In The Era Of Her Economy, There Are Three Major Players

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As the annual Women's Day approaches, "her economy" has once again become a hot topic. In the gaming industry, female-oriented games have also been very popular in recent years, especially in the domestic interactive story track. With the successive launch of NetEase's "Easy Dimension" and Tencent's "1001", coupled with the continued efforts of Pioneer Orange Light Games, the trend of the three major players has become increasingly clear.

Interestingly, the overseas interactive story track also has a relatively obvious three-legged trend. Data shows that "The Story of Yanxi Palace" launched by China Online and "The Story of Yanxi Palace" and "The Story of Yanxi Palace" which were reported in 2019 currently rank the top three in the European and American markets. "The Story of Yanxi Palace" and "The Story of Yanxi Palace" maintain a monthly turnover of about 35 million yuan, while "The Story of Yanxi Palace" is stable at more than 20 million yuan per month.

However, it is noted that recently NetEase quietly launched a product called " " overseas, which is very much like the overseas version of "E-Dimension". With the entry of NetEase, the overseas interactive story track may officially enter the era of big companies.

Clear strategy: bypass Japan and South Korea and focus on Europe and the United States

Through the query, it was found that "The APP" was launched in as many as 125 countries and regions around the world, but it avoided major markets in the Asia-Pacific region such as Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and its application interface was designed in full English. This also means that NetEase has a very clear positioning for "The APP" – focusing on the European and American markets.

Entering the application interface, you will be greeted by the visual experience of "Yi Dimension". Compared with the domestic version, the interface design of "》 is simpler, and the homepage adopts a waterfall flow recommendation method. Since it is also the first login, it is impossible to push targeted content according to the user's preferences, so the push content is varied, covering various categories such as ancient style, two-dimensional, science fiction, etc. In fact, the role played by the homepage of "》 is similar to the classification recommendation of the domestic version.

In terms of content, the current game content of "》 is basically directly transferred from the domestic version. Except for the content introduction which is all translated into English, most of the main text of the game is still in simplified Chinese, which once made people think that this application is only for overseas Chinese.

However, after playing the top recommended game Power, I am convinced that this product is aimed at European and American users. In addition to the full English translation, the game itself also uses the zombie survival theme that European and American users prefer. In addition, this game also maximizes the playability of the interactive story. Like Uma Musume, players can improve their various attributes by clicking on different scenes and performing different activities, thus having a higher chance of survival when facing zombies in the end.

In terms of charging mode, "Power" adopts the same charging mode as "E-Dimension", that is, users can consume through unified rechargeable tokens, but different games have different charging contents. For example, the payment point in "Power" is a one-time prop, while some ancient works require payment to unlock chapters.

The charging standard of "The Legend of Zelda: The …

Overall, as the overseas version of Yi Dimension, "The Legend of Zu" is still facing the problem of content localization. The core selling point of interactive stories is naturally the plot, but the English localization of a large amount of text still needs time. Therefore, if it wants to shake the three mountains of the overseas market, "The Legend of Zu" still has a long way to go.

Undercurrent surges beneath the calm sea

In 2019, when interactive story products exploded, the monthly overseas revenue of leading products such as "The Legend of Zu" could reach more than 40 million. In addition, "The Legend of Zu" was actually released as early as 2016, and "The Legend of Zu" was launched on the iOS platform as early as 2013. Therefore, on the surface, the overseas interactive story market is basically in a sideways state, with neither much fresh blood nor much growth in market size.

If this is the case, why does NetEase want to enter this field?

In my opinion, the stagnation of the overseas market is largely due to the lack of the catfish effect brought by large manufacturers. As the products themselves are relatively old, the three major leading products currently have problems such as single plot content (basically love-themed products with fixed painting styles and unified UI), monotonous gameplay, and lack of quality, which lacks sufficient appeal for players who want to experience fresh and diverse scripts.

Although most interactive story platforms provide content creation tools that are relatively easy to use, compared with UGC content improvised by ordinary users, PGC content produced by professional teams is more likely to arouse players' willingness to pay because of its more exquisite illustrations, more mature plots and more diverse gameplay. Therefore, from the perspective of revenue, the quantity and quality of PGC are the key to achieving breakthroughs in this type of product.

In contrast, Yiciyuan, which is backed by a big company, has been taking the path of platformization and high-quality products since the beginning. For example, one of the earliest games to enter the platform, Dust and Sand, is a mature commercial product that has been launched on the Steam platform, and its quality is significantly better than fan creations. There Are Trees in the South, which is still a star product of the platform, is also adapted from the film and television drama of the same name. It is an official game jointly produced by IP owner Lemon Studios and Yiciyuan, and its quality advantage is also obvious.

Thanks to the help of these professional teams and NetEase's own community resource advantages, Yiciyuan has now formed a development model of UGC volume + PGC revenue generation. There are many player-made games on the platform that are promoted completely free or with the main line free. At the same time, there are also many high-quality works that continue to bring income to authors and platforms in a way of small profits but quick turnover. The content advantage formed on this basis also provides the possibility for Yiciyuan to open up the European and American markets.

With the domestic market gradually stabilizing, it is inevitable for NetEase to seek growth in overseas markets. With the release of " Top Up Honor of Kings Global ", the overseas interactive story market, which was originally calm, will also usher in a long-lost wave. But for NetEase, it is not easy to achieve a real breakthrough.

It is important to understand users and find the right people

Although there is a lack of competition, the stable monthly revenue of the top products shows that there is still a group of stable European and American users who enjoy these relatively simple styles and stories, and this is exactly the problem that "The Legend of Zu" still has an Asian face and needs to solve. In addition to the translation of the text, whether it can understand the aesthetic tastes and spiritual needs of European and American players will greatly affect the future trend of this product.

In order to localize its product style, NetEase obviously needs to find a group of European and American creators.

Compared with ByteDance, which has launched both online writing and comics apps in the Japanese market as reported previously, interactive stories are a form between the two. On the one hand, mature interactive story production tools can provide rich art materials, allowing content creators to create complete works by focusing on script creation without having to have painting skills; on the other hand, compared with pure online writers, the production of interactive stories still requires creators to have a certain technical foundation and be familiar with the use of production tools. This also makes the interactive story platform rely heavily on localized authors to fill in the content during the overseas process, and faces the situation where some creators are blocked from the door due to technical barriers.

Therefore, for NetEase, if it wants to establish a foothold in the European and American markets, in addition to leveraging its own advantages in quality products and providing European and American players with richer, more exquisite and innovative products, it also needs to find a group of European and American creators who can continuously produce high-quality content, speed up the establishment and operation of localized communities, and form an open creation platform like Yiciyuan.

As for the interactive story market in Europe and the United States, the arrival of NetEase may trigger a collective metabolism, attracting more new users through innovation in content, gameplay and even payment mechanisms, thereby bringing substantial growth to this track.

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