Rio’s 2016 Olympics Come to a Close
The 2016 Olympics in Rio have now concluded and viewers are already looking forward to the next summer Olympics in Tokyo. One of the most interesting things to note was in Japan’s two-minute teaser at the end of Rio that featured Pac-Man as well as the Prime Minster of Japan turning into Mario (from Super Mario Bros.) to show up at Rio’s closing ceremonies. We look forward to seeing how other video-game tie-ins will take place for such a global event!
Which, speaking of the Olympics, we thoroughly enjoyed China’s Fu Yuanhui become a viral sensation across China and the rest of the world. Her reaction to being told by a reporter that she placed third, not fourth, in a swimming event is priceless.
This was also Southeast Asia’s best Olympics ever. According to FiveThirtyEight, “On Aug. 6, Vietnam broke through, as Hoang Xuan Vinh won his country’s first-ever gold in the 10m air pistol. Six days later, Joseph Schooling of Singapore captured another inaugural gold, in the 100m butterfly. With several events remaining, Southeast Asian athletes have secured medals in weightlifting (seven), badminton (four), shooting (two), taekwondo (two), swimming, cycling, and diving.”
Chinese Investments in Overseas Soccer Clubs
Niko Partners has been following the rise of soccer (football) in China closely over the past year as it continuously picks up pace. Since 2014, Chinese investors have invested over 7 billion RMB in overseas soccer clubs (or teams). Partly this has been spurred by Xi Jinping’s love of soccer and his declaration in 2011 that he wished that the Chinese national team could qualify for another World Cup, host a World Cup and win a World Cup. There is great deal of global advertising to be done through soccer clubs and organizations. We have tracked the progression of this goal and seen the ripple effects in video games across Asia, not only in China.
Q2 Earnings Reports for Chinese Online Game Operators
Perfect World, NetEase and Tencent all released their Q2/H1 2016 reports this week. Perfect World made RMB 2.115 billion in revenue, decreasing by 2.26% YoY with game revenue counting for 87.4% of their total revenue. NetEase’s Q2 revenue, on the other hand, was RMB 8.95 billion and it increased by 96% YoY. Tencent made RMB 35.69 billion in Q2, increasing by 52% YoY. The big keep getting bigger in China’s games market as NetEase, Tencent and other large operators (like Alibaba) continue to expand.
Niko Partners on Twitter
Follow us on Twitter @nikochina to see these comments in real time as we publish them! Here are a few of our tweets from last week:
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