Author: Mu Mu
Scams, rights protection, and withdrawals have become the norms in the digital collectibles industry over the past year. When small platforms shut down and giants like Tencent terminate their digital collectibles businesses, the situation is not pretty.
On the Black Cat Complaint Platform, there were complaints about slow refunds from Phantom Core, and QQ Music, which had previously issued digital collectibles, was complained about violating the “can be gifted after holding for 356 days” clause promised at the time of issuance. Another Tencent product, Tencent Animation, was criticized for having “harsh conditions” after initiating a refund for digital collectibles.
In 2021, Tencent’s digital collectibles platform, Phantom Core, went online, followed by QQ Music, Tencent Animation, Tencent Video, Tencent News, and Qidian Reading, all of which inserted a digital collectibles section, making a strong entry into the domestic digital collectibles market.
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By the end of 2022, the digital collectibles market entered a cold winter, and what was once a “hot potato” that everyone wanted a share of has now become a headache. The most sensational event in the market was the collapse of Phantom Core, and Tencent’s digital collectibles business, after less than a year since its launch, was completely shut down.
The platforms exited, leaving players in a mess. The digital collectibles that once had cultural connotations and collection value have now become “small pictures” on the road of user rights protection.
TME Digital Collectibles “Sloppy”
“When will TME digital collectibles refund?” “Has anyone received a refund?” “Can someone provide an explanation?” It has been over a year since Tencent QQ Music’s TME digital collectibles business was shut down, and there are still quite a few users posting on the community forum seeking refunds. Some impatient users have even formed a rights protection group with hundreds of people.
Users in the QQ Music community inquiring about refund matters
In early August 2021, Tencent Music’s TME digital collectibles business was exposed on the QQ Music platform. At that time, it was the peak period of the domestic digital collectibles market, and TME digital collectibles, relying on artists and copyright resources, successively released digital collectibles such as “Digital Vinyl Records” for artists like Hu Yanbin, Luo Dayou, and Tenger.
Among them, Hu Yanbin’s 20th-anniversary commemorative edition vinyl record of “Monk” was the first batch of digital collectibles officially released by QQ Music, priced at “199 yuan per piece, limited to 2001 copies”. Data shows that over 80,000 people participated in the purchase.
Liu Yi (pseudonym), who purchased the “Monk” digital vinyl record, said that when it was launched, the platform did not have a gifting function, but promised that it could be gifted after holding for 365 days. “I always thought it was more valuable compared to other image-based digital collectibles, as it is a collectible that can be listened to, so I planned to transfer it after a year.”
However, what Liu Yi did not expect was that less than a year later, TME stopped selling new collectibles on June 30th of last year. On November 16, 2022, “Interface News” reported that Tencent Music had halted its TME digital collectibles business, and some members of the original team had “internal reassignments”.
Some players have discovered that the entrance to TME digital collectibles has been hidden since August last year. Searching for “digital collectibles” and “TME digital collectibles” within the QQ Music app no longer brings up the platform entrance. Users need to click on “My-Purchased-Digital Collectibles” to access the “TME Digital Collectibles Mall” and “Digital Collectibles Personal Center” pages.
The disappearance of the entrance has caused many users to mistakenly believe that their collectibles have been “cleared” by the platform. And users who have found their collectibles and want to transfer them to others after 365 days have discovered that the transfer function always shows “Service upgrading, please be patient,” which has continued to this day.
The originally promised “transferability” is no longer valid, and some users who want to request a refund have been rejected by the platform. Some users have shared the platform’s response: “Membership services, digital albums, singles, collectibles, etc., are all virtual goods with special characteristics. Once you confirm the payment, they cannot be refunded.”
Tencent officially refuses refunds on the grounds that digital collectibles are virtual items
If digital records can at least still be played, the digital figurines and digital commemorative tickets sold by Tencent Music have completely lost their usage scenarios without the ability to transfer.
The “Chinese Zodiac Digital Commemorative Tickets” that created the myth of selling out in “10 seconds” and the “Series 3D Digital Figurines” by independent musician Zhang Gasheng, whose total number of pre-orders exceeded 50,000, are now just pictures in users’ accounts, “even can’t be used as a QQ Music account background or avatar, not as good as the pictures downloaded online,” user Mike complained.
Although the TME digital collectibles business on QQ Music has not officially announced its cessation of operation, from the hidden entrance to the failure to fulfill the transfer commitment, TME digital collectibles have already shown a completely negligent and irresponsible state.
Tencent Comics Refund Shutdown
The fact that TME is completely shut down, and Tencent’s foray into digital collectibles in 2021 is not limited to this. It includes the most influential and well-known Fantawild, in addition, Tencent News, Tencent Comics, Tencent Video, Kuwo Music, and Qidian Reading, among other Tencent products, have integrated digital collectibles into their own apps.
Now, most of the digital collectibles in these apps have become a mess.
Fantawild was launched in August 2021 and terminated in August 2022, officially going offline in June this year; Tencent Comics combines anime IP with digital collectibles and launched a ten-year limited edition digital collectibles in April 2022. After the release of the “Save the King” series collectibles in July 2022, no new products have been released; Tencent News launched the digital collectibles feature in January 2022 and suspended the sale of digital collectibles in July 2022. In addition, Tencent Video, KuGou Music, Qidian Reading, and other apps that incorporated digital collectibles have also shut down their services.
What to do with the collections in the hands of users after the platform closed its digital collection business?
After Huancore decided to stop issuing digital collections, it opened a channel for users to apply for refunds. The announcement clearly stated that Android users can expect the refund to be reviewed and processed within 7 working days after initiation, while iOS users need to initiate the refund application before October 15, 2022, and it will be reviewed and processed within 20 working days.
On the surface, Huancore seems generous in offering refunds, but more than 200 complaints on Heimao indicate that users have encountered various issues such as “refund not received,” “unable to contact customer service,” and “app cannot be opened after refund processing incomplete.”
The exit of the “big brother” of the industry is sloppy, while Tencent’s other digital collection businesses have an even more unattractive exit strategy.
Shortly after Tencent Animation’s digital collection business went online, some users claimed that “it quietly enabled the transfer and gifting feature, but the prerequisite for gifting is still that the user must have held the collection for 365 days or the gift has been held for 365 days.” Later, this user discovered during the holding period of the collection that Tencent Animation’s transfer and gifting feature was “quietly disabled” and “many people had no way to gift after the expiration.”
Feedback from Tencent Animation's digital collection users on Heimao complaints
Unable to gift, Tencent Animation did offer a refund solution, but the refund conditions were issued through the official public account, making it difficult to obtain a refund. The information shows that to refund Tencent Animation’s digital collection, the following conditions must be met:
After meeting these three conditions, Tencent Animation bluntly states, “If you do not meet the above criteria, a refund cannot be obtained.”
If the user “luckily” meets the conditions, the subsequent process is also challenging: the user needs to bind the Tencent Animation account used to purchase the digital collection on the public account, and there is only one chance to bind. It’s obviously a “no waiting for expiration” situation.
In the same month that Tencent Animation’s digital collection business ceased operation, Tencent News also announced the suspension of digital collection issuance. It is worth noting that Tencent News experienced a change in management just before the suspension of the digital collection business. Wang Shimu, the person in charge of Tencent News, was transferred to the PCG social platform and application line in May 2022, responsible for incubating innovative businesses such as Huancore. However, three months later, Huancore also stopped.
There are many uncertainties in the digital collection market, but one thing is certain: Tencent is no longer playing. Unfortunately, after the curtain falls, it is the users who are left with the mess.
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