Chinese digital entertainment firm Bilibili managed to beat market expectations for its second-quarter performance, reporting a 70 percent increase in revenues for the three-month period to over 2.62 billion yuan, or roughly $370.5 million.
Bilibili attributed the continued growth of its business to the rise in demand for its mobile gaming and online entertainment as more people stayed at home to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Its mobile gaming business accounted for about 48 percent of the company's total revenues for the second quarter. The segment grew by about 36 percent year-on-year, generating around 1.248 billion yuan in revenues for the period.
In a press release on Wednesday, Bilibili stated that the increase in mobile gaming during the period was the main driver of its growth. A recently launched game titled Princess Connect, a Japanese mobile role-playing game published by Bilibili in China, contributed largely to its growth for the period along with its existing mobile titles.
Much like other video game publishers, Bilibili saw an increase in demand for mobile and digital entertainment during the first half of the year as the global pandemic forced millions of people to stay at home. According to the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association, video game sales in China surged to about 139.4 billion yuan during the first half of the year, a 22.3 percent increase compared with the same period last year.
Bilibili's revenue growth managed to outpace that of NetEase, the country's second-largest game publisher. However, the company did lag behind the country's market leader, Tencent Holdings, which reported a 40 percent year-on-year growth in revenue.
For its second quarter, Bilibili revealed that it had an average of 171.6 million active users on its platforms. Monthly paying users for the period surged to 12.9 million, representing a more than 100 percent growth compared with the same period last year. Revenues generated from advertisers also grew by about 108 percent to around 825.3 million yuan for the period.
Bilibili's chief financial officer, Sam Fran, said in a statement that the increase in its paying users was the result of its much wider growth strategy. He added that the company has worked to make its platform much more attractive to both paying users, advertisers and its video game partners.
