Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 287 XGAME
In June, the summer heat is gradually setting in on Suzhou and Hangzhou.

Summer is approaching, and cicadas are chirping loudly in the camphor trees, as if they feel that the weather is not enough and want to wake up the whole summer with an even louder voice.

For the gaming industry, this upcoming summer is unusually hot.

Starting in late May, a message quietly circulated among major gaming media outlets and industry professionals, and then, like a drop of boiling oil being thrown into a pot, it instantly caused an uproar.

Tencent, the undisputed giant in China's gaming industry, has officially launched its own international gaming brand.

[X Games Store]

According to Tencent, "X" represents the unknown and exploration, so when promoting the platform, it also used the slogan of "finding fun new games together".

However, in reality, XGAME, like the Starry Sky Games platform, is just Tencent giving its own WEAGEM a different name.

It's like crossing the river by feeling for the stars.

However, after adopting a different identity, Tencent's publicity strategy became completely different from Chu Chen's.

Unlike StarCraft Games, which aggressively expands its overseas presence while maintaining a subtle low profile in the domestic market, Tencent's promotion of XGAME has adopted a "combination of internal and external strategies" approach from the very beginning.

Of course, Tencent didn't dare to promote it directly. Their methods were more "sophisticated" and more in line with their consistent style; along with the launch of Tencent XGAME, there was also a series of press releases.

Tencent's global expansion strategy: XGAME platform officially launches, helping Chinese games go global!

Giants Enter the Fray! Tencent Joins Hands with Multiple International Companies, XGAME Aims for the Global Market!

Industry Observation: From Starlight to Tencent, Where is the Globalization Path of Chinese Game Companies Heading?

One after another, major "industry news" articles were pushed out, but interestingly, these "industry news" were not in technology, finance or other media.

Instead, it frequently appeared on the front page of major gaming media outlets.

For a time, the entire gaming industry was discussing Tencent's "internationalization strategy."

After this series of moves, domestic gamers quickly learned that Tencent was also launching an international version.

In this way, Tencent not only completed its publicity campaign, but also successfully portrayed itself as a force to be reckoned with in the deeper public discourse.

He even proposed to become a "leader in the overseas expansion of Chinese culture" and accepted an interview with CCTV.com.

However, amidst this outburst of "I can also be an honest official," Tencent still revealed some clues, such as those discovered by some players who participated in the closed beta of Tencent XGAME international version.

On the same day that XGAME launched its test, Xunke Game Accelerator, which has Tencent's investment background, unexpectedly launched a small-scale promotional campaign.

They touted themselves as "helping domestic manufacturers go global" and offered a "permanently free node."

Download Xunke Accelerator and connect to this node to allow players to accelerate the XGAME platform for free.

Is this interesting?

This is so interesting.

Compared to Xingchen's timid and hesitant actions, Tengzi's approach is clearly more "magnanimous."

Furthermore, many players have discovered that this special node in XGAME can actually accelerate the Starry Sky Games platform.
After this was discovered, downloads of Xunke Accelerator surged, and players spread the word, praising Tencent for finally showing some conscience.

After all, although this accelerator only has XGAME nodes, it is universally compatible with other platforms, thus solving the pain point of the Starry Sky Games platform previously requiring paid acceleration.

The players cheered and applauded. However, many industry insiders who witnessed this action sighed, "It has to be Fujiko F. Fujio. This seems like the 'players' got the accelerator for free."

In reality, it was essentially using an accelerator to deliver free advertising to Starry Night Games' core users.

After all, the fact that you see the X Game Platform every time you click on Xunke Accelerator is enough for Tencent.

This method of achieving NTR (Netorare) through "free" means is too "Tencent-like".

The news quickly spread within the gaming industry, and the notion that Tencent was about to make a big move and that StarCraft was in "danger" became the mainstream view in the industry.

However, Chu Chen remained quite calm despite being the one who was "affected".

When asked in an interview whether the emergence of Tencent XGMAE would put pressure on Xingchen, this is his response.

"I wouldn't call it pressure."

"I think this is a good thing. China's gaming industry needs more outstanding companies like Tencent to go global, explore overseas markets, and spread our culture."

"Xingchen was just taking the lead and exploring the path. Now that there are more like-minded people on this journey, the road can be wider and farther. We welcome competition and are happy to see the common prosperity of the entire industry."

These words were reported.

Most people in China thought Chu Chen was just being polite, but in reality, Chu Chen wasn't just being polite; he genuinely meant it.

Tencent is still terrifying.

Putting aside everything else, just look at the sales figures of Don't Starve on the WGAME platform a few months ago to feel how terrifying it is.

An indie game from four years ago, with the support of Tencent's channels and traffic, sold nearly four million copies in China.

Tencent felt this result was "shameful".

But these are indeed four million users who spent real money. How many of them are experiencing a buy-to-play single-player game for the first time?

Chu Chen didn't know.

However, the proportion should be quite large.

Once they've played Don't Starve and experienced its charm, they can easily find similar games online with a simple search.
This is similar to the ACG (Anime, Comics, and Games) market; cultivating consumer habits is very costly.

In this regard, although Starry Sky has its own channels, in terms of coverage, before Titok has fully taken off, Starry Sky's coverage is still somewhat behind Tencent's.

Also.

QQ and WeChat, as everyday software, can reach a large number of truly "incremental" users.

The users covered by StarCraft are mostly existing users. After all, if you haven't been ripped off by a few games, you can't really understand why so many people say StarCraft is "conscientious".

So from this perspective, Chu Chen and Tencent are indeed "the same" in this matter.

Of course, Chu Chen's composure stemmed not only from his belief that Tencent could currently help "open up the market," but also from the fact that Tencent's strategic focus after launching XGAME was completely different from Xingchen's.

Tencent launched XGAME, claiming it was to support domestic industries.

In reality, the operating model remains the same: habitually throwing money around and trying to acquire "exclusive Chinese distribution rights" everywhere, aiming to wage a capital war against Starry Sky.

(End of this chapter)