Shanda's "Legend of Blood" copyright dispute upgrade authorization enters countdown

According to ChinaJoy's confirmation, Shanda Group no longer holds any shares in Shanda Games, and the Shanda Games trademark will expire on December 31, 2016. In other words, Shanda Games, which has changed shareholders, will no longer belong to Shanda Group next year.

The 2016 ChinaJoy (China International Digital Interactive Entertainment Exhibition) became the curtain call performance of Shanda Games.

According to ChinaJoy's confirmation, Shanda Group no longer holds any shares in Shanda Games, and the Shanda Games trademark will expire on December 31, 2016. In other words, Shanda Games, which has changed shareholders, will no longer belong to Shanda Group next year.

On the other hand, the copyright dispute between Shanda and Wemmade (hereinafter referred to as "Yu Virtue"), the developer of "The Legend of Blood", escalated again. Shanda Games said in an interview with reporters that it had received a lawyer's letter from Entertainment Virtue that the authorization contract of "The Legend of Blood" would expire on September 28, 2017. However, Shanda Games also stated that "ACTOZ, the holding subsidiary of Shanda Games, is the co-owner of the IP. As the pioneer of legendary IP in China, Shanda Games will exercise corresponding rights in accordance with the Copyright Law and other laws."

Even so, the decline of "Shanda Games", the former online game boss, has made players sigh. The copyright dispute over the master game "The Legend of Blood" has escalated again, adding another shadow to "Shanda Games", which is mired in infighting among shareholders.

"Legend" authorized entry into countdown

Shanda games and the feud between entertainment virtues has a long history. In 2001,"Legend of Blood" was introduced to China through Shanda. In 2003, due to differences between the distribution of benefits and the developer's entertainment virtues, entertainment virtues once said that "I would rather die than cooperate with Shanda." In 2004, Shanda purchased about 29% of the shares from some shareholders of South Korea's ACTOZ, the issuer of "The Legend of Blood", with US$91.7 million in cash, making ACTOZ a holding subsidiary of Shanda, and the dispute came to an end.

However, a few days ago, Yumeide signed a mobile game adaptation rights for "The Legend of Hot Blood" IP with China Kaiying Company for 30 billion won (approximately RMB 170 million), once again triggering a copyright dispute over "The Legend of Hot Blood". Shanda Games and ACTOZ jointly issued a statement stating that Yumeide's unilateral sale of the rights to adapt "Legend" was invalid and illegal.

According to Shanda Games 'reply to reporters, the copyright of "The Legend of Blood" belongs to South Korea's ACTOZ (Shanda Games holding subsidiary) and Yumeide. Yumeide and ACTOZ have reached an irrevocable agreement on external authorization, including the "Software License Agreement" and "Supplementary Agreement". A number of documents, including ACTOZ, stipulate that starting from July 14, 2002, will exercise all rights as a co-copyright owner in China. Shanda also confirmed that the licensing contract for "The Legend of Blood" will expire on September 28, 2017.

In the eyes of industry insiders, the authorization contract will expire next year is the fundamental reason for bringing up old matters in entertainment virtues. Because of the various conflicts in the distribution of interests in the past, the entertainment and virtues naturally wanted to use the expiration of the authorization contract to recover the legend. However, Shanda holds shares in issuer ACTOZ, which complicates the matter.

But in the final analysis, it is the legendary ability to attract money that makes no one willing to let go easily. At that time, Shanda became the leader in the online game industry thanks to its operating legend. It was also with the help of its legend that Shanda Games was listed in the United States. Looking back at Shanda Games 'product line for many years, most of it revolves around legendary IP. There are many legendary products in the legendary series such as "Hot Legend","Legend Returns","Legend 3","Legend World Mobile Games", etc.

In the view of analyst Xue Yongfeng, from the era of mobile games to the era of mobile games, Shanda Games has basically relied on legends for many years, and there are few works that transcend legends. According to industry sources, after Shanda handed over "The Legend of Hot Blood Mobile Edition" to Tencent's exclusive agent last year, it once generated a monthly revenue of 600 million to 700 million yuan.

According to Tan Yanfeng, the new vice president of Shanda Games, on ChinaJoy, in 2015, Shanda Games established a corporate strategy with "big IP" and "pan-entertainment" as its core, of which developing legendary IP is the top priority. About a month ago, Shanda also launched "Legend of Eternal" in 3D format. However, Xue Yongfeng believes that Shanda Games 'strategy is to maximize the value of Legend, a super IP. Once there is a copyright problem with "The Legend of Blood", Shanda can draw players' attention to various sequels, which is also the reason why Shanda has developed sequels around the Legend IP in recent years.

"There is also a possibility of reconciliation, which in the final analysis is still an interest." Ding Peng, a senior game observer and founder of VRZINC, believes that 75% of the operating revenue of "Crossing the Fire" in China at that time belonged to Tencent, and 25% was allocated by South Korea's NeowizGames and Smilegate. Several parties also had a dispute over the copyright of "Crossing the Fire", and then settled again for "the stability of" Crossing the Fire "operation in the mainland of China."

Returning to A-shares is no longer difficult

. However, the main reason for Shanda Games 'decline is not the legendary copyright dispute.

According to Ding Peng, founder of VRZINC, the main reason is Shanda Games 'long-term role as a "cash cow" under Shanda Group's dual-track system. Shanda Games launched on NASDAQ in 2009, setting the largest IPO in the United States that year. From the perspective of the industry, as the starting point for Chen Tianqiao to build the Shanda Empire in the past, the game business must not only ensure profitability, but also serve as the "blood transfusion machine" of Shanda Group for a long time, and cooperate with Chen Tianqiao in many fields such as video and online literature. It is inevitable that he will be exhausted.

According to sources close to Shanda Games, Shanda Games does not dare to invest too much in research and development because it wants to ensure profits. "World Zero" was considered one of Shanda's major investment projects at that time, but it was unable to launch it. In the end, Tan Qunzhao's resignation as CEO was also affected by this incident. According to former Shanda employees,"In the later stages of Shanda Games, the original producers were basically elderly people who had been there for eight to ten years, which was incomparable to the active thinking companies in the market that made page games and mobile games. It has been integrated with Shanda's culture, and its thinking has become rigid." According to his disclosure, only a small number of mobile game projects developed by Shanda have really made money."They have repeatedly played the game of establishing a project-developing-losing money-and then establishing a project."

The business has been weak and has been donating blood to the group in the past, causing Shanda Games to continue to decline in the industry. Xue Yongfeng pointed out that on the one hand, Shanda itself lacks R & D capabilities. After acting for the legend, it has relied on its old roots and has never introduced heavy-duty agency products; on the other hand, Chen Tianqiao himself does not like games very much, and the company is more interested in expanding the territory of the big Internet after it goes public.

Even so, Shanda Games, which is preparing to return to A-shares after privatization, is still the target of a capital rush. However, in the wave of privatization of China Stock Exchange, it is difficult to have another company that has such ups and downs as Shanda Games. After two years, seven privatized consortiums have changed. As of the most recent time, Yintai's holding companies have entered the ranks of shareholders of Shanda Games, and Xie Fei has become the new CEO of Shanda Games. Only a month later, Shanda Games CFO Yao Li and CAO (Chief Administrative Officer) Zhang Jin were dismissed on the spot. Later, Zhu Xiaojing, vice president of the Market Communications Center, resigned after 17 years in office. At this point, Shanda executives have collectively been eliminated.

On the evening of July 27, Chen Tianqiao's younger brother Chen Danian posted a message on WeChat on a circle of friends. The message triggered a splash in the game circle: "More than ten years ago, ChinaJoy opened its new store, and we formulated several major strategies for grand game exhibitions, such as the largest bag, the most etiquette ladies, the most complete gifts, and the loudest speakers. Later, these indicators became the focus of competition among game manufacturers. It's the last year of participating in the exhibition, let's go and have a look!"

There is no doubt that Shanda has finally reached the time to say goodbye, and Shanda is no longer the Shanda in the minds of players back then. Many industry insiders interviewed said that Shanda's curtain call means the end of an era for Internet Games, because shareholders are fighting, Shanda has also lost its best opportunity to return to A shares.

Editor: yvette