GF Securities expressed optimism regarding the global market opportunities for high-quality anime-style games. Based on the performance observed during the third test in February 2026 and a multi-dimensional comparison with similar genre products, the firm believes that "Yihuan," with its high game quality and differentiated gameplay, has the potential to become a leading new-generation anime-style open-world product. This is expected to bring significant performance elasticity to Perfect World (002624.SZ). Furthermore, it validates the industry-leading R&D capabilities of Perfect World's Suzhou Hotta Studio. Considering the relatively long lifecycle and high IP value characteristic of this game genre, it may warrant a valuation premium over the average for the A-share gaming sector. The main points from GF Securities are as follows:
Anime-style games have become a prominent "Chinese name card" in the global gaming market. The global market size for this segment is estimated to exceed RMB 100 billion, with leading products generating annual revenues reaching tens of billions. Chinese gaming companies hold a dominant position in this space. In terms of user demographics, the domestic user base primarily consists of young users around 25 years old, and there remains potential for further penetration among female users. The core appeal lies in "character development" as the central element for both content and commercialization, aligning with the consumption trend of young users paying for emotional engagement. Through consistently updated high-quality content, diverse character rosters, and community operations, top anime-style games often possess high IP value. Regarding the competitive landscape, miHoYo's "Genshin Impact" has consistently held the top position in recent years, while rankings from 2nd to 10th are not solidified, leaving room for new games with high quality and differentiated gameplay to break into the top tier.
Within the anime-style segment, the "open-world" genre represents a unique category with extremely high barriers to entry and potentially substantial returns across the entire gaming industry. Developing an anime-style open-world game requires both AAA-level content quality and sustained user operation capabilities. Developers possessing these capabilities, and the games they produce, are relatively scarce. Currently, in a narrow sense, only miHoYo's "Genshin Impact" and Kuro Games' (which has been acquired by Tencent) "Wuthering Waves" are in operation. Perfect World's "Yihuan," slated for release in April 2026, is positioned as the third major product in this category. Benefiting from a vast global, multi-platform (mobile, PC, console) user base, high content quality, and a proven long-term operational model, games in this genre typically exhibit high revenue ceilings and floors. Their profit margins can potentially exceed 50%, and they generally enjoy relatively long lifecycles.
"Yihuan" is expected to become a leading new-generation anime-style open-world product, leveraging its high content quality and distinctive gameplay features. Based on the performance observed during the third test concluding in February 2026, "Yihuan" demonstrates significant differentiation from "Genshin Impact" and "Wuthering Waves" in its "urban fantasy" theme, high-quality visuals powered by UE5.5, unique open-world exploration experiences and urban management gameplay, as well as innovative character companionship features, although its character art design was noted as a slight weakness. In terms of progression systems and monetization design, "Yihuan" follows industry trends by further reducing grind and player spending compared to similar genre products. Overall, the potential user reach for "Yihuan" could expand from core anime-style game enthusiasts to a broader gaming audience interested in urban themes and vehicle-based gameplay.
"Yihuan" is anticipated to contribute significant performance elasticity to Perfect World. Given comprehensive upgrades in quality and gameplay, the commercial performance of "Yihuan" is expected to surpass that of Suzhou Hotta Studio's previous title, "Tower of Fantasy," which generated approximately RMB 3 billion in revenue in its first year. Drawing comparisons with similar genre products, GF Securities projects that "Yihuan" could achieve revenue in the range of RMB 4 billion to RMB 7 billion within its first 12 months. Regarding revenue sustainability, other anime-style open-world games like "Genshin Impact" and "Wuthering Waves" have seen revenues increase in their second year. Considering the "theme park" nature of open-world games, sustained through major version updates, and the high R&D efficiency of Suzhou Hotta Studio, the firm believes "Yihuan" has the potential to maintain or even grow its revenue in the year following its launch. In terms of profitability, the firm suggests the profit margin for the "Yihuan" project could potentially exceed 50%. From a financial reporting perspective, considering potential instability in the revenue recognition cycle during the initial launch phase and corresponding timing mismatches in cost and expense ratios, the net profit margin for the product in 2026 is expected to be relatively low, gradually improving in subsequent years.
Risk factors include potential delays in the product's launch schedule, intensifying industry competition, macroeconomic fluctuations, and the risk of a downward shift in valuation benchmarks.
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