Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 269 Everything is possible

This is especially true for Tencent.

As the world's number one gaming company, we have this much "pride" to be had.

"Mr. Ma, what's the direction? How should we expand WEGAME's game library? Should we support domestic single-player game development teams like StarCraft, or should we follow the path we're better at?"

This issue is at the heart of WEGAME's strategy.

Xingchen's game platform follows a path of independent research and development plus support.

Since last year, we have been supporting domestic single-player games such as "Home Away From Home" and "ICEY", and "Lost Castle" which became a minor hit at the beginning of this year, all of which have achieved moderate success.

Some sold over a million copies, while others sold several hundred thousand.

Moreover, this success is not limited to the domestic market; it has also achieved some sales overseas.

While StarCraft's overseas user base is not as large as Steam's, StarCraft has an advantage that Steam lacks: it has an Android distribution channel.

This channel is extremely important for domestic game developers right now.

Since most domestic game developers make "low-cost" games, porting them to Android is not difficult with the technical support of Starry Sky.

In addition, domestic game prices are not high.

This low price has a significant advantage when going global. For example, the initial domestic price of "ICEY" was only 28 yuan, while the final price in Japan was 980 yen.

Compared to the domestic price, it doubled, but in Japan, this price is still considered a bargain. Ultimately, thanks to StarTap, it sold 300,000 copies in Japan alone from the end of last year to April of this year.

In the United States, it sold approximately 6.9 copies at a price of $15.

Although the number is not large, overseas sales are undoubtedly a huge "cake" for domestic single-player game developers, as overseas players' perception of single-player game prices is completely different from that in China.

Therefore, the Starry Sky Games platform has given many domestic single-player game developers real hope.

To some extent, it is precisely because of this.

The Starry Sky channel can support domestic games going global to a certain extent, which is why they were able to "pass the test" so easily.

However, this approach seems rather petty to giants like Tencent.

It's like a martial arts master watching a rising star win applause with a few exquisite short-range fighting moves. Although he acknowledges the talent, deep down he still thinks it's not up to par.

"National order?"

Leng Zefeng smiled.

"Of course we should support them. It's a matter of attitude and corporate social responsibility. We can allocate some of our resources to create a 'Domestic Standalone Game Support Program' and try to poach some talent from Xingchen."

"We could also develop some single-player games ourselves, or acquire some single-player game developers to test the waters."

"However! As Tencent aims to build a platform, we can't put all our hopes on these little gadgets."

"We need ready-to-fight personnel!"

"Since our own reputation isn't good, we'll use games with a good reputation to compete. We'll use top-tier international products to make WEGAME International a resounding success! We'll let domestic players know that the best games are here!"

He completely ignited the atmosphere in the conference room.

Everyone's eyes lit up; this was the Tencent they knew.

"You mean directly importing top-tier overseas IP?"

"Yes."

"I remember, doesn't Capcom in Japan have a big, long-awaited game coming out soon?"

"Are you talking about the new Monster Hunter game?"

"Correct!"

“Our relationship with Capcom has always been good. Although the outcome of Monster Hunter Online wasn’t perfect, the channels and connections for cooperation are still there. We’ll contact them and tell them that we want to secure the exclusive distribution rights for Monster Hunter: World on PC in China.”

At this point, some people might find it strange.

Didn't you say you were making an international version? Why did you secure the exclusive PC distribution rights from Huaxia? It's actually quite simple: Tencent's international version and Xingchen's international version are fundamentally different.

Chu Chen's plan was to compete with Steam, seize global influence, and capture as much of the domestic market share as possible, while minimizing Steam's share. This way, StarCraft Games could establish its own core market in future global competition.

Tencent's strategy was to first consolidate its domestic market, rather than worrying about overseas influence.

WEGAME International Edition is just a "circuit board". Now that Starry Sky has paved the way, what they need to do is use this road to block Starry Sky's retreat.

Ultimately, Tencent isn't afraid of Steam because Steam can't threaten Tencent's home turf. However... StarCraft is a different story.

Before fighting the outside world, you must first make peace with the inside.

First, we need to stabilize the domestic single-player game market and prevent StarCraft from dominating it before considering the global market.

"We must succeed this time."

"at all costs."

In an instant, everyone in the conference room felt a chill, followed by immense excitement.

For Tencent...

Going to any lengths means generating massive traffic and abundant resources, and whoever controls that traffic will reap huge profits.

~~~
Just as giants like Tencent and NetEase were pondering strategies for Xingchen's rise.

Chu Chen, however, had already arrived in the capital.

The alliance has dealt him a blow; this can't just be left like this.

Although being summoned for questioning and reported was something Chu Chen had planned long ago, he was still quite unhappy about the decision.

For Chu Chen, each report was equivalent to a judgment.

Even if Chu Chen was confident, judging such matters, even if there was only a 1% chance of something going wrong, was still a probability that Chu Chen found hard to accept.

Therefore, Chu Chen's best course of action is to strike back, so that others will think twice before trying to stab him in the back in the future.

However, anyone can make threats.

But actually taking action is not so easy.

Currently, there are three Android game channels in China. The Hardcore Alliance, backed by a mobile phone manufacturer, still has a portion of traffic.

Next up is Tencent's WEGAME. Although WEGAME itself hasn't shown any particularly outstanding performance yet, Tencent has already found its own "game."

They didn't treat WEGAME as a completely "independent" channel, but rather used it in conjunction with QQ and WeChat to form a "traffic matrix."

Furthermore, Tencent offered substantial benefits to WEGAME, such as activities like rewarding players with Honor of Kings skins for checking in, which resulted in a very high installation rate for WEGAME in China.

They can be considered a force to be reckoned with.

This channel combination is even more efficient than Tencent's combination in the previous life.
Finally, there's Star Tap.

After more than half a year of development, Star Tap, relying on mini-games and several popular games, can be said to be one of the top Android game channels in China, Japan, and South Korea.

Even in Europe and America, StarTap is the largest Android distribution channel besides the official Google Play Store.

In addition, as a channel for Starry Sky, Starry Sky Tap itself, like Starry Sky Wallpaper, has almost no extra ads. Many users may only play Starry Sky's mini-games once or twice a month, but they will not uninstall them.

This has resulted in an incredibly large number of Star Tap users.

However, once a channel's niche has reached a certain level, it becomes very difficult to expand further.

Take Star Tap as an example. It has affected almost everything that can be affected. You can't expect phone manufacturers to pre-install Star Tap, can you?
The reason why the Hard Alliance was in such a hurry to stab Starcraft was essentially because they had nowhere to retreat and had entered an absolute defensive perimeter.

They were certain that Xingchen couldn't retaliate against them, which is why they staged this whole drama.

Logically speaking

Ordinary game developers really have no choice.

But for a time traveler, anything is possible.

(End of this chapter)