry also faces the risk of being left behind.
Faced with challenges, NetEase is making efforts. According to Wang Yi, NetEase invests billions of dollars in research and development every year. Currently, NetEase's game industrialization process has fully achieved intelligent AI, and key technologies such as self-developed large models have also made breakthroughs. This year, NetEase has also implemented AI gameplay on a large scale for the first time in the mobile game "Against Water and Cold", with over 30 AI technologies all developed by NetEase itself.
NetEase's massive investment has begun to bring returns. The company's third quarter financial report data shows that the 45 day public beta of the mobile game "Against the Cold Water" achieved strong revenue and user growth, and the number of registered players has exceeded 50 million. According to the official sales data disclosed by NetEase, a "6 yuan low-priced skin" in the mobile game "Against Water and Cold" has accumulated sales exceeding 100 million pieces.
"Our series of practices have proven that the combination of AI and games can go deep into the front and behind the scenes. It is not just about using AI to assist in game production or shallow intelligent functions, but also changing the interaction between players and games, as well as between players, fundamentally revolutionizing the gaming experience." Wang Yi said that strengthening the fight against AI technology is to strengthen the global competitiveness of China's gaming industry and seize the future of the gaming industry.
Secondly, Wang Yi believes that imitation can go fast, but innovation can go further. The development of the Chinese gaming market from zero to a size of billions, to a hundred flowers blooming, relies on generations of innovators to innovate and unlock new achievements in the future. Whether the product has innovation and is unique is easy for players to determine.
He cited NetEase's self-developed party game "Egg Party" as an example. This game builds a platform through NetEase's self-developed engine, integrating AI and UGC into a new mode of "singing opera", allowing players to overcome the addiction of game developers. In the game, there are now millions of works uploaded by players every week, and the number of creators exceeds ten million, which has become the key to breaking the circle of Egg Party. On the evening of December 8th, Egg Party announced that its cumulative registered users had exceeded 500 million.
"We firmly believe that the gaming market is constantly changing, and the only thing that remains unchanged is players' desire for new modes and gameplay. The Chinese gaming industry needs to complete self innovation and explore sustainable development models, not just seize the day and night, but also focus on the long-term. We must strive to be pioneers and encourage creators in order to run further in this marathon."
Thirdly, and most importantly, the gaming industry must adhere to the bottom line and meet the demands of the new mission entrusted to it by society. In Wang Yi's view, the gaming industry has become an important component of the digital economy, and the huge consumer landscape and industry potential are achievements, but more importantly, it means responsibility. The boundary between virtual and reality can be broken by technology, but the gaming industry cannot exist without reality. Games need to take public interest as the greatest common divisor, inspiring the entire industry to release more social value.
Wang Yi emphasized that last month, NetEase Games disclosed for the first time the annual investment of over 100 million yuan in the protection of minors, which has attracted much market attention. This is not only our determination, but also to reassure the whole society.
At the same time, NetEase is also opening up its self-developed AI recognition technology to channel partners, and has intercepted over 5 million high-risk behaviors of minors recharging in the past two months; And we have launched parent assistance management functions such as one click ban on playing and one click ban on charging on the NetEase Parent Care Platform, serving 8 million parents on the platform.
On top of the bottom line that games must guard, Wang Yi emphasizes that the gaming industry should also pay attention to the social value that games constantly spill over, and raise the industry ceiling.
NetEase has developed the iSpeech AI creation tool, which has emerged from game scenes and become the first AI tool for restoring the original voice of hearing-impaired individuals. NetEase has decided to make this tool available for free to hearing-impaired people across the country, helping them achieve their life dream of "speaking with their own hands.".
"All social progress was initially just a small kindness, passed down time and time again, turning them into the goodwill of the entire society. Today, games have become a platform connecting billions of players, and we have a full opportunity to convey care to a wider audience. This is a new requirement put forward by society for the gaming industry, and also a new opportunity for the gaming industry to promote social progress and unleash greater value."