In 2019, the domestic market of the game and entertainment industry is depressed, and the children’s equipment market is no longer effective. Many enterprises have entered the cruel elimination period, and the domestic market has become a "drop in the bucket". Although the enterprises in the industry are trying their best to find cross-border cooperation, web celebrity products and new forms of business, the situation that the number of game and entertainment enterprises is decreasing, there are acquisitions and mergers, or even enterprises closing down continues. Where is the way out? How to survive in this business? Such interrogations echo day and night in the ears of industry peers. However, news announced in June brought delight, anticipation and hope to the current situation.

On June 14, the official website of China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) disclosed in advance the prospectus of Guangdong UNIS Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as UNIS Technology), whose prospectus application documents have been formally entered into the trial. UNIS Technology's game machines are exported to nearly 100 countries. In 2018, the company's revenue was 433 million RMB, among which the overseas sales revenue was 235 million RMB, accounting for more than half. The game and entertainment company, with overseas sales of more than 200 million RMB, is going public, and export sales is the key reason for its rapid growth for three consecutive years. According to the Annual Development Report of Guangdong Game Industry 2018, the export revenue of Guangdong game industry also reached 27 billion RMB in 2018, with a growth rate of 23.8%, thanks to the expansion and increase in the number of game enterprises developing their overseas business. The export of game and entertainment equipment is worth about 6.7 billion RMB, accounting for 24.8% of total exports from Guangdong. In 2019, the overseas trade in China's game industry did not slow down, but became even hotter. There is a broader overseas "fast lane" for domestic game products to promote export development. According to the data report released by the game industry commission in June, the total overseas revenue of domestic games in 2019Q1 reached USD 3 billion, accounting for 30.9% of the industry's revenue.

"You’re out if you not do overseas trade" has become a reality in the China’s game industry.

On the one hand, in terms of opportunities, there are more than 60 million overseas Chinese and overseas students who have a natural affinity for Chinese culture and a large number of foreigners who have a favorable impression of Chinese culture. At the same time, with the expansion of China's game market, the increase of Chinese game players and the liberalization of restrictions on the cooperation between Chinese and foreign game industries, international game manufacturers are paying more attention to China and are more eager to cooperate with Chinese game manufacturers. On the other hand, from the view of challenges, after experiencing "going abroad" in these years, most Chinese game enterprises are still in a state of fighting alone and there is lack of cohesion, therefore they have not formed an overall competitive advantage. Due to the lack of sufficient understanding of overseas players' habits, overseas legal systems, cultural customs and other aspects, some game developers lack relevant experience and ability of overseas operation work, leading to problems such as the incompatibility of some games. How to seize opportunities and meet challenges is a common problem faced by Chinese game enterprises who want to develop export sales business. But in the current white-hot market competition, there is not much time for the game and entertainment enterprises to answer the question “do you want to go out or leave the industry altogether?”

※The article is published in the GTI Magazine Issue No. 177 in July 2019