Wanlian Securities: The number of copies issued in February remained high, and IP series works received market attention

The Zhitong Finance App learned that Wanlian Securities released a research report saying that on February 21, 2025, the State Press and Publication Administration announced the February domestic game version number and imported game version number. A total of 110 domestic games and 3 imported games have passed the review. The February edition was distributed steadily, covering leading and small to medium manufacturers, and the market supply pace was good. This approval focuses on games focusing on IP derivation and micro-innovation in gameplay. Major manufacturers seek differentiated competition while reducing R&D risks. Overall, the industry's product reserves continue to be released, the market environment is stabilizing, and the performance of new tours can be expected. It is recommended to focus on high-quality game manufacturers with deep IP cultivation and innovation capabilities.

The main views of Wanlian Securities are as follows:

The February edition remained high in circulation, covering many types of products and well-known manufacturers.

Since the beginning of the year, a total of 233 domestic games have been approved, with 110 models approved in February, including NetEase's “Adventure of Spirits and Beasts”, “Three Kingdoms Fantasy Continent 2: Song of the Dragon”, the gazebo game “Genki Rider Brawl”, the Thunder game “Gan Shi Xiantong”, 4399 “Tiandao Traveler”, Kaiying Network's “Three Kingdoms”, etc.; a total of 16 games have been approved since the beginning of the year; 3 games passed approval in February., “Breaking Through the Door: Action Team” from Xiamen, and “Plants vs. Zombies 3” by Mengxing Technology. In the February game edition, the IP series received market attention:

“Genki Rider Brawl” is backed by a phenomenal IP, and its potential can be expected.

“Genki Rider” is a phenomenal IP for the Cool House game, and its series of titles have all been verified by the market and have performed well. Previously, “Genki Rider” achieved 4.7 million downloads within 10 days of launch in 2017 using pixel-style Roguelike gameplay, and quickly surpassed hundreds of millions of dollars; the new ARPG “Genki Rider Prequel”, which was launched at the end of 2023, also performed well, reaching 30 million sales in the first week of launch. This time, the bank believes that the game may introduce new competitive gameplay to expand new possibilities for the “Genki Rider” IP, which is worth paying attention to.

“Three Kingdoms Fantasy Continent 2: Song of the Fiend” draws attention, inheriting the art style and card gameplay of previous works.

The previous work, “Three Kingdoms: Fantasy Continents”, achieved excellent results with monthly turnover of over 100 million dollars domestically, and successfully expanded into the Chinese, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and Southeast Asian markets, with impressive performance. This game continues the core gameplay of the “card combat” game from the previous game, and incorporates innovative gameplay such as career transfers and backtracking. It attracted market attention. It reached the top of the reservation list after TapTap was first revealed on January 16, 2025, and currently has a TapTap rating of 7.2. Based on the long-term popularity of the Three Kingdoms theme and the user base of the previous work, this game has good market potential.

Risk factors: Policy and regulatory risks, the pace of issuing versions falls short of expectations, delays in the launch and performance of new tours falls short of expectations, new game flows fall short of expectations, increased risk of overseas business, and risk of impairment of goodwill.