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Bilibili
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Bilibili sees better-than-expected revenue in third quarter, defying Beijing’s crackdown on live streaming and gaming

  • The video-streaming and mobile gaming platform beat expectations with revenues up 61 per cent
  • The results show the company’s resilience in the face of crackdowns from Beijing on live streaming and gaming, two big earners for the platform

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The logo of online video site Bilibili seen at the China Digital Entertainment Expo and Conference, also known as ChinaJoy, in Shanghai on July 30. Photo: Reuters
Tracy Qu
Video-streaming and mobile gaming company Bilibili announced a 61 per cent year-on-year gain in net revenue for the third quarter, beating expectations as it grapples with a tighter regulatory landscape amid Beijing’s crackdown on the digital economy.

The Shanghai-based company said net revenues reached 5.2 billion yuan (US$808 million) for the quarter, higher than the expected 5.17 billion yuan, according to a composite estimate from 19 analysts compiled by Bloomberg.

Net losses reached 2.7 billion yuan, compared with 1.1 billion yuan a year ago. Amid increasing competition for consumers’ attention, the platform reported a 35 per cent rise in monthly average users (MAUs) to 267.2 million. Mobile MAUs rose 36 per cent to 249.9 million.

Video-streaming platforms have been caught up in a widening crackdown on the internet sector this year. This has been especially true for live streaming, an important contributor to Bilibili’s bottom line. Revenue from value-added services, which includes live streaming, rose 95 per cent for the quarter to 1.9 billion yuan.
In August, China’s Ministry of Commerce released a draft regulation for the live-streaming industry, detailing items no longer allowed to be sold during such broadcasts. Banned items include sex toys, spy devices, foreign newspapers and medicine. It followed new live-streaming guidelines published in April by the same ministry and the Cyberspace Administration of China, the State Administration for Market Regulation and four other regulators.
Revenue from video games has also been growing this year as Beijing cracks down on that industry. Bilibili unveiled a record number of new games this year, and revenue from mobile games rose 9 per cent to 1.4 billion yuan for the quarter.

Beijing kicked off a fresh crackdown on the gaming industry in August when it increased limits on the time minors can spend on them. The new rules limit people under the age of 18 to playing only between 8pm and 9pm on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and statutory holidays.

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