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Bilibili ratchets up China gaming drive with publishing rights for Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout

  • Developed by British firm Mediatronic, Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout could become the first non-anime-style hit game to be published by Bilibili
  • Shanghai-based Bilibili plans to release 11 new games over the next several months

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Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout, developed by British video game developer Mediatronic, enables up to 60 players to compete in a three-dimensional field with battle royale-style gameplay. Photo: Handout
Online entertainment platform Bilibili recently beat Chinese video game industry leaders Tencent Holdings and NetEase to obtain the domestic publishing rights for global hit battle royale game Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout – expanding the gaming ambition of the fast-growing service with a loyal fan base.
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Shanghai-based Bilibili – whose platform offers a wide array of genres and media formats, including videos, live broadcasting and mobile games – is expected to publish a mobile version of the title in the world’s largest video games market, according to a company announcement on Monday.
Founded in 2009, Bilibili has become the biggest video-comics-and-gaming entertainment platform for China’s fast-growing Generation Z market segment, made up of consumers born between 1990 and 2009. Membership in the platform entails passing a 100-question test.

“If Fall Guys has a successful China release, this would be Bilibili’s first breakout hit that is not an anime-style game,” said analyst Liao Xuhua of Beijing-based research firm Analysys International. “This would help broaden gamers’ understanding of Bilibili’s brand.”

Bilibili on Monday declined to comment on the expectations for Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout, but said more titles will be released, without providing details.

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Developed by British video game developer Mediatronic, Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout was released on August 4 for Windows-based personal computers and Sony Corp’s PlayStation 4 console. Photo: Handout
Developed by British video game developer Mediatronic, Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout was released on August 4 for Windows-based personal computers and Sony Corp’s PlayStation 4 console. Photo: Handout
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