The predecessor of XD was VeryCD, a P2P resource sharing website founded by Dash Huang and Kros Dai in 2003. On VeryCD, users use eMule to share digital content such as movies, music and games in their computers with each other.
At its peak, VeryCD was among the world’s top 100 websites by traffic, and eMule was one of the most popular software in China. However, as P2P sharing was confronted with insurmountable barriers in IP, user experience, download speed and other aspects, VeryCD had to transform its business in 2010 after seven years of existence. Finally, we decided to join the Internet gaming industry by founding XD.
Our previous work with VeryCD has given us extensive experience in operating internet products and online community, as well as a team of veterans, many of whom are still holding various key positions at XD. More importantly, VeryCD, though a not-so-successful business, granted us a clearer understanding of the Internet industry and its business models.
We realized that a healthy content platform must meet the needs of users, content creators and platform operators at the same time. Such philosophy laid the foundation for TapTap’s business model.
ABOUT US
With total dedication, we turn affection into passion, completion into perfection, ordinary products into great miracles.
Our Business
Founded in 2003, XD Inc. is a global video games developer and publisher with extensive experience across development, publishing and operations. As of mid-2023, XD has 49 free-to-play and paid games with over 13 million monthly active users worldwide. In addition, TapTap - a mobile games community and app store - was introduced by XD in 2016 and is estimated to currently have 40 million monthly active users. On December 12, 2019, XD was listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (stock code: 02400.HK).
XD’s self-developed and operated games mainly include: lighthearted battle royale mobile game Sausage Man, MMORPG mobile Ragnarok M: Eternal Love, Multiplayer fighting mobile game Flash Party, 3v3 hero battle royale game T3 Arena. In 2023 and upcoming 2024, We will also have some thrilling upcoming games such as officially-licensed multi-platform ARPG Torchlight: Infinite, SRPG Sword of Convallaria, idle game Go!Go!Muffinlife, simulation game Heartopia as well as turn-based Action-RPG Etheria: Restart. In addition to the above-mentioned self-owned games, XD also helps launch and operates many indie games with good reputations in China. You can find Terraria, to the moon, ICEY, Muse Dash, Juicy Reaim,Sands of Salzaar and other fun and well made indie games on our deck.
Our goal is to assemble talented craftsmen thereby touching the hearts of players. We produce games of the finest quality with passion, offering a pure gaming experience, and encouraging players of all ages to embrace the special fun of video gaming.
XD’s self-developed and operated games mainly include: lighthearted battle royale mobile game Sausage Man, MMORPG mobile Ragnarok M: Eternal Love, Multiplayer fighting mobile game Flash Party, 3v3 hero battle royale game T3 Arena. In 2023 and upcoming 2024, We will also have some thrilling upcoming games such as officially-licensed multi-platform ARPG Torchlight: Infinite, SRPG Sword of Convallaria, idle game Go!Go!Muffinlife, simulation game Heartopia as well as turn-based Action-RPG Etheria: Restart. In addition to the above-mentioned self-owned games, XD also helps launch and operates many indie games with good reputations in China. You can find Terraria, to the moon, ICEY, Muse Dash, Juicy Reaim,Sands of Salzaar and other fun and well made indie games on our deck.
Our goal is to assemble talented craftsmen thereby touching the hearts of players. We produce games of the finest quality with passion, offering a pure gaming experience, and encouraging players of all ages to embrace the special fun of video gaming.
MANAGEMENT TEAM
HUANG YIMENG
Chairman / CEO
Mr. Huang is a successful Internet entrepreneur with profound experience in corporate management. Back in 2003, he founded VeryCD when he was still at school, which made it to the world's top 100 websites by traffic at its peak time. In 2010, he co-founded XD with Dai Yunjie, entering the game industry with browser game, and later led the company's strategic transformation towards mobile game. In 2016, they co-founded TapTap, one of the major mobile game portals. Mr. Huang's current responsibility is overseeing XD's overall operation.
DAI YUNJIE
Executive Director / President
Mr. Dai has over ten years of experience in development and management in gaming, communication, technology and Internet. He co-founded VeryCD with Huang Yimeng and was responsible for the website's technological R&D and O&M. After XD's establishment, he began to work on game development and operation, and the team made remarkable achievements in server architecture, multi-end integration, and O&M under his leadership. Mr. Dai's current responsibility at XD focuses on daily operation, overseas business and product development.
OUR STORY
2003
Aiming at a Virtuous Business Cycle
2010
Redirecting to Browser Game
2012
With technical, product and operation experience we accumulated by running VeryCD, and the great passion and hard work of the game development team, browser game Heroes was launched in the second half of 2010 after 6 months of production. Although it did not become an immediate success, its performance picked up after a series of adjustments and optimization, and eventually the title’s monthly turnover exceeded RMB 30 million, making it one of the top-tier browser games of the year.
After that, we launched XD's first in-house MMORPG Three Kingdoms and published Shen Xian Dao, both of which became great success right after they met the market. Moreover, Shen Xian Dao was XD's first browser game with a monthly turnover of over 100 million RMB, facilitating the growth and progress of the entire browser game industry.
In 2012, XD relocated to a stand-alone office building covering 7,000 square meters, and began its rapid expansion.
After that, we launched XD's first in-house MMORPG Three Kingdoms and published Shen Xian Dao, both of which became great success right after they met the market. Moreover, Shen Xian Dao was XD's first browser game with a monthly turnover of over 100 million RMB, facilitating the growth and progress of the entire browser game industry.
In 2012, XD relocated to a stand-alone office building covering 7,000 square meters, and began its rapid expansion.
Shenxiandao
Respecting Our Players
2014
Despite rapid business expansion, several of our new products met great difficulties and fell to a trough between 2012 and 2014. Titles were launched one after another, such as Creation of the World, but none of them came up to our expectation. In 2014, as we decided to transform our business focus from browser game to mobile game, we invested hugely into the joint development of a new title Xian Xia Dao, which was later published by Tencent but received only discouraging market response. This was a major blow to the company’s morale.
The flop of Xian Xia Dao forced us to reflect upon our approach: gameplay should never be sacrificed under pressure of publisher and distributor; players are always wise and we should always respect them by creating games that are truly interesting. Also, we were determined to develop the publishing business, seeking long-term value through full control over our own titles.
It was also at this point that we began to rethink the “joint operation” model. It was the mainstream model of the market at the time, but with little compatibility with our vision. Under the old model, publishers have too much say and influence and often distort product development, as they pay attention only to short-term value. These reflections not only rewrote XD’s approach in product development, but also shaped TapTap’s business model profoundly.
The flop of Xian Xia Dao forced us to reflect upon our approach: gameplay should never be sacrificed under pressure of publisher and distributor; players are always wise and we should always respect them by creating games that are truly interesting. Also, we were determined to develop the publishing business, seeking long-term value through full control over our own titles.
It was also at this point that we began to rethink the “joint operation” model. It was the mainstream model of the market at the time, but with little compatibility with our vision. Under the old model, publishers have too much say and influence and often distort product development, as they pay attention only to short-term value. These reflections not only rewrote XD’s approach in product development, but also shaped TapTap’s business model profoundly.
After acquiring the license of Ragnarok Online in 2015, we began our own innovation of MMO. We established the tone of the upcoming product centered around “love, adventure and courage”, and abandoned the well-proven and widely-used revenue-generating tools in the industry at the time.
At the launch of Ragnarok Mobile: Eternal Love, we proudly announced our slogan: “create games with fine craftsmanship, win true respect and reward from players”. This has taken its root in the development concept of Ragnarok Mobile: Eternal Love as well as XD’s product strategy.
At the launch of Ragnarok Mobile: Eternal Love, we proudly announced our slogan: “create games with fine craftsmanship, win true respect and reward from players”. This has taken its root in the development concept of Ragnarok Mobile: Eternal Love as well as XD’s product strategy.
2015
Ragnarok Mobile: Eternal Love
Rethinking Content and Traffic
In 2015, XD’s first in-house mobile game, Total Annihilation, was launched. The iOS version quickly became a great success, making it to App Store’s bestseller list. The Android version, on the other hand, focused on its lifecycle in the long run, which conflicted with publishers’ emphasis on on short-term returns. Therefore, the game was only rated “level B” on platforms for Android, which means that it would not enjoy full support in publicity and traffic from publishers.
How to ensure that publishers do justice to good content, valuing them by quality instead of early profitability? How to gain traffic and achieve commercial success without conceding to publishers on modifying content?
As TapTap came into being shortly after, we seem to have clearer answers to these questions.
How to ensure that publishers do justice to good content, valuing them by quality instead of early profitability? How to gain traffic and achieve commercial success without conceding to publishers on modifying content?
As TapTap came into being shortly after, we seem to have clearer answers to these questions.
2016
After years of experiment and preparation, our own gaming platform, TapTap, went live on April 17, 2016.
Since TapTap’s official launch, it has been a helpful partner for developers, a loyal friend for players, making profit through advertising instead of taking a cut from games with the traditional “joint operation” model.
After the creation of TapTap, XD has been working diligently on two fronts: building its capacity in R&D, and carrying out in-depth cooperation with other developers. The ultimate goal is to bring more quality products to TapTap, create a virtuous business cycle and a healthy business model, and ensure the long-term interests of content creators, players and the platform.
Since TapTap’s official launch, it has been a helpful partner for developers, a loyal friend for players, making profit through advertising instead of taking a cut from games with the traditional “joint operation” model.
After the creation of TapTap, XD has been working diligently on two fronts: building its capacity in R&D, and carrying out in-depth cooperation with other developers. The ultimate goal is to bring more quality products to TapTap, create a virtuous business cycle and a healthy business model, and ensure the long-term interests of content creators, players and the platform.
TapTap
Bringing Developers and Players Together
2017
TapTap brought a whole new perspective to game publishing.
2016 saw the exclusive release of RO: Idle Poring for Android on TapTap. TapTap's innovative functions such as “pre-order”, “trial” and “forum” allowed developers to gain direct insight and feedback from players, so as to better optimize their games.
Meanwhile, we have been facilitating the development and publishing of indie games. In 2017, we released ICEY on TapTap, iOS and Steam and sold over 1 million copies across all platforms, introducing indie games to a wider audience. Later through publishing word-of-mouth titles such as To The Moon, Juicy Realm and Mush Dash, we gained Developer Room Banner recommendation in App Store, right behind Tencent and NetEase.
By building an inclusive community, TapTap brings developers and players together, turns our vision of “discovering good games” into reality.
2016 saw the exclusive release of RO: Idle Poring for Android on TapTap. TapTap's innovative functions such as “pre-order”, “trial” and “forum” allowed developers to gain direct insight and feedback from players, so as to better optimize their games.
Meanwhile, we have been facilitating the development and publishing of indie games. In 2017, we released ICEY on TapTap, iOS and Steam and sold over 1 million copies across all platforms, introducing indie games to a wider audience. Later through publishing word-of-mouth titles such as To The Moon, Juicy Realm and Mush Dash, we gained Developer Room Banner recommendation in App Store, right behind Tencent and NetEase.
By building an inclusive community, TapTap brings developers and players together, turns our vision of “discovering good games” into reality.
ICEY
Focusing on Corporate Value and Game Value in the Long Run
2018
Sausage Man was not well-received right after its launch in 2017, but with continuous updates and improvements based on in-depth cooperation with TapTap, the game managed to grow over the long run alongside the player community.
2019
With ongoing efforts of the development and operation teams, revenues and number of users of Sausage Man began to rise steadily in the third year after its launch. Through this we realized that TapTap should provide content creators with a longer product iteration cycle, so as to help maximize the game’s value over the long run.
The emphasis on long-term value has also had a significant impact on the company's operations. On 12 December 2019, XD (XD Inc, 2400.HK) was successfully listed in Hong Kong, and in our first Letter to Shareholders after the listing, released in April 2020, we made it clear that XD should focus solely on long-term value.
We abandon the traditional business model in which ROI lies at the core of game development. In our innovative model, game development and publishing provide TapTap with exclusive content with the highest quality, which drives TapTap's user growth. Leveraging its own strengths in product operation, TapTap is able to retain users and generate revenue, which in turn fuel first-party and third-party content creation. As more quality content comes to TapTap, the platform will continue to thrive along with developers, creating a win-win situation.
The emphasis on long-term value has also had a significant impact on the company's operations. On 12 December 2019, XD (XD Inc, 2400.HK) was successfully listed in Hong Kong, and in our first Letter to Shareholders after the listing, released in April 2020, we made it clear that XD should focus solely on long-term value.
We abandon the traditional business model in which ROI lies at the core of game development. In our innovative model, game development and publishing provide TapTap with exclusive content with the highest quality, which drives TapTap's user growth. Leveraging its own strengths in product operation, TapTap is able to retain users and generate revenue, which in turn fuel first-party and third-party content creation. As more quality content comes to TapTap, the platform will continue to thrive along with developers, creating a win-win situation.
Sausage Man
To Impact Each and Every Gamer by Promoting the Spirit of Craftsmanship
2020
While preparing for the IPO in Hong Kong, we established the vision of “to impact each and every gamer by promoting the spirit of craftsmanship”, as well as a strategy that revolves around game development, publishing and platform circulation.
As of April 2021, over 2,000 “craftsman” have joined XD with the shared goal of creating exciting and quality content for players, and more importantly, contributing to the development of gaming industry.
Our story has just begun.
As of April 2021, over 2,000 “craftsman” have joined XD with the shared goal of creating exciting and quality content for players, and more importantly, contributing to the development of gaming industry.
Our story has just begun.
XD (2400.HK) was successfully listed in Hong Kong.