Can Lord of Mysteries become Kuaishou’s gaming breakout?

Kuaishou’s significant investment in Lord of Mysteries, exceeding RMB 1.2 billion (USD 178.1 million), reflects its ambition to establish a strong in-house gaming presence. The game’s reliance on the NetEase Sword of Justice playbook for its core mechanics, combined with a unique narrative structure that includes both a post-novel storyline and the entire original text, shows a calculated risk. This approach aims to appeal to both existing fans of the web novel and new players, while mitigating some design risks in the competitive MMO market. The use of Unreal Engine 5 for a Victorian-era Lovecraftian setting also points to a push for visual differentiation in a crowded genre. The success of Lord of Mysteries is critical for Spark Nexa and Kuaishou, especially given the lackluster performance of Spark Nexa’s past products and the broader challenges other internet companies like Alibaba and ByteDance have faced in building in-house game development. The game’s performance will indicate whether Kuaishou can achieve the kind of expansion in gaming that has eluded some of its peers in China.