Tiger sniff: “Fate / Grand Order” (“FGO”) is a role-playing game released exclusively by bilibili in mainland China. The game allowed B station to realize its own further commercial exploration and played a key role in listing. However, the next “FGO” is yet to be seen. So, what should the B station do next in the game business? Did it reach its own ceiling?
This article was transferred from the public account “ Internet and Entertainment Strange Team (ID: TMTphantom) “, author: Pei Pei, high-Bowen, coke fir, title figure from the visual China.
Without “FGO”, station B would not be able to find a leap forward to achieve commercialization, and even less likely to be listed in 2018. “FGO” is of course an evergreen tree for the two-dimensional game, but station B has not yet found the next “FGO”, and its game distribution business (excluding intermodal transport ) seems to have encountered a bottleneck. So far, investors and industry insiders have repeatedly asked: Is the success of “FGO” and “Azur Lane” accidental? Has the game business of station B hit the ceiling? Compared with comprehensive giants such as Tencent and NetEase, as well as independent publishing companies that integrate research and transportation, does station B have no core advantages?
The Strange Thief believes that the above concerns are of course justified, but they are excessive and can be resolved. Especially after the success of Twin Horizons, Station B once again proved its publishing ability. In the field of two-dimensional games, station B is the natural first vertical channel, and the challenge is: how to get as many high-quality unique games as possible (instead of intermodal transportation) ; this pickWar can also be achieved by developing self-developed games. Although we are not sure which quarter of the next high-growth period of the game business of station B will come, it will definitely come.
Video community and two-dimensional game heaven and earth design
The “video community” service and “game distribution / intermodal service” at station B are not simply pieced together, but a natural combination of natural design— The two-dimensional game users and the core two-dimensional video users The degree of overlap is high.
Take BGO ’s flagship game “FGO” as an example: In fact, before the launch of the iOS service in September and the Android service in October 2016, B station has already accumulated a lot of fans of Fate, and many players are the first to contact Go to the animation of “Fate / stay night”. Station B has purchased genuine Fate series animations, including “Fate stay night” series, “Fate / Apocrypha” and “Fate / EXTRA Last Encore”. The second creation of Fate series has been very popular at station B. According to our observations, in the initial stage of the launch of the “FGO” national service, most seed users actively found the game through the “two innovations” and “entered the pit.” They did not even need active diversion.
In addition, “FGO” national costume players also include many “new fans” (different from the old IP fans of the Fate series) , because even Players have not seen any of the Fate series animations, nor does it affect the player’s playing of “FGO” and understanding of the game’s worldview and plot.
The key is that there is no distinction between the “two-dimensional” content form and the two-dimensional ACGN user group has a high degree of overlap. From the perspective of age and interest, the young characteristics of “FGO” players are significant. The proportion of players under the age of 24 reached 70.9%, and the users under the age of 24 in the B station also accounted for various levels in the same period. The highest was 42.8%, and the overall trends of the age distribution of the two were similar. In addition, 79.5% of FGO players have anime-related applications installed. In fact, many “new fans” of “FGO” will go to station B to look for the “homework” of the Fate series and complete the IP, thus forming a virtuous cycle of endless.
(“FGO” and the age distribution of users at station B. Source: Aurora data)
(“FGO” player hobbies distribution. Source: Aurora data)
B station has a deep understanding of the two-dimensional game, and the grasp of the two-dimensional tonality is in the market leading position, and this leading position is difficult to be caught up by competitors.
The tonality of the two-dimensional game is mainly reflected in four aspects. One is the style of the art. Not all anime cartoon IPs belong to the two-dimensional; , Two-dimensional game users have a high pursuit of innovation; The third is voice, It is very important for a line of two-dimensional games, and players have a high recognition of Japanese voice actors Fourth is the plot and world view. The two-dimensional world is essentially a virtual world, and a sufficiently rich plot and complete world view are the foundation.
When the B station chooses to access the game, it will also decisively reject those game products that have secondary factors such as skin change, strong PK, piracy, and cottage. Looking at the failed two-dimensional games on the market, we can find that the biggest reason for failure is “insufficient sincerity”, followed by “insufficient two-dimensional style”. It is impossible to use the routine of traditional MMO or SLG to do the second element.
The capital market ’s biggest concern is nothing more than the size of the two-dimensional game market./ 1000 / format / jpg / interlace / 1 / q / 85 “data-w =” 705 “data-h =” 687 “>
(A list of the most popular games by UP owners and users in B station in 2018)
Game distribution depends on high-quality products and self-developed
In the third quarter of 2019, the revenue from mobile games at Station B was RMB 933 million, an increase of 25.4% year-on-year, and the contribution accounted for 50.2%, a year-on-year decrease of 18.8pct. In the quarter, the number of mobile game paying users was 1.5 million, a year-on-year increase of 64.1%. , While the monthly ARPPU has slipped to 207 yuan / person. FGO, which has just celebrated its third anniversary, is still responsible for revenue, and intermodal games such as “Tomorrow’s Ark” have also brought some contributions. However, due to the tepid new games such as “Reloaded War Heroes”, the game is tepid. The failure of the agency business to advance to the next level has caused investor concerns.
(B station mobile game revenue, quarter for left, annual for right)
(B-site mobile game users and ARPPU trends)
Post with other mainstream
If the high-quality CP is very confident in the product, it will often choose to research and develop itself to obtain the maximum profit. In this case, although station B is still one of the most important channels, it can only obtain a small amount as the intermodal carrier. Revenue, and ca n’t get involved in operations. With the distribution capacity of station B, of course, it is enough to send “80 points of products” to “60 points of products”; however, if you can get “products of 80 points or more” and issue “100 points or more of effects”, it is the best Ok.
To solve this problem fundamentally, we need to establish a complete self-research and internal incubation mechanism. Self-research is a long and difficult road, and it may take years to bear fruit; but it is the right path. One day, Station B will have its own top-level IP, its own top-level gameplay, and combine it with traffic advantages to explode the largest synergy effect. We don’t know what day it will be—but that day will come.