If you’ll remember, Chinese web portal, IM provider, and MMO operator Tencent made some pretty big waves last spring when the news broke that they’d surpassed the $1 billion mark in revenues. Well, if Tencent’s Q2 revenue numbers report is any indication of what’s to come, they are well on track for a repeat performance.
Reporting RMB 2,878.4 or roughly $421.3 million in total revenues for Q2 2009, ending June 30th, Tencent saw a 14.9 percent increase over the previous quarter, and a sizable 79.9 percent increase in revenues year-over-year. This now brings the company’s first half of 2009 revenues to $787.9 million, a 77.5 percent increase over the first half of 2008.
Admittedly, the lions share of revenues are derived from the company’s IM services, but with virtual goods and currency sales a close second, Tencent is reporting a gross profit of $284.5 million. This number represents a 13.1 percent increase over Q1 2009, and a 69.5 percent increase y-o-y from 2008’s numbers.
Operating popular free-to-play MMO’s Dungeon Fighter and Cross Fire (both Nexon products), as well as gaming client QQ games has significantly helped lined the coffers at Tencent. The company saw a 17 percent increase over the previous quarter, and a significant, yet unnamed, year-over-year increase to $183 million.
Mr. Ma Huateng, Chairman and CEO of Tencent, said, “For the second quarter of 2009, we delivered solid growth in our operating and financial results as we strengthened our online platforms and increased monetization on our Internet value-added services, especially online games.”
However, while the Tencent camp has something to cheer about, things may not be quite as rosy as the surface view would indicate. Tencent representatives indicated that decreased revenues in “more mature MMO’s” including QQ Fantasy, QQ SanGuo, and QQ Huaxia must be considered in the overall revenue picture. To this end, Tencent has halted the launch date of two planned MMO’s. These titles were expected to hit the airwaves around the turn of the year. One prior to New Years, and the other was expected in early 2010.
To this end, Huateng comments, “For our online advertising business, the industry environment remained challenging although activities picked up modestly this quarter. We believe advertisers are still cautious on ad spend for 2009 until the global economy recovers in a more concrete and sustained manner.”
Tags: cross fire, dungeon fighter, monetization, Nexon, online games, tencent, virtual goods
