4399 will build its headquarters in Guangzhou, 'Mushroom Hero Legend' revives, mini-games rake in $400 million in half a year

According to the Guangzhou Tianhe District Investment Service Center's information disclosure, on November 11, Guangzhou 4399 Information Technology Co., Ltd. successfully won the bid for the AT101828 plot in the East District of Guangzhou International Financial City, Tianhe District, with a total transaction price of approximately 603 million yuan.

The plot sold this time will serve as the future headquarters site of 4399, located in the frontline riverside area of Guangzhou International Financial City (East District), facing the River Heart Island and with the headquarters plot of KuGou Music nearby.

According to relevant information from the Guangzhou Planning and Natural Resources Bureau, the total land area of this plot is approximately 8,460 square meters, with a planned construction area of approximately 40,000 square meters and a plot ratio of 4.73. The industrial type of the project developed on this plot is software and gaming, with an initial price of 602.72 million yuan, and the plot was finally sold at the base price.

4399, which made a bold land acquisition this time, is an established gaming company founded in 2002. Starting as a web game company, it has its headquarters in Xiamen and branches in Guangzhou, Beijing, South Korea, and other locations. Guangzhou 4399 was established in 2011.

4399 was once a leader in the era of web games but faced challenges when entering the mobile gaming era after 2013. From 2014 to 2017, 4399 attempted to go public twice but failed, and during this period, it failed to launch any impressive new games. However, in recent years, 4399 has found new growth momentum by expanding into overseas markets, especially with its 2023 game 'Mushroom Hero Legend', which became a dark horse among overseas games in the first half of 2024.

According to the 'Mini-Game Overseas Expansion Report for the First Half of 2024' jointly released by DataEye and Diandian Data, in the first half of 2024, the total revenue of 17 outstanding overseas mini-games exceeded $470 million, with 'Mushroom Hero Legend' alone contributing $378 million (approximately 2.74 billion yuan), almost equivalent to the total revenue of A-share listed company Perfect World in the first half of the year.

'Mushroom Hero Legend' first achieved success in the Chinese mainland market and then officially entered Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan in November 2023, quickly occupying the top spot on the iOS best-selling charts in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Subsequently, the game was launched in South Korea and Japan, further boosting its revenue. According to Sensor Tower data, 'Mushroom Hero Legend' earned over $100 million in both the Japanese and South Korean markets in the first half of 2024, ranking among the top in terms of mobile game revenue growth locally.

Thanks to the success of 'Mushroom Hero Legend', 4399's overseas business has been rejuvenated. Sensor Tower data shows that since the game's launch, 4399's position on the global revenue ranking of Chinese mobile game publishers has significantly improved, reaching as high as sixth place. This marks an important breakthrough for 4399 in the global gaming market.

Edited by: Ding Li