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Reporter of China Business Network: Li Zhuo Intern reporter of China Business Network: Li Yutong Editor of China Business Network: Liang Xiao

On August 8, two days before the Chinese Valentine's Day, the immersive story-based card mobile game "Ru Yuan", which has been highly popular on social media, finally officially opened for pre-order. Within 8 hours of opening the pre-order, the number of pre-orders for "Ru Yuan" exceeded 3.4 million, sparking heated discussions in the industry. As of press time on August 14, the number of pre-orders for "Ru Yuan" had exceeded 4 million.

Image source: screenshot of official website

The reason why "Ru Yuan" has received a warm response from players is due to the performance of the international version "Codename Yuan" since March 2023. According to Diandian Data statistics, as of December last year, the first month's dual-end revenue of "Codename Yuan" easily exceeded 10 million yuan, and the total revenue reached 73 million yuan by the end of December. The cumulative number of readings of the #Codename Yuan# Weibo topic has reached 6.4 billion.

It is worth noting that Lingxi Interactive Entertainment, the company behind Ru Yuan, is part of Alibaba's independent business group. In 2017, Alibaba acquired Jianyue Technology, which was renamed Lingxi Interactive Entertainment. In 2020, Lingxi Interactive Entertainment became an independent business group under Alibaba Group. In March this year, Lingxi Interactive Entertainment's business director Zhan Zhonghui issued an internal email stating that he and Chen Weian would step down at the end of the fiscal year (March 31), and their positions would be taken over by Zhou Bingshu, the producer of Three Kingdoms: Strategic Edition.

2024 is known in the industry as the "Year of Female-Oriented Games".Love and Deep Space》 was launched, and "Infinite Nikki" started testing; NetEase also launched the infinite romance mobile game "Beyond the World"; Tencent's "Light and Night Romance", which has been online for 3 years, began to roll out 3D technology this year.

How will Ru Yuan perform after its launch? What achievements will the new Lingxi Interactive Entertainment team lead Ali Games to achieve? Ali, Paper Games, NetEase, Tencent... Who will emerge as a dark horse in the "female-oriented game" track in 2024?

For the international version of "Ru Yuan" "Codename Kite", many domestic players have "heard of it before seeing it".

In March 2023, the female-oriented story card game "Codename Kite" was launched in many countries and regions. Its exquisite illustrations and high-level live2D attracted the attention of a large number of "otome game" (a gaming term referring to dating simulation games for females) players.

With a background setting and art style that is different from the well-known otome games "Chrono Traveler" (NetEase), "Light of Night and Love" (Tencent), "Undetermined Case Files" (miHoYo), and "Love and Producer" (Paper Games), "Codename Kite" quickly attracted its first batch of players.

As a cultural product created with the end of the Han Dynasty as the background, the setting of the "female protagonist" in the game "Codename Kite" impressed many players. Wang Pei, general manager of the game division of Sutu.com, analyzed in an interview with the reporter of "Daily Economic News" that the success of the female-themed theme in film and television dramas in the past few years also reflects women's preference for such themes. However, film and television dramas always have an end, and in comparison, games seem to last longer and players have a stronger sense of immersion.

At the same time, Codename Kite has also increased the complexity and diversity of the characters in its plot portrayal. One player told the reporter of Daily Economic News via WeChat that the writing and the character of the male protagonist are the reasons why she continues to play.

In addition, the game mechanism of "Codename Kite" is different from that of general otome card games that simply improve numerical values ​​and attribute restraint. It adds content such as skill restraint and horoscope system, which greatly enriches the combat strategy.

When searching on the Xiaohongshu App, the reporter of Daily Economic News found that the entry "Codename Kite Strategy" has reached 250 million views. If you enter "Codename Kite" in the search bar, relevant information such as "Agent Training Priority" and "Agent Strength Ranking" will appear immediately below.

Game industry analyst Zhang Shule told reporters that in addition to love, "Codename Kite" also has a bit of the flavor of a "family, country and the world" strategy game. This cross-border experience has achieved a differentiated sense of experience.

On June 25, the State Administration of Press and Publication announced the approval information of domestic online games in June 2024. "Ruyuan" operated by Lingxi Interactive Entertainment passed the review, which immediately attracted attention.

But at the end of July, Yinqi Studio’s official Weibo account released a statement saying that it believed that the music arrangement of “Codename Kite” and the works of artists under the studio were highly similar, and that relevant evidence had been collected and submitted to the legal department, and that it would reserve the right to pursue infringement. Prior to this, players discovered that the background texture of “Codename Kite” was a picture material of a Chinese-style clothing brand, and the international version of “Codename Kite” was also embroiled in controversy over plagiarism and material misappropriation. Ruyuan Mobile Games specifically mentioned in a Weibo post on July 31 that “we are a brand new operation team.”

Will the Chinese version of "Ru Yuan" achieve good market performance after its launch? Wang Pei said that in addition to the gameplay and background settings, the bold plot of the original "Codename Yuan" was also a differentiating highlight. However, the Chinese version may have been adjusted this time. If the deleted parts affect the game experience, there is no guarantee that there will not be a rebound in player reputation. "We still have to wait until it is officially launched before we can make a judgment."

2024 is the year of female-oriented games

Data released by QuestMobile in March this year showed that over the past year, the proportion of women among mobile Internet users has continued to increase to 49.5%, and the consumption capacity of women has continued to increase.

In 2017, Paper Games' "Love and Producer" was launched. According to a report released by Jiguang Big Data in 2018, the installation volume of "Love and Producer" reached 7 million within less than a month of its launch, and the number of daily active users reached 2.02 million. This made the market see the potential of the Chinese otome game market. Since then, more and more game giants have been laying out in the female track, forming a situation of "four major national otome games".

However, just as the Chinese Valentine's Day was approaching, the Weibo entry #Why are otome games always criticized on the hot search list# caused heated discussions. For otome games, large-scale card designs and interactive methods frequently cause controversy, and some games that are limited to those over 16 years old have regulatory loopholes that have been repeatedly mentioned in media reports. In addition, many recharge methods of otome games have also been criticized by players, such as recharge does not improve the game experience much, and multiple male protagonists are placed in the same card pool, requiring more resources to obtain the desired character, etc.

Despite this, there are still more "game changers" entering the market this year. Both "Love and Deep Space" and "Beyond the World", which were launched at the beginning of the year, performed well, and "Ru Yuan", which is scheduled to be launched in November, is also highly anticipated. According to previous Sensor Tower data, Paper Games' "Love and Deep Space" received more than 5.4 million downloads in less than two weeks after its launch.

Image source: "Love and Deep Space" official Weibo

In addition to otome games, female-oriented games also include dress-up games like "Miracle Nikki", as well as games that attract female users by relying on a variety of male characters, such as "Touken Ranbu" and "Idol Dream Festival".

As more female-oriented games emerge, players have also discovered that female-oriented games have also stepped out of the circle of the past "paper boyfriend" and explored more gameplay and directions.

"This simple supply in the past can no longer meet the more gaming needs of female players." Zhang Shule analyzed, "Traditional game types cross over to otome games and explore new vertical categories, which has become a strategic choice to compete for existing female players and tap more women into the game to form an incremental market."

At the same time, manufacturers have also begun to pay attention to this part of the market. Wang Pei also gave his own views on the official takeover of Lingxi Interactive Entertainment's younger management team. He believes that it is rare for Lingxi Interactive Entertainment and even Alibaba to make adjustments to the current market changes. Replacing the younger management is also to better fit the current game products and game audiences.

According to the 2023 analysis report on Asian female gamers by the analysis agency Niko Partners, the number of female gamers in Asia has experienced significant growth over the past five years, accounting for 37% of the total number of gamers in Asia. It is currently growing at an annual rate of 11%, almost twice the growth rate of male gamers.

Regarding the future female-oriented game market, Zhang Shule speculated that the "love" flavor in female-oriented games will still exist as an exclusive category, and the current wave of "love +" games will continue. He also believes that manufacturers will more commonly conduct cross-border exploration and launch new categories, hoping to find new opportunities in the "map gaps" at a time when the number of domestic game players has reached the ceiling and the market competition has become a red ocean.

Daily Economic News