The Chinese PS Vita? The iReadyGo Much i5 (2014)

Key insights

6 takeaways

01
Snail Games is vertically integrating its business model by acting as a hardware manufacturer, mobile service provider, and software publisher through the launch of the iReadyGo Much i5 smartphone.
02
The iReadyGo Much i5 is a dedicated gaming device featuring physical controls, dual joysticks, and a curated Android app store managed by Snail Games.
03
Snail Games is leveraging its status as a virtual network operator in China to bundle the device with proprietary SIM cards, offering incentives like free game downloads to drive ecosystem adoption.
04
The long-term viability of the initiative hinges on Snail Games' ability to maintain consumer interest in a specialized gaming device within the broader, highly competitive Chinese mobile landscape.
05
A hardware iteration developed in collaboration with Nvidia is scheduled for a domestic release in China by the end of 2014, with a global rollout planned for 2015.
06
This strategy is an outlier in the global gaming industry, as it attempts to compete in the niche market for dedicated gaming hardware against mainstream smartphone manufacturers.

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Transcript

okay so we're at the china joy conference in shanghai and uh this is looking at this uh new interesting bit of hardware so this is from snail games who are well known for their pc mmogs they're getting to mobile so this device is um actually a phone so it looks a bit like a psp i guess we've got two joysticks here got the buttons oh someone's going to help me out by doing something here so let's see touch screen um so what snow games is doing here is uh they're looking to kind of break into the uh kind of they call it secondary phone market so we're coming with in with this gaming device you can see here this one's kind of a customized it's got a one of their games as a kind of a backing sort of not face here so obviously runs android um

and this is actually a version of the um hardware that's kind of currently out but they're working on a new version that will have better chip working with nvidia uh that's looking like um you're coming out end of end of this year in china there'll be a global launch as well um looking for 2015. and the reason that's now is doing this is uh let's launch up a game first actually that works obviously it's all in chinese so i'm not going to play very well how do we go back to the menu so obviously these are all android games oh there's cordy too i might be in english let's try to see that hormones that's in chinese right so these are all these are all being customized for the chinese market as part of this uh snail games also has its own android app store um which is obviously kind of curating its games so see if i played 42

no are we going you've got a menu isn't it there's a menu isn't it there we go can't play quality um anyway very kind of interesting approach they're doing uh but also they're in china they're become a virtual operator um so you can bet you buy a sim card and this so they'll be kind of looking to kind of double up and getting people to buy this device um and actually uh get the sim card as well where they get uh free game downloads so see if we can zoom in a bit so yeah so we've got a various different pads a touchscreen action buttons here and then kind of like your home home back buttons there start and select there power button there

volume buttons there as well no there we go it's kind of interesting uh not sure we'll see many game publishers middle game publishers moving into actually doing their own hardware but i guess we'll have to see the chinese market is rather different to the rest of the world so more on this as it comes you

Summary

Snail Games, a prominent Chinese PC MMOG publisher, is expanding its footprint into the mobile sector by introducing the iReadyGo Much i5, a dedicated gaming smartphone. Unveiled at ChinaJoy 2014, the device features a design reminiscent of a handheld console, complete with dual joysticks, physical action buttons, and a touchscreen interface. The hardware is positioned as a secondary mobile device specifically tailored for gamers, running on the Android operating system and featuring a curated app store managed by Snail Games to ensure software compatibility and quality.

The company is currently developing an upgraded iteration of the hardware in collaboration with Nvidia, which is slated for a domestic release in China by the end of 2014, followed by a global rollout in 2015. To incentivize adoption, Snail Games is leveraging its status as a virtual network operator in China. By bundling the device with proprietary SIM cards, the company offers users benefits such as free game downloads, effectively integrating hardware sales with their digital ecosystem and mobile service offerings.

This strategy represents a unique vertical integration within the Chinese gaming market, where a publisher assumes the role of hardware manufacturer and service provider. While the approach highlights the distinct characteristics of the Chinese mobile landscape, it remains an outlier in the broader global industry, where publishers rarely venture into proprietary hardware production. The success of this initiative depends on the company's ability to sustain consumer interest in a niche, gaming-focused mobile device that competes against mainstream smartphones.