The new wave of Chinese anime games started back in 2016, including NetEase's Onmyoji, miHoYo's Honkai Impact 3rd, Papergames' Mr Love: Queen's Choice, and many more. In only four years, this segment has become the powerhouse of the mobile gaming industry. In 2020, the top 30 mobile anime games in China made 23.2 billion CNY (3.6 billion USD), accounting for 11.1% of China's total mobile game market.
As the biggest player in China’s gaming industry, Tencent would certainly not miss the show. Despite being criticized by some players and media for “not understanding anime”, Tencent has been upscaling its anime prowess at a very rapid pace.
Last week, Tencent invested in its 88th game developer this year, 10 Heroes, whose products in development include a number of mobile anime games including Time to Hunt, a monster-hunting action game that scored 9.1 on TapTap.
And this is just the latest move by Tencent to tap into the emerging Anime segment. Tencent’s 88 new investments include online manga reading sites like Kuaikan Manga, Xuanxing Network, and Nekopurin Works. Pipilu and UP studios are both dedicated studios for original anime characters and stories and are now a part of Tencet’s grand plan. Kwai a social media platform that has deep connections with Tencent, published the Chinese manga adaptation game Rakshasa Street.
Pipilu is a fond childhood memory for many young and middle-aged Chinese players
On the recently concluded Tokyo Game Show 2021, three of the four games exhibited by Tencent were mobile anime games, Tencent's recent moves seem to reveal its determination to distinguish itself in the anime games world.
For example, Alchemy Stars, which was highlighted by Tencent at the Tokyo Game Show, became an instant success after its overseas debut. It topped the free games ranking in Japan and South Korea at the beginning of its launch, with over 10 million downloads in two months. Tencent also increased its stake in the game’s developer Yonghang Technology to 65.85% in July this year, making Alchemy Stars Tencent's first independently developed anime game for mobile.
Alchemy Star’s billboard in Akihabara, Japan’s most well-known shopping hub for anime, manga, and video games
Not just in the Japanese market, even from a global perspective, anime is an ongoing trend that cannot be ignored by any game developer. Through the continuous investment in anime content creators such as self-publishing portals and anime studios, Tencent is hoping to lead the trend.