At the ZT Online carnival in June 2023, Shi Yuzhu attended as usual to share insights.

But this time, he was in the role of executive producer for "ZT Online: Original". In September last year, at Giant Interactive's request, Shi Yuzhu returned after a decade-long hiatus from company management and once again operated the "ZT Online" IP he was familiar with.

Therefore, this ZT Online carnival centered around Shi Yuzhu, creating several trending topics to promote "ZT Online: Original", which had only been online for two months.

These topics, meticulously prepared to trend on social media, include but are not limited to:

"Shi Yuzhu Self-Deprecates: 'Shi Yuzhu Only Scams the Rich'"

"Shi Yuzhu Meets Male Netizen Privately (Top Player in the First Region of ZT Online: Original)"

"Shi Yuzhu Announces Entry into Metaverse Games"

"Cross-Industry Strategic Collaboration Between Shi Yuzhu's 'Brain Gold' and 'ZT Online'"

"Shi Yuzhu's E-Sports Debut"

"Shi Yuzhu Narrowly Wins Against Fan Zhiyi in a Live Football Match" and more.

As we all know, both "ZT Online" and "marketing" are Shi Yuzhu's strongest suits.

01

Giant Interactive Embarks on a New Journey

After Shi Yuzhu announced his return to Giant Interactive in September 2022, the game "ZT Online: Original", which he personally participated in developing, successfully launched in March of the following year.

The game not only quickly topped the iOS free chart but also generated over 100 million yuan in revenue within just 10 days, exceeding 300 million yuan in its first month. It consistently ranked in the top 20 of the iOS best-selling chart until the ZT Online carnival in June.

As the cornerstone of Giant Interactive's gaming business, the robust performance of the "ZT Online" series significantly boosted the company's financial results.

According to Giant Interactive's 2023 financial report, the company's annual revenue reached 2.924 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 43.50%, marking a successful rebound after four consecutive years of declining revenue. Simultaneously, net profit attributable to shareholders totaled 1.086 billion yuan, up 27.67% year-on-year, while non-GAAP net profit was 1.373 billion yuan, a 34.84% increase.

This remarkable turnaround is explicitly attributed to the outstanding performance of "ZT Online: Original" in the financial report.

We need to reiterate that "ZT Online" and "marketing" are Shi Yuzhu's strongest suits.

In 2006, Shi Yuzhu spent 20 million yuan to recruit a team that had left Shanda Interactive Entertainment and launched his first MMORPG client game, "ZT Online".

During the game's promotion, it was constantly benchmarked against the popular game "Legend of Mir" and promoted as "permanently free" to compete with "Legend of Mir". This strategy was a great success, with the game surpassing 1 million concurrent users just one year after its launch.

Eighteen years later, Shi Yuzhu can still use the "ZT Online" IP to infuse Giant Interactive with new life. "ZT Online: Original" generated over 1.5 billion yuan in revenue in 2023, with over 15 million new users.

On the other hand, Giant Interactive has also been shaped into the image Shi Yuzhu prefers in terms of "marketing".

Giant Interactive's selling expenses reached 1.019 billion yuan in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 186.24%, with significant marketing investments before the open beta of "ZT Online: Original". According to DataEye-ADX observations, over 24,000 sets of materials were deployed alone on March 24, the day before the open beta of "ZT Online: Original".

However, Shi Yuzhu's marketing has maintained the high standards of his "health product" era. Despite a significant increase in selling costs, the company's annual net profit attributable to shareholders still achieved a notable 27.67% growth.

Under his plan, Giant Interactive has even advanced its layout for the 2024 "ZT Online" series mini-game market. Since increasing its ad spend for the "ZT Online: King" mini-game in February, revenue has grown month-on-month for five consecutive months, reaching the top 10 of the best-selling mini-games in August. Meanwhile, the mini-game version of "ZT Online: Original" also showed strong potential, ranking 57th on the best-selling mini-games chart in July.

Driven by the mini-game market, Giant Interactive's marketing efficiency has further improved, with selling costs effectively controlled. In the first three quarters of 2024, despite relatively stable revenue growth, the company's net profit has quietly risen to the forefront of the industry due to its astonishing profit margin of nearly 50%, comparable to that of Shenzhou Taiyue, which ranks third in revenue among A-share gaming companies.

Under Shi Yuzhu's operation, the "ZT Online" products and marketing tactics have brought significant revenue to Giant Interactive. However, this tactic is not without drawbacks. In the increasingly competitive gaming industry, both established products like "ZT Online" and rising user acquisition costs indicate that this is not a sustainable strategy in the long run.

Relying on the "ZT Online: Original" mobile game in 2023 and mini-games from the "ZT Online" series in 2024, what can Giant Interactive rely on in 2025?

Moreover, looking at Giant Interactive, in addition to the "ZT Online" series IP, "Ball Battle", another core product supporting the company's revenue, is also a nine-year-old game.

In recent years, to contribute to revenue, "Ball Battle" has gradually lost control over item pricing. According to the 2024 interim report, the game continued its revenue growth trend, with active ARPU during the Spring Festival reaching an all-time high, and even the price of its most expensive skin becoming a trending topic on video platforms.

Many players have jokingly inquired about the price of "Ball Battle's" most expensive skin, wondering if it costs millions.

02

Can AI Support the Other Half of Giant Interactive?

For the future strategic fulcrum of Giant Interactive, Shi Yuzhu clearly points to AI technology.

At the end of 2022, along with Shi Yuzhu's return to Giant Interactive, the revitalized "ZT Online" IP series games and the establishment of an AI laboratory also returned. This laboratory brings together AI experts from the industry to promote the comprehensive application and implementation of AI technology across the company's various business areas.

On April 3, 2023, shortly after the launch of "ZT Online: Original", Shi Yuzhu discussed the integration of the gaming industry and AI, revealing that AI-related tools had been pioneered in the game. He emphasized, "Since our art department started using artificial intelligence, the entire rendering process and efficiency have been significantly improved, and our programmers have also received assistance."

Giant Interactive further leveraged AI technology to build a comprehensive risk control system for the ZT Online IP. This system maintains the economic and ecological balance of ZT Online products by comprehensively monitoring the game ecosystem and effectively tracking and combating abnormal trading behaviors.

In an AI achievement report in November of the same year, the company detailed the efficiency gains brought by AI, such as a 50% to 70% increase in character and scene concept art production efficiency and over an 80% optimization in UI and ICON design efficiency.

Entering 2024, Giant Interactive further prioritized its AI business. Shi Yuzhu announced that AI had become a core business segment on par with gaming.

So, how effective is the AI business that Shi Yuzhu has high hopes for?

In terms of technology research and development, Giant Interactive has collaborated deeply with internet giants like Baidu and Alibaba to accelerate the accumulation and iteration of AI technology. The company has repeatedly announced technological progress using "first batch" as a keyword, demonstrating its keen layout in the AI field.

In terms of application outcomes, on February 2, 2024, Giant Interactive successfully completed the filing for its game AI large model, GiantGPT, becoming one of the first companies in the gaming industry to achieve this milestone.

This model has been applied to multiple game projects. For example, the mobile game "Among Us" launched in 2022 incorporated an AI gameplay mode called "Remnant Challenge," featuring one human player versus multiple AI players in a reasoning duel, attracting a large number of players. Since its launch, related topics have gained significant popularity on short video platforms, with search volume for "Among Us" on Douyin doubling compared to usual days.

However, despite Giant Interactive's achievements in AI, the market remains cautious about its future development. In the first three quarters, the company's share price fell by approximately 20%, reflecting market concerns about the successful implementation of Giant Interactive's "gaming + AI" strategy.

To win market recognition, Giant Interactive may need to launch a large DAU game work like "Justice Online" that leverages AI as its core competitiveness.

Notably, in March 2024, Giant Interactive successfully obtained a license for "Lordless Throne," a self-developed fantasy-themed faction-based MMORPG mobile game.

According to the game information currently released by the official, Giant Interactive's AI laboratory has created an AI NPC ecosystem driven by a large model to provide players with a richer gaming experience. Player feedback on TapTap currently gives the game a high score of 8.5. However, its final market performance remains to be seen after the game's official launch.

After all, Shi Yuzhu excels at "ZT Online" and "marketing." But when he expands "ZT Online" to the broader "gaming" field, it's difficult for the market to effectively distinguish whether it's attracted by the "game" or the "marketing."