NetEase is ready to launch the mobile version of its successful battle royale Naraka: Bladepoint in China. Analysts are optimistic about the game’s future, which also had a positive effect on the Chinese company’s stock.
On July 25, Naraka: Bladepoint Mobile will launch exclusively in China. The global release date is still unclear, but the game has already reached over 40 million pre-registrations.
As Goldman Sachs analyst Lincoln Kong told Bloomberg, Naraka: Bladepoint Mobile is expected to reach 6.4 billion yuan ($880 million) in revenue in its first year. With such a result, the title will contribute to 6-7% of NetEase’s revenue growth over this period.
The positive outlook also sent NetEase shares up 6.3% in Hong Kong on July 24.
Developed by 24 Entertainment, Naraka: Bladepoint sold over 6 million copies on PC in the three months of its August 2021 launch. The battle royale game was later ported to Xbox and PlayStation 5, having reached 40 million players globally since going free-to-play in July 2023.
According to lead producer Ray Kuan, the DAU and concurrent players on the Steam version of Naraka: Bladepoint reached all-time highs recently. Thanks to the release of its Season 13 update earlier this month, the game returned to the top 10 highest-grossing products on Steam, peaking at 385,770 CCU.
“Three years ago, we didn’t have high hopes for the PC title, but now our expectation for mobile is really high,” Kuan told Bloomberg.
Naraka: Bladepoint Mobile will be another major release in China this year, following Tencent’s Dungeon & Fighter Mobile and miHoYo’s Zenlezz Zone Zero. DnF Mobile generated $270 million in player spending in its first month on iOS alone, with analysts expecting the game to gross over $2 billion by the end of 2024.
ZZZ, which launched globally on July 4, reached nearly $3.7 million in IAP revenue (reduced by platform fees and inclusive taxes) in its first 24 hours. AppMagic currently estimates its lifetime net revenue on mobile at $46.7 million, with China accounting for over 40% of the total. It is worth noting that miHoYo’s new game is also available on PC and PS5, so its total revenue should be much larger.