002555 · SZSE · China
37wan.netFinancials as of FY2024 · latest on file
Builds mobile and browser games for Chinese players that take payments through Alipay and WeChat Pay.
37 Interactive Entertainment builds browser and mobile games in China whose in-game purchases run through Alipay and WeChat Pay APIs, but those payment connections only switch on after the National Press and Publication Administration issues a publication licence — so a finished game generates nothing until regulators clear it. Because international publishers are blocked from the same payment API arrangements by contractual and regulatory restrictions that predate any single company, 37 Interactive's combination of live licences and working payment integration cannot simply be bought or replicated by a well-funded competitor. Players accumulate progress and virtual items tied directly to their Alipay or WeChat Pay accounts, which makes switching to a rival title costly even when one exists. The whole model rests on two outside parties whose cooperation cannot be assumed: if the NPPA suspends approvals — as it has before, for months at a time — completed games sit idle, and if either payment operator revokes API access, the purchase mechanics stop working with no equivalent payment rail ready to replace them.
How does this company make money?
The company earns money when players buy things inside its games — virtual items, character upgrades, and access to premium features. Those purchases are processed through Alipay and WeChat Pay, and the company takes a percentage of each transaction. All of this only works while a valid NPPA publication licence is active for that title.
What makes this company hard to replace?
A player's progress and virtual items inside these games are tied to their Alipay or WeChat Pay account integration. Switching to a competing game from an international publisher would mean leaving behind everything accumulated — levels, characters, purchased items. International publishers also face the same NPPA licence queue and are blocked from the same payment API access, so equivalent alternatives are hard to find in the first place.
What limits this company?
The NPPA can stop issuing new licences entirely for months at a time. When that happens, finished games sit idle and earn nothing. The speed at which the whole business can grow is set not by how fast the company can write code, but by how fast the NPPA works through its approval queue.
What does this company depend on?
The company cannot operate without game publication licences from the National Press and Publication Administration, API access from Alipay and WeChat Pay for processing in-game purchases, shelf space on domestic Android stores like Tencent MyApp and Huawei AppGallery, Chinese web hosting and CDN services to keep games running, and a local workforce that understands both Chinese gaming tastes and the regulatory approval process.
Who depends on this company?
Chinese mobile gamers would lose access to locally built games with payment flows tied to their existing mobile accounts. Domestic Android app stores like Tencent MyApp and Huawei AppGallery would lose a category of content that brings users in. Alipay and WeChat Pay would lose the gaming transaction volume that this company's titles send through their systems.
How does this company scale?
Once a game is approved and published, the code and artwork can be downloaded by an unlimited number of players at almost no extra cost. What does not scale easily is the regulatory side — knowing how to navigate the NPPA approval process and what content standards will pass review is built up slowly over time and cannot be created quickly by throwing money at it.
What external forces can significantly affect this company?
Chinese government gaming regulations can introduce new content rules or extend approval freezes at any point, directly delaying when a finished title can start earning money. US-China technology tensions could restrict access to game development tools or cut the company off from international platforms. As China's gaming population gets older, the types of games and payment structures players want will shift, requiring the company to adapt how it monetises.
Where is this company structurally vulnerable?
If Alipay or WeChat Pay cut off API access — because of a commercial dispute, a regulatory instruction, or US-China technology restrictions — the in-game payment system stops working immediately. No other payment rail reaches the same base of Chinese mobile users with the same frictionless, account-linked experience.
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As of FY2024 (year ended December 31, 2024). Newer annual figures aren't yet on file.
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