NetEase 520 Press Conference: Quality First, Targeting Niche Markets

On May 20, 2026, the 'NetEase Games 520 Online Press Conference' was officially held, announcing the latest developments of more than 40 games and IPs. Among them, some of the important new products announced at the 520 press conference are as follows: 

'Sea of Oblivion'

'Sea of Oblivion'

At this press conference, it was officially announced that 'Sea of Oblivion' will start a preview live broadcast for the third test on May 22 and officially start the test on the 28th. 

Currently, 'Sea of Oblivion' should be one of the most anticipated new products of NetEase Games. It is from the Joker Studio, the development team of 'Identity V'. Two tests have been launched before, and NetEase's senior management has shown their emphasis on this product more than once. 

From the existing content, the most unique aspect of 'Sea of Oblivion' lies in the Joker Studio's unique understanding of the game market - this was already evident when they developed 'Identity V'. If there are no accidents, after 'Sea of Oblivion' is officially launched in Q3 this year, the market will witness a new round of thinking about product gameplay. 

'All People's Melody: Three Kingdoms'

'All People's Melody: Three Kingdoms'

The appearance of this product is actually quite unexpected. 

Seven days before the press conference, 'All People's Melody: Three Kingdoms', which had been dormant for nearly a year, suddenly'revived' and updated a scene art display every day, arousing the curiosity of many people about the product's developments. 

In response to the warming trend of the domestic single - player game industry, leading game companies have successively started to make some arrangements around their major IPs in the past two years, and 'All People's Melody: Three Kingdoms' is one of them. 

This product was once speculated to be 'League of Lords 2'. It is a single - player strategy game developed by the R & D team of 'League of Lords'. It was first revealed in October 2024 and the first test was launched in April 2025. Judging from the presented content, although 'All People's Melody: Three Kingdoms' had not shown its full picture at that time, it was obviously already in a good state of completion, and its reputation on Steam was also quite good. 

Surprisingly, in June last year, the R & D of the 'All People's Melody: Three Kingdoms' project stopped. Some team members were transferred or left the company. After that, the product was gradually restarted after changing the team. 

'Mythical Journey in the Mountains and Seas'

'Mythical Journey in the Mountains and Seas'

'Mythical Journey in the Mountains and Seas' is a life - simulation game themed around floating island construction. It was first revealed in August 2024 and there has not been much news about it since then. In contrast, 'Star - Painting Friends in Sunny Days', which was first revealed later under NetEase, has already launched a PC early access version. Since 'Mythical Journey in the Mountains and Seas' was presented at the press conference, it is expected that the project will make new progress in June. 

Considering that Tencent, NetEase, and miHoYo have all made corresponding arrangements in this game genre this year, there will surely be a competition among life - simulation products. 

Compared with the past, the trend of NetEase Games towards high - quality products is quite obvious.

Based on the accumulation over the past decades, old products and IPs such as 'Onmyoji', 'Fantasy Westward Journey', 'Naraka: Bladepoint', 'Conqueror's Blade', 'Identity V', 'Eggy Party', 'League of Lords', 'A Chinese Ghost Story', and 'A Record of Mortal's Cultivation to Immortality' have been continuously and stably updated, forming the foundation of NetEase Games. They keep up with the pace of the times and continuously launch new content that fits the mainstream gameplay.

At the same time, the new products of NetEase Games can be divided into two major trends: one is the new possibilities derived from old IPs/established studios, such as 'All People's Melody: Three Kingdoms' derived from 'League of Lords', 'Conqueror's Blade: Three Kingdoms' derived from 'Conqueror's Blade', and 'Sea of Oblivion' created by the development team of 'Identity V'.

The other is products that fit the mainstream of the era and explore new trends and possibilities. A typical example is the urban - themed second - generation game 'Infinity' - the success of 'Another Ring' by Perfect World has also proven the great potential of this game genre.

'Infinity'

'Star - Painting Friends in Sunny Days' and 'Mythical Journey in the Mountains and Seas' are also destined to compete with Tencent's 'Lili's Tiny World' and miHoYo's 'Starry Valley', truly tapping into the potential of this game genre that has not been covered by existing products.

Most importantly, compared with NetEase's previous emphasis on large - scale quantity coverage, these products are significantly better in terms of quality. These new products all have the potential to become blockbusters in the future.

In addition, it is worth mentioning NetEase's attitude towards and application of AI. By 2026, various companies' exploration of AI technology has reached a relatively saturated stage, and they can skillfully apply it in various fields of product gameplay.

For example, the PV of 'All People's Melody: Three Kingdoms' is more like a combination of 'hand - crafted + AI'. The visual experience is generally acceptable, and there is no obvious sense of disconnection.

The short video of 'League of Lords' is like an AI comic drama, taking a light - hearted and humorous approach. But besides being funny, the completion of their short video is actually quite high, with few obvious glitches. Previously, players of 'League of Lords' once had 'Lord of the Hundred Special Man' join the 'Star Promotion Plan' of 'League of Lords'. By creating an AI comic drama of the game by hand, the monthly income exceeded 50,000.

It can be said that for today's large - scale game companies, using AI has become a strategic imperative. 

NetEase's layout in the AI field can be traced back to its network security - related business more than a decade ago. Subsequently, the establishment of the Fuxi Laboratory and the AI Lab were also landmark events for the company to start vigorously developing AI technology. 

As the underlying infrastructure, AI can not only reduce costs and increase efficiency in game product development but also bring new interactive experiences such as AI NPC interaction and AI character customization. In addition to its own business, NetEase is also actively cooperating with external AI manufacturers, trying to apply more modalities of AIGC to games. For example, they cooperated with the AI 3D large - model company VAST and introduced the Tripo AI 3D large - model technology into the UGC creation system of 'Eggy Party', reducing the creation threshold and promoting gameplay innovation.

Of course, using AI to mass - produce content may also continuously cause users' anxiety about quality, but this is the industry trend.

Judging from the process of the press conference, NetEase is not avoiding this issue. It's just that the wave of AI is sweeping across the entire game industry, and more and more small and medium - sized studios have proven the value of this technology through AI. If you don't want to be caught up or even surpassed in the next era, you must actively embrace the future at this time.

For major game companies, the most appropriate choice now may be to push manual production and AI development towards two different application paths - to put more effort into abstract and funny creative content and create content that players think 'AI cannot replace'.

At the same time, continuously strengthen the AI production ability and quickly improve the content quality to the forefront level to ensure that after actual application, players will not be resistant.

This article was first published on '36Kr Games'.