On October 29th, 37 Interactive Entertainment (37 IE) released its Q3 2021 earnings report. The report showed that 37 IE’s revenue for the first three quarters was 12.11 billion CNY (1.89 billion USD) and net profit attributable to the parent company was 1.721 billion CNY (0.27 billion USD). Compared to the net profit of 854 million CNY (133.49 million USD) in the first half of the year, 37 IE achieved a very strong performance in Q3 with the revenue of the previous six months.
The report specifically mentioned that 37 IE's independently developed game Soul Land was launched globally in Q3, achieving a monthly cash flow of over 700 million CNY (109 million USD). In addition, the ending balance of the company's accounts receivable increased by 516 million CNY (80.66 million USD), mainly due to the expansion of overseas game business during the reporting period and the fact that the amount due from third-party platforms had not reached the settlement period.
Whether due to the continuous introduction of regulations against online games in China, or the inevitable business choice of seeking growth, business overseas has become a new performance growth point for 37 IE.
Aside from Soul Land, the other three overseas games from 37 IE: Puzzles & Survival, Trading Legend, and Song of the Cloud City, also performed well. Puzzles & Survival ranked second in the global survival game revenue list with a revenue of 143 million USD in the first half of the year. In September, its monthly cash flow even exceeded 250 million USD, placing it in the top five revenue list, for Chinese mobile games overseas, for the first time.
37 IE's earth-shaped logo demonstrates its determination to promote Chinese games to the world
The strong performance of overseas games is supported by 37 IE’s customization of game products in line with smart localization strategies, as well as significant improvements in their R&D department’s technical strength. In the first three quarters of this year, 37 IE has invested 991 million CNY (154.9 million USD) in R&D, with an increase of 15.83% compared to last year. Soul Land, which was launched in July, is a huge milestone: it was developed with the next-generation 3D game engine and used PBR (physically based rendering) for the first time to achieve panoramic 3D effects, seamless day & night switching and dynamic volume light tracking. Soul Land is not only a continuation of 37 IE’s focus on quality games but also a successful practice of using cutting-edge technology in their game development.
Soul Land implements real life like character rendering effects through the usage of PBR
Besides the investment in the R&D section, 37 IE also continues to explore diversification and globalization. In addition to simulated life games, 37 IE’s game reserve includes MMORPGs, card games, TPS, and other different genres, featuring various themes such as fantasy, wuxia, and female-oriented. The art style of the games has also been expanded to ancient China, Q-version, otome, and other categories, catering to the characteristics and aesthetic tastes of the younger generations.
It is conceivable that 37 IE will be a strong competitor in the overseas market of Chinese games for a long time to come, which deserves the attention of players and companies all over the world.