Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 416 The Battlefield of Publicity
In university, if you don't learn a course, you fail it.

But in the stars, if you don't learn this course...
all in all.

When Yuwan knocked and entered, Chu Chen was in the middle of "class".

The case study in this course is none other than an interview video with Qi Zhihong, the producer of "Night Spirit," and the game "Night Spirit" itself.

"sit."

Seeing the fish balls, Chu Chen wasn't surprised. He simply pointed to the empty seat next to him, signaling him to calm down.

"Have a sip of water first, look how impatient you are."

The other people in the office greeted Yuwan, their expressions relaxed. Yuwan had a lot to say, but now she didn't know where to begin.

Fortunately, Chu Chen quickly got to the point that Yuwan was concerned about.

"Let's look at this from a different angle, Fishball. What do you think is Tencent's purpose in going to such lengths and making such a big fuss this time?"

When suddenly called upon to ask a question, Yuwan immediately and instinctively replied, "Of course, it's to seize the anime and manga market and give us a taste of our power."

“That’s right.” Chu Chen nodded.

"Where did they choose as their battlefield?"

"battlefield?"

I haven't really considered this fish ball, or rather, as a game producer, most game producers don't really think about the core issues of marketing and promotion.

This is also normal.

In China, the prevailing idea is that as long as the game is well-made, people will come to play it.

Only someone like Chu Chen, who has been unable to make games for over a decade but still yearns for them and is incredibly bored, would bother to study these things in detail.

Seeing that Yuwan and the others were confused.

Chu Chen casually pulled over a whiteboard and picked up a pen, beginning today's "Little Star Classroom".

What is Tencent's biggest advantage?

"Its social channels enable it to reach 'outer circle' users who don't play anime games much, or even games at all."

"Normally, their normal publicity and promotion should involve overwhelming advertising on WeChat and QQ. But they chose to compete with us in publicity and promotion. Since it's a competitive publicity and promotion, the battlefield is definitely not outside, but inside."

Chu Chen drew two circles on the whiteboard: a large circle representing casual gamers and a small circle representing the core anime/manga fan community.

"Clearly, the reason Tencent is doing this is to prove itself in the field of ACG games."

"That's why they came up with this 'surpassing the master' marketing tactic."

Following Chu Chen's train of thought, Yuwan seemed to understand something, but not completely, so he raised his hand to ask a question.

"But the topic is definitely trending on their end, and our popularity is indeed declining."

"Popularity does not equal revenue, and topics do not equal recognition."

No one understands Tencent better than Chu Chen. For Tencent, their advantage has never been in the core player circle. That's why Tencent games are so formidable.

It's because they can reach a large number of "casual players".

This group of players, for example, those who play DNF, may only play DNF once every ten years or so.

People who play CF (CrossFire) might only play CF for several years. It's completely useless to talk to them about COD (Call of Duty), Battlefield, or CS (Counter-Strike). They'll just keep playing CF.

Those who play Honor of Kings might only have that one game on their phone. Many Tencent games operate this way: they use a free-to-play model with broad reach to attract a large player base and build momentum.

Then use this "momentum" to influence a group of core players.

Take Delta Force as an example. Many players who like the Battlefield series play Delta Force because there are a lot of "ordinary players" in it, so they can easily have a blast.

From the founding of Tencent to the next 25 years, Tencent has never had a game become popular within the core gamer community before expanding its reach to other regions.

Because Tencent and NetEase have a terrible reputation among core gamers.

NetEase's "Return to Tang" is a typical example of "reverse marketing," aiming to replicate the success of Black Myth among core gamers, but the final result was disastrous.

To be honest, if NetEase wants to promote "Return to Tang Dynasty," they should do it the same way they did with "Justice Online," instead of doing something as stupid as inviting foreign bloggers to watch the PV.

Their reputation might actually be better.
In short, in Chu Chen's opinion, when "Night Spirit" chose to piggyback on "Final Front," Tencent's marketing strategy had already lost halfway.

To put it bluntly.

Tencent, you can fool players who haven't played StarCraft games before.

Could we shift our promotional focus to Bilibili? Or to the anime and gaming community?
They want to use marketing to deceive people who are "low-quality users" who browse the gaming section on Bilibili, play all kinds of games, are knowledgeable, and have a lot of fuss.
That's a bit too much confidence.

In Chu Chen's view, all the promotional activities that Tencent is currently carrying out, apart from QQ and WeChat push notifications, are essentially helping to warm up the market for "Azur Lane".

Yes, after this round of promotion, players who might have only been paying attention to Azur Lane now know about Night Spirit.

However, after this round of promotion, players who didn't previously pay attention to Azur Lane will also learn about it.

Free games have no barriers to entry.

I wouldn't say, "I played Night Spirit one day and then stopped playing Azur Lane the next."

That's not the case.

"So, if Tencent wants to make trouble, let them make trouble. Ultimately, what determines whether players stay?"

"It's the quality of the game itself."

The fish ball practically came out of my mouth.

"Completely correct."

Chu Chen gave him an approving look. This was why Chu Chen was so calm, and could even hold meetings with Xingchen's senior executives, using Tencent's marketing strategy as a course.

This is to enhance the strategic acumen of Xingchen's senior management.

While Azur Lane may not be considered a masterpiece in this timeline, it is at least a well-made game with outstanding features and a lot of sincerity.

Judging by Chu Chen's previous standards, it would score at least 70 to 80 points.

As for Night Spirit, although many media outlets are currently very optimistic about it, praising its high approval rating during the closed beta, its rich system, and how different it is from the experience of Final Frontline.

Yes, Chu Chen is a professional anime/manga enthusiast.

After watching the gameplay demo of "Night Spirit" and reviewing some materials compiled by his assistant, Chu Chen knew that this was yet another game that copied without even getting to the core of the game.

The producers of Night Spirit had no idea why Final Frontier was so popular.

What is the core of "Final Front"? First, the gorgeous presentation and immersive storyline; second, the novel auto-chess gameplay that is constantly being updated; and third, the rich PVE progression system. These three elements ultimately made "Final Front" a huge hit.

(End of this chapter)