Zhang Shule is a columnist for People's Daily Online and People's Post and Telegraph

game peripherals,

How to pan for gold in China?

Game peripherals, will you buy them?

Buy, for feelings, or for value-added?

The Game Museum of the China Audio and Digital Association has settled in Shanghai and will open for trial operation in late July, becoming the first professional video game museum in China.

The Game Museum covers an area of 2,000 square meters, with a permanent exhibition area of about 1,000 square meters, divided into four exhibition areas: "Early Video Games", "Console Wars", "The Development of Computer Games" and "Chinese Games", and will display more than 1,000 core exhibits.

In addition to the permanent exhibitions, the Museum of the China Audio-Digital Association has a collection of more than 5,000 games.

Among them, there are more than 300 kinds of game console products in different periods of game history, and more than 1,000 boxed games (more than 600 of which are made in China); There are more than 3,000 kinds of game magazines, game music CDs and vinyl records, art albums, posters, etc., and more than 1,000 themed physical peripherals.

In April, the sales of the first batch of peripherals of "Love and Deep Space" exceeded 40 million within 2 hours, and the linkage peripherals of "Love of Light and Night" and Heytea became a new "social currency" among players.

The sales of 15 peripheral products exceeded 40 million within 2 hours, and as of the first batch of peripheral shelves, the sales volume of the highest-selling "Qi Yu's Birthday Tinplate Badge" exceeded 700,000, and the sales volume of this peripheral alone reached 12.6 million at a unit price of 18 yuan.

In addition, the sales of the first batch of birthday commemorative films, birthday light paintings, birthday photo pendants and other goods in the periphery started at 100,000.

Taking "Honkai: Star Dome Railway" as an example, the best-selling peripheral tinplate badges, stands, imitation film cards, etc., the sales volume is generally in the range of 100,000 to 200,000, and the product pricing is about 15 yuan to 18 yuan, and the sales of a single best-selling peripheral are mostly in the millions.

In addition, Genshin's "Condensation · Moon Occultation Heavenly Power" static figure, Mondstadt Battlefield Heroic Series Blind Box, and Klee Jumping Bomb Mug broke 10 million sales at the end of 2022, and in addition to the blind box, the other two products continue to contribute to sales.

In recent years, more and more game companies have made efforts in game peripherals, dolls, stationery, clothing, badges, stickers, standing cards and other forms of peripheral products have attracted many consumers to buy, and the price of some limited and first peripheral products has even opened more than 10 times on the second-hand trading platform.

Why do game peripherals attract consumers to buy or even rob them?

With the rapid development of game IPs around the game, how can we achieve long-term popularity?

Is it a good business for game peripherals to become the standard for games, and what does it mean for the development of the industry?

In this regard, Yan Li, a reporter from the Consumer Daily, had an exchange with Shule, and the monkey thought:

At present, in China, it is still relatively rare for game peripherals to be snapped up, mainly some co-branded models.

The latest anticipation of the sales boom of the physical version of the hit "Black Myth: Wukong" is just a special case, namely:

With strong expectations for IP, the surrounding area has the potential to add value in the future.

However, in the global market, game peripherals are often linked to animation and games, and then enter the derivatives market to attract consumption through strong feelings.

The most typical case is the Elf Dream Cob, due to the strong IP influence, some of its characteristic peripherals have collectible value, and this value-added ability is the biggest driving force behind the robbery.

In order to achieve long-term popularity around the game, the most important thing to achieve is the long-term popularity and iteration of the game itself.

Specifically, it is derived from the second dimension of animation, film and television, songs, and even theme parks, rather than just around the simple peripherals such as figurines and plush toys.

At the same time, it is also necessary to pay attention to the age coverage of the game IP, which grows together with the age of fans.

Typical examples such as Gundam, which have grown up with anime for 40 years, and while the anime has become more and more refined, its periphery has ranged from thick line toys to various Gundam products of different ages, forming a strong peripheral matrix.

As early as 20 years ago, domestic game manufacturers recognized the value of game peripherals, and according to the market segmentation ratio of 3:7 between the foreign animation industry and animation peripherals, its own value is extremely great.

However, due to the bias of online games in China and the strong revenue capacity, and the life cycle of most games is difficult to exceed 3 years, it is difficult for the game peripheral market to explode.

At present, the domestic game industry has begun to move towards the stage of high-quality games, and there are more and more game IPs with long life cycles, which also makes it possible for the new growth of game peripherals.

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