Some time ago, we finished talking about Tencent and NetEase’s cultural and entertainment investment in 6 articles (see the collection for details). This article is about a “game company” that doesn’t rely on games much – Station B.
Although there is a big gap between game revenue and the first two, it seems that in the past two years, it is also intentionally reducing the revenue share of the game business and making a “more diversified” revenue structure. In fact, the game business is still the best source of cash for Station B, and Station B has never taken games lightly.
According to Youfan’s statistics, Station B is currently the third most invested “game company” in the domestic game field, second only to Tencent and NetEase, and has obvious investment preferences.
Overall: 43 companies, holding more than 10% of the shares
According to public information, as of October 2022, Station B has made at least 47 investments in the game field, with a total of 43 investment companies, second only to Tencent (189) and NetEase (46) , and the actual number may be more.
According to industrial and commercial information, official WeChat, and the official website, two of the 43 target companies have been cancelled. They are mobile game developers Scorching Information and Zuxing Lingfan, and the remaining 42 are still operating normally.
1.1 In terms of time, the year with the most investment in games at Station B is 2021, with 21 times , followed by 2020 and the unfinished 2022, both of which are 8 times. Then in 2016, there were 6.
According to public information, the earliest game investment at Station B occurred in the A round of investment in the action mobile game developer Hippie Games in 2013, holding 28.4% of the shares. The representative product is the dark action mobile game “Never Gone”. The most recent investment was in July 2022 in Fufu Network. The company is a two-dimensional mobile game developer. It owns the horizontal version of the fighting game “Creation Traveler”. Station B currently holds about 20% of the shares.
1.2 Among these 47 investments, a total of 16 investments have announced the amount. If tens of millions and millions of them are conservatively counted as 10 million and 1 million, the total amount is about 1.72 billion yuan. Add in the undisclosed amount, and the total would be higher.
Among these 16 investments, the highest proportion is 10 million yuan and above, 9 times below 100 million yuan, accounting for about 56%, followed by 4 times below 10 million yuan, accounting for about 25% %, only 3 times over 100 million.
It can be seen that the investment of station B in the game field is also dominated by large-scale investment of tens of millions of yuan, but the investment of more than 100 million yuan is significantly less than that of Tencent (53 times) and NetEase (11 times).
Among them, the top three in terms of amount will all take place in 2021. The first is the equity financing of Xinxin Network of 960 million Hong Kong dollars, which is about 882 million yuan, the second is the equity financing of China Mobile Games, about 600 million yuan, and the third is the equity financing of China Mobile Games. The strategic investment of Celadon Digital is 101 million yuan.
1.3 In terms of rounds, the investment of Station B in the game field is mainly in the early angel rounds and A rounds. Among them, the most is the Angel round, 18 times, followed by the A round with 13 times. Next in line are strategic investments with 5, C rounds and mergers and acquisitions, both with 3.
The cornerstone round is the least, only 1 time, which is the US$5 million invested in China Mobile Games in 2019, plus the subsequent IPO listing, the current shareholding ratio of station B is about 7.15%.
Among these investments, Station B has repeatedly invested in 4 companies. They are China Mobile Games, which currently holds 7.15% of the shares, and Diffraction Network, which currently holds 37% of the shares. Sands of Time and Rongguang Gamers, both of which completed mergers and acquisitions in 2020, currently hold 100% of the shares.
In addition, through the historical shareholder change information, it can be seen that in the game investment of station B, there are several cases in which CEO Chen Rui invested first, and the company invested again. For example, in Scorching Information and Clan Star Lingfan invested in 2016, Chen Rui personally held about 10% of the equity.
1.4 In terms of shareholding ratio, 44 of the 47 investments disclosed the specific shareholding situation, which is slightly higher than the average shareholding ratio of Tencent and NetEase, of which 10% and above to below 20% and 20% and 20%. Above to below 50%, there are 16 times each, accounting for about 36.36%.
The second is below 10%, with 9 times, accounting for about 20.45%, and only 3 times with 50% or more shares. It is a merger of Moboom Network, Sands of Time and Glory Gamers.
Segmentation: Domestic research and development is the mainstay, and two-dimensional and mobile games are the key words
After reading the whole, we can look at the details of the game investment of station B from the classification of the target company’s region, establishment time and business capability.
Compared with Tencent and NetEase, which have more platforms and regions, the game investment options of station B are more single, mainly based on two-dimensional + mobile games, and mainly domestic start-ups.
In the 2.1 region, the game investment of station B is still mainly domestic, with 42 domestic companies and only 1 overseas . It is the Japanese game company Izanagi Games that will invest in 2022. It has both R&D and publishing capabilities. The End Club Comes to an End”.
Looking closely at the domestic market, Beijing, Shanghai and Sichuan have the highest proportion, with 11, 10 and 8 respectively. After that, there were six in Guangdong, three in Zhejiang and two in Fujian.
2.2 In terms of the time of establishment, the highest proportion is the new company established within two years, with 15 companies , followed by the establishment of more than 5 years and less than 10 years, with 13 companies, and the establishment of more than 2 years and less than 5 years, 10 companies, 10 years There are at least 5 of the above.
Among them, the oldest is Roaming Valley, which was established in 2004, and the newest is Mobang Network, which was established in 2022.
According to the time when the investment was accepted, the proportion of new companies established within 2 years was even higher, with 27 companies accounting for about 62.8%. Investing in small and medium-sized start-up teams with early investment is still the main choice for B station in game investment.
2.3 In terms of capabilities, the game companies invested by Station B mainly have three capabilities: R&D, distribution and channels. Because it focuses on the distribution business and serves the second-dimensional cultural user group, it does not have as many as Tencent and NetEase. Regarding the consideration of “ecology”, the investment of station B is mainly based on the three keywords of research and development, mobile, and two-dimensional.
In terms of capabilities, R&D accounts for the highest proportion. 43 target companies have R&D capabilities , and 3 have both distribution capabilities: Xinxin, Celadon and China Mobile Games. There is one company with both channel capabilities, TapTap, and one with the ability to plan and organize animation exhibitions, Shanlily Culture in Hubei.
On the main terminal platform, the mobile terminal accounts for the highest proportion, with 36 companies, accounting for about 83.7% , followed by the PC terminal, with 3 companies, one for web pages, one for consoles, and one for VR.
On behalf of the product theme, the second element and animation are the main force, and the categories are mostly actions, cards, placement, etc. that young users prefer.
Achievement: Two loses and one gain, optimistic about star teams and subdivided tracks
As of October 2022, 3 of the game companies invested by Station B have announced the latest changes in valuation/market value, namely China Mobile Games, Xinxin and Celadon Digital. The first two investments are currently losing money, and only Celadon Small earn.
Among them, Xinxin was listed in December 2019, and the current market value is about 7.2 billion yuan. Station B once obtained about 4.72% equity of Xinxin for 882 million yuan in 2021, and the investment was valued at about 20.8 billion yuan. In terms of conversion, it lost about 543 million yuan.
China Mobile Games was listed in October 2019, with a current market value of about 3.31 billion yuan. Station B invested a total of about 600 million yuan in 2019 and 2021, holding 7.15% of the shares. At the time of investment, the valuation was about 9 billion yuan, and now it has lost about 370 million yuan.
Celadon Digital will be listed at the end of 2021, with a current market value of about 4 billion yuan. In 2021, Station B acquired a 3.37% stake in Celadon with a war investment of 101 million yuan. The valuation was about 3 billion yuan at the time of investment, and now it has earned about 30 million yuan.
In addition to these listed companies, several of the game companies invested by Station B over the years can be counted as stars.
For example, although it is new, the core team has experience in the development of well-known products, Moyu Interactive and Longquan Storm.
Moyu Interactive was established in 2021. The core members have participated in the production of many products such as “Zhan Shuang Pamish”, “Ark Command”, “Three Kingdoms: Strategic Edition”, and have certain research and development capabilities. Currently, a two-dimensional hand is still being developed. tour. Station B invested in the angel round in 2021, and the current shareholding ratio is 25%.
Longquan Storm was established in 2017 by Cao Nan, the producer of “The King of Fighters 98OL Ultimate Battle” with a total turnover of more than 4 billion yuan. The company has successively developed a number of products including “Dream Link” and “Fist Soul Awakening: The King of Fighters All-Stars”. product. In addition to Station B, this company has also received investment from Tencent and Huayi Brothers. Currently, Station B holds 9.76% of the shares.
Subdivided tracks, such as Cat Day, which was established in 2018, have done well-reviewed GalGame “Bubble Winter Scenery” and “Heyan’s Incanok”, and have invested in NetEase. Currently, the shareholding ratio of Station B is 16.74% .
Similar to Xinguangliumei, which was established in 2016, its “High-level Expert Group” takes the path of two-dimensional + AR. In addition to the investment in Station B, it has also received investment from NetEase, Yingying, and Sequoia Capital. , Bilibili currently holds about 5% of the shares.
In addition, there are some that have available IP resources, such as Netyuan Shengtang, Mobang Network, etc.
Among them, Netyuan Shengtang has two well-known game IPs, “Gu Jian Qi Tan” and “Shen Wu Fantasy”, and Station B currently holds about 1% of the shares.
Mobang Network is an affiliated company of Guangzhou Xinyuan Interactive. Currently, it has the software copyrights of “Babybee: Angel of the Abyss” and “My Hero Academia: The Strongest Hero”. 100% equity acquisition.
The above is the investment situation of Station B in the game field. In the next article, we will continue to count its nearly 100 investments in other entertainment fields other than games, involving more star companies and IP than the game field.