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recently, a "scuffle" between the b-game circle and the hip-hop circle unexpectedly became the focus of the internet. a rapper’s “diss track” not only aimed and shot otome games while wearing colored glasses, but also accidentally “borrowed” the game screen of “love and deep space”. this angered gamers and paper game, the production company of "love and deep space", who issued a message stating that they would "find it to the end and see you in court."

[note: diss is the abbreviation of the english words disrespect (disrespect) and disparage (contempt). diss means humiliation and belittling. diss has also become a style of hip-hop songs - diss track, which mainly uses songs to attack others. 】

the incident quickly spread on social media, making many netizens curious——what is an otome game?

the word "otome" sounds a bit strange. it is actually a japanese borrowed word, which means "girl". in the field of games, "otome-oriented" games (referred to as "otome games") are a branch of "female-oriented" games. these games usually feature female characters as the protagonist, and the player's task is to experience various adventures with the male target in the game. various stories, as well as developing romantic relationships. players can experience the ups and downs of the story by reading the plot, coupled with the soundtrack, cg images, and voice actor performances. simply put, it is an immersive experience of a visual novel with sounds and images.

at the end of 2017, the first otome game "love and producer" appeared in china, and one of the male protagonists, the "overlord" li zeyan, was a hot search topic. a few years later, otome games have formed a stable player group and market share in china. according to the latest reports, on september 23 this year, "love and deep space" was announced to be ranked no. 1 on the apple app store's best-selling list, surpassing douyin and "honor of kings". data shows that as of the end of november 2023, the official weibo game accounts of the “four major national league b” had a total of 7.757 million fans.

screenshot of the game "love and deep space". source: game official website

along with the explosion, there is also controversy.in this b-game vs. ha circle, in addition to the mutual disapproval between the two circles, there are also doubts and confusions from passers-by, which also reflects the barriers between people such as gender and dimension. similar to men who are addicted to two-dimensional and online games, players of otome games are often criticized and questioned such as "cannot find a boyfriend" and "sad".

text | wang yiwen and lin yutong (intern)

this article is an original article by outlook think tank. if you need to reprint it, please indicate the source outlook think tank (zhczyj) and author information before the article. otherwise, legal liability will be strictly pursued.

1

“the problem with female-oriented games is not that no one plays them.”

when talking about the originator of the "otome" game, we have to mention a company in neighboring japan - nippon koei co., ltd. this company, which originally targeted men as its main audience, has launched classic games such as "dynasty warriors". in the 1980s, keiko erikawa, one of the company's founders, was the first woman to have insight into the scarcity of women in the japanese gaming market.

as a result, the company spent nearly ten years and finally launched the first female-oriented love game in history, "angelique" in 1994. once this game came out, it quickly won the hearts of japanese female players. subsequently, koei company pursued the victory and launched a number of games including "golden strings", laying the foundation for the development of the "otome-oriented" game market.

entering the 21st century, "otome" games have ushered in a new development climax in japan."heartbeat memories" released in 2002 is a milestone in this trend. this game innovatively introduced real-person voice acting customized for each strategy character, which is what we know today as voice actors. one of its highlights is the ability to recognize and call players' nicknames through voice technology, which greatly improves the interactivity and immersion of the game.

on september 26, 2024, a chinese game booth at the tokyo game show was photographed in chiba, japan. photo by xinhua news agency reporter yang guang

this has also allowed many chinese game companies to see business opportunities.

different from the game setting, yao runhao, the founder of the paper folding game company, does not have the handsome appearance of a domineering president, nor does he have the majestic demeanor of a king. he has a pot head, a round face, and is 1.9 meters tall but has some social fears. born in 1988, he seems to be a portrayal of contemporary young and middle-aged people.

in 2012, yao runhao was just a student studying for a master's degree in economics at waseda university in japan. as a serious lover of games and 2d, he suddenly came up with an idea: why not make a game by himself? through various channels, he met many "netizens" with similar interests. although these "netizens" have their own careers in daily life, they choose to devote their passion to game development in their spare time. therefore, everyone discussed and decided to enter the mobile game field that was not fully developed in the market at that time - dress-up games. yao runhao firmly believes that women's dress-up games have a huge potential user group, and it is worth the effort to create high-quality products to meet these needs. in the early days, they jointly created the game "nuan nuan dress up story", which received enthusiastic response in japan and south korea in a short period of time. in may 2013, yao runhao decided to bring this dream back to china, so he returned to china and officially started his business. those "netizens" also changed from online partners to real colleagues.

at that time, the "her" era was quietly flourishing in the country.from the popularity of the "female channel" works launched on online novel platforms to the popularity of dramas with female characters such as "the legend of zhen huan" and "a thousand bones of flowers" in the field of tv dramas, china's domestic "female-oriented" market is developing positive energy. yao runhao has seen the successful precedents of otome games. he believes: "the problem with female-oriented games is not that there are no people playing them, but that there is a lack of people to make such games."

2

the "rolled-up" b-game market

in 2015, folding paper officially launched the "love and producer" project. in order to ensure a sufficient understanding of women, the team formed by yao runhao was basically all women from planners to producers. the game was launched in 2017, and in less than a month, the number of installs exceeded 7 million.

screenshot of the game "love of light and night". source: game official website

"love and producer" sets the game background in a modern city. the player plays the heroine, who is the head of a film and television production company. by running the company and solving various bizarre incidents, she encounters four people with super powers. with the male protagonist, you need to cultivate and develop relationships with them in the process. different from the simple interactive mode of traditional japanese b-games with text as the core, "love and producer" cleverly combines various elements such as plot interaction and visual novels to provide players with a game world that is both romantic and full of challenges. in addition, the game also selects well-known voice actors to form a luxurious lineup, which greatly enhances the charm of the game characters.

after "love and producer" became a phenomenon-level game, a series of various national b games also appeared one after another, including netease's "painted traveler in time and space", mihoyo's "undecided event book" and tencent's "love of light and night" stands out and is called the "best of the four major countries" by players. as more and more players enter the game, the field of otome games has also begun to "roll up". from 2d to 3d, the movie-level animation production process, from the protagonist's hair to the subtle movements between lips and teeth, is polished in every detail, striving to fit the player's preferences.

screenshot of the game "book of undetermined events". source: game official website

not only has it become popular in the country, otome games have also become popular abroad. not only "love and the producer", "the painted traveler in time and space" and "undecided events" are also widely loved in overseas markets."painted traveler in time and space" has attracted a large number of overseas female players with its exquisite graphics, rich plot and unique card gameplay. especially in the korean market, through careful localization strategies and cooperation with well-known korean stars, the game has reached the top of the google play free list in a short period of time.

it has only been three years since "undecided events" was launched in 2020, and its global revenue has reached us$45 million, with overseas accounting for nearly half. the united states has become the largest overseas market for "undecided events". mihoyo continues to use overseas social media such as x, youtube, facebook and other platforms to arouse great interest and enthusiasm among players with its marketing strategy of "exquisite images + popular characters + popular activities". these successful cases all show that chinese otome games also have broad development prospects in overseas markets.

3

who's playing? why play?

long before otome games, more and more female players have joined the gaming industry, and gaming is no longer an exclusive domain for men. according to a report released by game data analysis agency niko partners, women account for 37% of asian gamers, and female gamers in asia are growing at an annual rate of 11%, almost twice the growth rate of male gamers. in china, the proportion of female mobile game users in 2022 will account for 48.6%, which is basically the same as the proportion of male players. this fully reflects women’s active participation in the gaming field and their demand for diverse entertainment content.

so, who are playing otome games and why?

since the advent of female-oriented games, female players have often faced criticism and doubts such as "cannot find a boyfriend" and "sad".

surprisingly, many players do not play for love. some female players said that the heroine has her own main mission and is not just about falling in love. games often involve a variety of plots such as science fiction, suspense, and combat. to fully understand these stories requires a lot of knowledge reserves. one player said that in order to fully understand the plot, she read everything from "a brief history of time" to "roman holiday", from listening to the band green day to reading the philosopher foucault. they are more interested in "making a career" in the game than "defeating the male protagonist". another player said that she prefers playing games because the female characters in film and television works are not three-dimensional enough, the plots in the games are more interesting, and winning the battle will give a special sense of accomplishment.

the experience of playing the game is also important. many female players say they face unfriendly environments in non-female-oriented games. in addition to game content that may be offensive to women, there are often male players who make people feel uncomfortable in the gaming community. they assume that girls cannot play games, and some will verbally harass them. in otome games, the female character is no longer a supporting role or a marginalized character, but the center of the story, with strong autonomy. moreover, the plot design is becoming more and more real and complex, and blindly "love brain" will not be welcomed by the market.

of course, the need for "emotional companionship" and "emotional value" is the core. unlike other men who pursue thrilling adrenaline rushes from games, otome games focus more on creating profound spiritual support and emotional comfort. male characters in games are often portrayed as idealized partners who show love and care for women, providing a kind of intimacy that is difficult to find in the real world. in 2021, a study on the love status of 9,775 college students conducted by renmin university of china showed that nearly half of the students interviewed admitted that although they were single, they had no plans to fall in love. an in-depth analysis of their love inhibition factors found that about 7.15% of the respondents have reservations about real love because they have deep feelings for two-dimensional characters or idols.

a b-game player spoke and said, "b-game taught me to love myself." she had looked forward to falling in love, but found that "boys who leave their mothers don't know how to do their own laundry." moreover, she has never met someone who truly understands herself. boys who bring emotional value to themselves. in the game, she can be sure that the male protagonist loves her, and she will not have any insecurities about this relationship, nor will she be afraid to compare herself with anyone. and, be free to be yourself. she also knows that b-game cannot replace real love, but this emotional experience is not just love, but more like a kind of spiritual sustenance.

technically, game companies use advanced technological means, including "player image customization" and "ai customized voice", as well as calling players by name and sending care on important holidays or time nodes, in the virtual world. the intersection with reality gives people the impact of the dimensional wall being broken.

4

"where the money is, there is love"?

from a capital perspective, the booming otome game market is a manifestation of the relationship between supply and demand.

according to reports, "love and deep space", which was launched in public beta in january 2024, set a record for a female-oriented game in its first month, with estimated global revenue exceeding 600 million yuan, including over 100 million yuan in revenue in the first month of overseas launch. these exaggerated figures behind the numbers are players who have invested real money. as the saying goes, "where the money is, there is love." the most basic thing is of course to recharge with krypton gold in the game to get more cards, plots and interactive props. there are many types of paid props, such as monthly cards, gift packages, passes... as long as you have money, you can have everything you want.

according to calculations based on the national server ios port data displayed by qimai data (the android system is calculated based on twice the number of ios), as of june 30, 2024, the revenue of "love and deep space" has reached 1.59 billion yuan, which is the highest among b games. the game that generated the most revenue in 2018, far surpassing the second place "love of light and night" with a revenue of nearly 1 billion yuan.

in order to fully tap and expand the commercial potential of the ip, the official will also create a series of exquisite peripherals for fans to choose from. these products come in a wide variety, including but not limited to exquisite badges, vivid figures, interesting toys, practical mugs and multi-functional folders. in addition to peripheral products, the official also opened a theme-limited cafe and cooperated with various brands to further enrich the ip derivative product line. while meeting the diversified needs of fans, the company can earn hundreds of millions of yuan in revenue every month.

screenshot of a joint event between byouyou and a certain map.

however, this consumption-oriented model has also led to discussions about consumerism. although various female-oriented games advocate women to pursue bravery and freedom and show strength, ironically, this kind of bravery and freedom does not come without a price. some opinions point out that otome games may lead players into a consumption trap operated by capital, in which ideal love and perfect partnership seem to have a high price tag. for example, in the game, players can advance the plot by drawing cards, choose the type of lover, unlock more encounters and dating scenes with game lovers, or obtain more decorations for themselves and their lovers. but you often don’t get what you want in one draw, so you need to recharge to get more opportunities.

many players lamented: "it is almost impossible for national league b players to play comfortably without spending money." at the same time, the strategic operations of game companies use various means to encourage consumers to invest large amounts of money, but sometimes they fail to do so. it may not be possible to obtain the game experience that players expect and are satisfied with. according to the survey, on march 15th, international consumer rights day this year, a large number of consumers accused the paper-folding game company on relevant platforms of inducing consumption and making false propaganda, and scolded it for "cutting leeks."

so why do people still enjoy it? as otome games evolve from two-dimensional characters to three-dimensional figures, the emotional support and companionship they provide continues to grow.for example, the sleep aid, concentration, fitness and word memorization functions launched by the paper-folding game company "love and" series have been able to replace traditional related software and bring players a sound companionship experience. the companion exercise system and incentive mechanism in the game can also encourage players to stick to their daily activities. some players focus on academic writing in the company of virtual characters, while others exercise with the characters in the game and gradually form healthy living habits. the designed safety voice system can also help single women cope with situations such as taking a taxi at night, walking at night, and strangers knocking on the door, providing a sense of security. so, even though you understand that these characters are fictional, the emotions they inspire are real.