Choose goods, pricing, live broadcast and carry goods, the top 20 mobile games will play everything.
Editor’s note: This article is from the public micro-channel number “have rice research” (ID: YouFunLab), Author: There are rice omelet.
Regardless of the total amount or per capita, 2020 will be the year with the most krypton gold for domestic mobile game players.
According to data from the Game Work Committee, this year’s domestic mobile game revenue was about 209.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 33% (51.6 billion yuan), and only 15% and 18% in the first two years. On the other hand, the number of domestic mobile game users is actually The growth was only 4.84%, the second lowest in the past five years, and only 1% higher than in 2019.
If you roughly divide the total income by the total number of people, the per capita contribution of mobile game players in 2019 will be 253 yuan. In 2020, it will rise to 320 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 26%, and the growth rate ranks third in history. (In 2017 and 2016, the outbreak of mobile games increased by about 35% and 31% annually)
This extra 67 yuan, first is the share vacated by offline entertainment, and then it is the commercialization of mobile games this year that allows them to eat.
As for what the commercialization of mobile games looks like today, Youfan analyzed 20 top mobile games on the revenue list, and talked about it in four parts: basic economic system, what to sell, how to sell, and how to sell.
1 Where are we and what do we spend?
The economic system of in-app purchase games is much simpler than in the real world. No matter how fancy it is, in the final analysis it is a matter of exchange of values, time, and RMB. Many developers prefer to divide this system into three parts: expenditure, circulation method, and income.
The expenditure is money and time.
The benefits are mainly the improvement of three types of experience, namely numerical value, high-level content (levels, stories, appearance, etc.), and social interaction.
The circulation method is a bit too crude, so Youfan divides it into three parts: participants (who flows to whom), currency (what to change) and scene (where to change).
This is the basic framework for the basic economic system to run.
According to the collected results, the top 20 mobile games by revenue in 2020 have not made obvious innovations in the basic economic system. They still use the common model of the first wave of big mobile game products around 2015. Personalize game categories and company capabilities. (In fact, there are 7 products that are 15 years old–)
Since the day when there was a mobile game, “Free Trading” has been a thing that all players want, but all manufacturers don’t want to make it.
According to many developers such as NetEase and Giant, there are three reasons why mobile games are not suitable for free trading, such as the free start and fast operating rhythm of mobile games, all of which are related to the difficulty of operation:
1. Free trading puts the pricing power in the hands of players, which can easily lead to market chaos
2. There is a high probability that the player’s spending will shift from in-game to offline RMB transactions outside the game
3. It is prone to a situation where studios and plug-ins are rampant. For example, “Lou Xiang Shan Hai”, which was launched in January, costs 60 yuan per month for the script that Youfan got from Brother Hang, and the daily income can be more than 30. Many resources have been monopolized by the studio or the big R who paid for the resources in the early stage.
So even in 2020, the 20 most profitable mobile games will be based on player-official recharge and purchase transactions. Among them, those with community capabilities, such as Tencent NetEase, open game members, Daojucheng, and Treasure Pavilion in and outside the game mall, which will be slightly more favorable than the official recharge.
Tencent Game Road Jucheng “Tiandao” mobile game props sale
In addition to this, only 11 have opened player-to-player transactions, 10 have used it as a social MMORPG, and 1 new SLG “Awakening of Nations”. However, the transactions among players of these 11 games are also officially controlled.
Among them, MMORPGs such as “Fantasy Westward Journey” and “Westward Journey” adopt the old-fashioned official stall/auction system, and the upper and lower price limits and the increase or decrease of the bid are set by the official. Players complete the transaction and the official fee is charged. For example, “Fantasy Westward Journey” has a stall fee which is about 10% of the proceeds from part of the silver coins and the sale of goods. At the same time that the transaction fee is earned, the transaction with abnormal price will be stopped by the system, and the props and game currency will be confiscated.
A typical official stall, the price is limitedFloating is set by the official
“Awakening of Nations” is also of a social nature. An assistance system is set up in the union system to achieve the effect of bringing the old to the new and sharing what is needed.
In terms of currency, there are 13 currencies that continue to use classic universal coins (which are obtained from krypton gold), advanced coins (the main currency for exchanging advanced props), and basic coins (mainly used for basic development). system. (Refer to “Q coins, ingots, silver coins”)
Less than the three, all have cut off the base currency, shortened the development line, quickly introduced gameplay or quickly realized.
For example, “Sword and Crusade”, which is known as “No Liver”, is actually circulated mainly with the highest level of coins. Most items can be purchased directly, so they are not. “Crossing the Line of Fire” is similar to “Naruto”, because the basic training line is shorter, raising the threshold of the base currency, and then shortening the development line can directly allow players to experience FPS and fighting gameplay.
“Sword and Expedition” recharges set a lot of necessary props, which is a collection of various operations such as acquisition and cultivation. Kind of currency
The more alternative MMORPG “New Swordsman” is to a certain extent a new generation of MMO to reduce the burden of the system, encouraging players to conduct more social auctions and stalls, reducing the time for stand-alone development, because it lacks a foundation Currency. Players have greater demand for “advanced currency in circulation” in the basic development process, and it is easier to get on top of it, resulting in direct recharge and exchange behavior.
As for the more than three types, they all have made a special breakdown of high-end coins, that is, they used to be ingots, which can be used to set up stalls, exchange silver coins, buy fashions, etc., now they become gold ingots, platinum ingots, and red gold ingots. There are different ways of obtaining them, and each type can only purchase specific products.
This is a way to lengthen the cultivation line, so that Krypton Gold cannot solve all problems, improve fairness, and make long-term income. Typical mobile games such as “Heavenly Sword” and “Yutu No Hama” belong to this category. This type of game allows both R and zero charge to be experienced, but both R and zero charge are both irritating.
2 What do you sell and how much?
What do mobile games sell today? Many manufacturers have already said it is an “experience”, but in fact this experience is different from the stories and social interactions in stand-alone and paid terminal games. The experience here is more based on value and time cost.
For example, MMORPG, there is no excellent numerical panel, many high-level PVE, PVP activities you can not experience at all. Even if you are a developed and more strategic SLG, you can’t join a serious trade union if you don’t have a strong value, and you won’t be able to participate in the mid-to-late resource competition.
So “Raise the value faster” is still the core product of mobile games.
On the whole, in 2020, the top 20 mobile games are selling two kinds of props, namely appearance and functionality, with different subdivisions, emphasis and pricing based on game types.
Among them, functional items are directly used to increase the value. The specific products in various games are different, and they are all regarded as long-term payment items. For example, MMORPG may be gems, skill books, and crafting materials. Competitive categories may be heroes, firearms, racing fragments and upgrade items, and sand table SLG may be materials for upgrading such as stone and wood.
These props can come, so players pay for this to save time. Therefore, the pricing and total control of functional items are now the judgments of players on the time value of players. In 2020, sports, SLG and MMORPG all have relatively fixed pricing standards.
One of the main strategy of a turn-based MMORPG stated that the player’s time price calculated by them is divided into two parts, high and low, and they all use high-level coins among the three currencies as the unit.
Low, use basic daily income to convert, daily empty for 2 hours every day, income 1w high-level coins, direct recharge is roughly 20 yuan, high-level, it is a probability, the probability of building a certain advanced equipment is 1%, guaranteed The build cost may be 500w, the direct purchase price is 100w premium coins, the direct charge is about 2000 yuan, and it takes 1000 hours to rely on the liver, so the basic time value of the game is about 2 yuan/hour.
According to this set of formulas, the old products in their hands have stabilized at 6-8 yuan/hour, and the new products in 2019 are even higher, which can be above 15 yuan. Generally speaking, the higher the price, the shorter the product operation cycle.
In addition, in the card drawing setting, the single card drawing prices of “Three Kingdoms: Strategic Edition”, “Surface of the Land”, “Onmyoji” and “The Awakening of Nations” are all around 10 yuan, which is more dependent on the role of ” Original God” and “Naruto” are priced around 16 yuan, and the most expensive, high-end “Sword and Crusade” and “Awakening of Nations” premium card pool are around 30 yuan. At the same time, the “acceleration” function in these games is 2 yuan.
In addition to the price, the official also controls the total amount, mainly daily and weekly purchase restrictions. One isLengthening the growth line also guarantees that Krypton players will also join the social network. According to the official statement and the calculation of the store’s purchase of functional props, the development time of the top 20 product MMOs for krypton gold players in a single day is about 20-50 days in advance. Around 2015, products such as “Fantasy Westward Journey” and “Western Journey” have significantly expanded their total operations in the past two years, which may be to allow new players and zone change players to catch up faster.
As for the appearance, this is the most popular short-term product. The developers of Thunderfire say that this is the lowest “sense of accomplishment and identity acquisition” in today’s games. This is especially true for competitive games without acting and growing lines. The appearance of skins is the biggest consumption point for players after hard training.
A developer of a racing mobile game from Tencent said, “From the data point of view, players after 95 and 00 have been separated from long-term MMOs and SLGs. Shorter and cooler competitive mobile games will be a long time. Popular, easier to obtain and more personalized appearance props are also the fastest and most stable commodity that can be realized at present.”
Because the appearance items are mostly one-time consumption (except for gifts, you will not buy two skins), and the appearance itself is not included in the hard power rankings. The pricing of this piece has nothing to do with time pricing. .
According to most developers, the pricing of appearance depends more on the consumption power of the target players. The rule of this is that the more popular the product, the lower the product, the stronger the competitive attribute, the lower the product. For example, the skin price of “Glory of the King” ranges from 60 to 288, with an average price of about 90 yuan, while the average price of “Fantasy Westward Journey” fashion is about 300 yuan.
3 How to sell?
By 2020, the sales form of mobile games has basically been determined into four categories: direct sales in malls, time-limited cards (weekly cards and monthly cards), Battlepass passes, and chance-based open-box lotteries. Each game has different choices, pricing and push rhythms.
Among the top 20 revenue products, 17 have opened four methods. NetEase and Tencent have also set up community gift packages outside of games, and the other three have also opened three.
The time limit card is divided into two types: weekly card and monthly card. In the game, most of them are issued daily for a single purchase. Generally speaking, the income will be 1.5-5 times of the direct charge. The more stable and long-term products, the preferential strength It will be smaller. For example, the basic income of “Onmyoji” with the least discount is 1.5 times, and “Three Kingdoms: Strategic Edition”, “After Tomorrow” and “Glory of the King” are all between 1.5 and 2.5. The monthly card income of recent new games such as “Wandering Mountains and Seas” is more than 5-10 times that of direct charge.
Time limit cards, also divided into different grades
As for Battlepass, it has not been accepted by all games. Competitive games are obviously more suitable. For example, “Peace Elite” and “King of Glory” can be used as indicators for game numbers and social tasks. Game coins and cosmetic items are included. For example, the MMORPG category still exists in the form of “growth funds”. How many high-level coins or materials are sent to the level, the overall income is higher than the time limit card, and the cycle is mostly once to two months.
“Peace Elite” pass, one-time currency + unlocking items
In terms of rhythm, the specific operations of each launch of paid content are different. There are 9 products that choose to release all paid content at once within 5-10 minutes of opening the game after the novice tutorial is completed, and then follow the game progress Players do small window push + online push.
These nine products are mainly competitive and SLG games, such as “Glory of the King”. After the beginner’s tutorial is completed and all paid items are open, players who do not actively click to use will be played in the first match, the first PVE and After the first ranking, paid content (mall, nobility, pass and lottery) will be pushed once, and the interval is roughly the same as the game time (about 10 minutes).
The other 11 models are mainly MMORPGs. Paid content will be released periodically after the novice tutorial is completed. The most old-fashioned mobile games such as “Fantasy Westward Journey” and “Heavenly Sword” are all paid functions after players complete the basic plot and reach a certain level. The time is more than 30 minutes, and the payment reminders during the period are counted in the plot task. Part of the tutorial.
Newer, faster-paced ones such as “Shenwu 4” use a faster-paced small window push, unlock the first charge in 3 minutes, unlock some products in the mall after 5 minutes and level 10, and send a reminder of the first charge in 10 minutes Pets, 18 minutes to unlock shopping mall special items purchase. “New Swordsman” pushes the first charge, recharge, and luxury recharge in 4 minutes, pushes the time limit card in 9 minutes, and 20 minutes leads to large recharge to send fashion activities.
According to the developers of “Fantasy Westward Journey” and “Heavenly Sword” mobile game developers, there areTwo reasons. One is the player’s resistance to in-app purchases and unfairness. The mobile port transplantation of classic brands cares more about this. Second, it is actually due to the characteristics of MMORPG. Some test data shows that pushing paid content before players understand the basic gameplay and worldview will grab some attention and increase the loss rate in the first week.
4 How can I sell more?
Different from paying to start a game, in-app purchases require promotions, especially mobile games.
According to Youfan’s incomplete statistics, there have been 7 promotion methods in the top 20 mobile games in 2020, which are basically the same as the emerging e-commerce routines, namely: recharge gift, special gift package, discount qualification, and holiday draw , Joining groups, bargaining, and live streaming.
The oldest three, recharge gift, special gift package and holiday lottery are routine operations, 20 products have been used, the difference lies in segmentation and pricing.
Among them, the most basic is to recharge the universal coin to send the universal coin. The gift ratio ranges from 10% to 20%. Generally speaking, the larger the denomination, the more the gift. The most common 648-level gift is generally 128. On this basis, most MMORPGs have launched the first recharge double, recharge gift premium coins, and item rebates, and the gift ratio is the same as universal coins.
Double the first charge
Among them, such as “Fantasy Westward Journey”, etc. have set up a cumulative recharge bonus, set up a reward package in the 20, 100, 500, 1,000, 10,000 yuan stalls, and the value is also about 10% of the recharge amount.
Tencent MMORPGs such as the mobile game “Heaven Sword” have also opened the Hei Yao Card at Xinyue Club. The value of gift items is higher than in-game, reaching more than 30% (the theoretical pricing of some items is not reasonable). In addition, this kind of black yao card has also launched a blind box event, 1500 out once, the guaranteed 1500 card may have a larger denomination.
Black Yaoka
Special gift packages are based on daily and weekly gift packages. The new feature lies in the freedom of package content and collection cycle. For example, you can set the content of the player’s optional gift package, purchase and receive the seven-day gift package at one time, and the price discount is about 90%.
Daily gift packs that can be purchased in advance
The last holiday draw is actually the biggest change in mobile games this year. For example, rhythm, such as “Fantasy Westward Journey” and “Western Journey” and other veteran mobile games have nearly doubled the festival lottery activities in 2020. The form has expanded from opening the box to team cooperation lottery, guaranteed turntable, pass lottery and other forms. In the second half of 2020, due to more frequent holiday lucky draws, Youfan will receive surveys from the game’s customer service almost every month, asking about the rhythm of the lucky draw and the changes in the market price of rare items.
Raffle Draw
In addition to the old three, discount eligibility, group joining, bargaining, and live streaming have been applied to promotional activities by top games.
The discount qualification is an activity that is frequently and randomly pushed to players in addition to past festivals and lucky players, including in-game items “discount coupons”, “limited time discount purchase qualifications” selected by the system, etc. The strength ranges from 1% to 9%.
Discount Eligibility
Join groups and bargaining. Actually, in 2019, I have done many new games such as “Running Kart”. Through the in and out of the game activity page, players can form teams to buy certain items or send game advertisements. Link to WeChat, Weibo and other social platforms to invite friends to watch advertisements, download, and register game accounts to get discounts. According to a brand planner who had done similar activities in the past, the promotion effect of the activity is not obvious, but it can increase the number of simultaneous online users and the amount of recharge in a short period of time. This effect is better than a simple limited time discount.
As for the live broadcast, NetEase’s “Fantasy Westward Journey” is the best one. In July 2020, “Fantasy Westward Journey” contributed to more than 10 million yuan in consumption within one hour.
Fantasy Westward Journey Live Broadcast
The basic routine of this live broadcast is the same as that of the e-commerce live broadcast. There are three parties including KOL (anchor, etc.), official personnel, and players. The official explanation of the products (various appearance props and rare functional props), KOL pretends to cut In the end, the price will be sold to players in a limited time and in a limited amount.
However, before participating in live shopping, players need to pre-charge. Regardless of whether it is bought or not, the money is in the game.
According to Qimai data and AppAnnie data analysts, starting from the stable limited period of domestic mobile games in 2019, user consumption habits have obviously become more rational, because tapp, station B, game live broadcasts and other high-end players gather With the rise of content exchange and sharing platforms, players in first- and second-tier cities have enough reference information from the behavior of acquiring games, experiencing games, and recharging.
A core developer of turn-based RPG also said that in the past two years of player consumption research, although the expression is not in place, more than 20% of players have asked more professional issues such as economic system and value preservation in free questions. In 2016, this proportion was less than 6%. When both the product threshold and the professionalism of players have grown rapidly, manufacturers are left with only two options: First, move to sink the market and continue to wash the IQ tax. Second, increase production capacity, reduce costs, and at the same time build a more complete economic system, maintain value capabilities, and continue to use fashionable marketing methods to sell more cost-effective products to players.
Anyway, the top 20 chose the second one.