Text/Wang Dan

After half a year, "Love and Deep Space" has been killed around the world.

On July 15th, this game of Paperstack's public beta at the beginning of the year was updated to version 2.0, launching a new male protagonist Qin Che, and adding new gameplay. On the day of the version update, the game rushed to the top 3 best-selling iOS games in mainland China, the top 2 best-selling lists in Hong Kong and Macau, the top 5 best-selling lists in Taiwan, and the best-selling lists in other countries/regions.

Best-selling iOS games in China. Every key version update can enter the top 5 best-selling list, and after the update on July 15, it has remained in the top 5 so far.

The explosion of this version may have early signs. As early as June 21, Qin Che's material was stolen, and Papergames had to release his concept short film in advance, and the number of views of the short film on station B soon exceeded 1 million. Many players have previously posted that Qin Che is the pinnacle of Yiyou modeling and the new old kilometer.

This matter has not only become a hot topic in the B game circle, but also caused widespread discussion outside the circle - before and after version 2.0, "Love and Deep Space" frequently swept the hot search lists of various online social platforms such as Weibo, Xiaohongshu, Douyin, etc., and the hot search on Weibo alone was on 22 times in a week;

Some hot searches, swipe up and down to view

In the offline BW exhibition, the activity design of "Love and Deep Space" also made passers-by curious and surprised, and some players posted on the Internet that even some friends outside the circle came to talk to them about "Love and Deep Space" on BW.

Source: Little Red Book

Not to mention B game, even if you look at the entire mobile game circle, this thing seems very "outrageous": a new game, within half a year, there are actually two waves of server-level out of the circle. Why?

As we talked about earlier, "Love and Deep Space", as the only player in the current 3D+ combat area of China B, has opened a gap with 2D Country B at the experience level in terms of 3D's unique first-person substitution sense and special sense of love fighting side by side. At the time, I thought that this unique, faulty B game experience was their biggest advantage, but now I find that my thinking is limited:

Now that it has entered the 2.0 version of "Love and Deep Space", it is not only continuing to upgrade the faulty love experience of 3D + battles, widening this gap, but also trying to jump out of its comfort zone and break through the mainstream routine of Guoyi.

What others don't do or can't do, they do. Don't follow the opponent to roll each other, but roll yourself and roll the whole track...... This is probably the real breakthrough idea of Papergames.

(Contains spoilers, please read as appropriate)

01

A domestic B game that can be eaten all over the world

One of the obvious differences is that as a domestic B game, "Love and Deep Space" is not just popular in China.

For content-to-game games that pay for love, going global means crossing cultural barriers. But the content that makes Chinese players excited may not be understood by foreigners. There are not many domestic B games that can make achievements overseas.

However, "Love and Deep Space" did not appear to be unadaptable, on the contrary, it also made many foreign players fall.

One of the things that can support this is the data.

After the 2.0 version update, "Love and Deep Space" rushed to the 1st best-selling in the Philippines, the 2nd best-selling in Singapore, the 11th best-selling in Japan, and the top three best-selling in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and other countries;

Japan iOS best-selling list

In Europe, the United States and Oceania, where cultural differences are greater, "Love and Deep Space" can still rush to the top of the list, ranking 13th best-selling in Canada, 17th best-selling in Australia, 19th best-selling in New Zealand, 26th best-selling in United States, 30th-selling in United Kingdom, and 38th best-selling in France.

Canada iOS best-selling list

The 2.0 content released by "Love and Deep Space" on overseas mainstream social platforms also has quite high popularity data: on X (formerly Twitter), under the official account of the game's daily service and foreign server, some of the push views about Qin Che have approached 2 million; Qin Che's short video of cooking has received more than 120,000 likes on Instagram and more than 4.2 million views on TikTok; The topic of "Love and Deep Space" has exceeded one billion views on a platform on the Internet......

Source: Little Red Book

Overseas amateur video likes exceeded one million, the source of the network

Second, judging from the comments and various memes of overseas players, they were really fascinated by Qin Che.

There are too many crazy speeches from players on the Internet, so Grape Jun will not expand the list. Their enthusiasm reflects the special focus of the Papergames team in terms of content output: not only whether domestic players like it or not, but also whether global players accept it, and find a balance between Chinese and foreign cultures, East and West.

But can foreigners understand all the content of "Love and Deep Space"? Not really.

For example, in June, inspired by the "Nine Songs" in "Chu Ci", they launched Li Shen's "Nine Li Si Ming" series of battle costumes and "Deep Forest Mountain Sleep" card faces, which attracted foreign players to start studying "Chu Ci" and ancient Chinese culture;

Source: Little Red Book

For example, the in-game social form of bringing people closer together through dinner has also made foreign players appreciate cultural differences, and some people have even become interested in Chinese food (such as the acacia flower cake in the game).

Therefore, in terms of acceptance, "Love and Deep Space" pursues not to let foreigners accept it all, but to accept it in the big market - in the main link of meeting and acquaintance with the male protagonist and progressing feelings, the team chooses to shape content that players around the world can understand; However, in the small details of emotional progression, there are some Chinese characteristics that need to be pondered by foreign players to understand, such as the intangible cultural heritage shell carving and Weifang kite linkage activities released simultaneously around the world.

"Love and Deep Space" × intangible cultural heritage Lianyungang shell carving

"Love and Deep Space" × intangible cultural heritage Weifang kite

Instead of stuffing our culture to them at the beginning, we first ensure that players are immersed in the love experience, and then through small bits and pieces, subtly and naturally export culture, so that foreign players can understand Chinese characteristics with the mentality of loving the house and Wu. Such a sequential operation has changed the nature of "Love and Deep Space" from a domestic B game to a domestic B game that can be eaten all over the world and bring Chinese culture out.

02

I've never seen such a national B male protagonist.

However, the global market acceptance is not enough to explain the players' fanatical reaction to Qin Che. After all, Yiyou is not a new track today, and everyone has seen a lot of all kinds of male protagonists, why can't you help it when you come to Qin Che?

After looking through the player comments, I kind of understood: Qin Che's character design is really rare. Some players said that they had never seen such a male protagonist of Guoyi, and some people said that they had never talked about Qin Che, and they didn't even know that they would like this kind of character before that.

So, what is Qin Che's personality charm? I think the player has a barrage that sums it up quite well: "It's a dangerous trap, but it's fascinating." ”

On the one hand, Qin Che makes people feel dangerous, not because others are really bad, but because of his strong sense of oppression and slightly crazy style of acting, which contributes to an uncontrollable perception. Faced with such things that are not within the scope of expected understanding and out of control, people naturally feel dangerous.

Specific to the game, Qin Che seems unable to be passively subdued, nor can he give in to others, unless he is willing to take the initiative to cooperate. To put it bluntly, how things develop must be within his wishes.

For example, in the early stage of the new 2.0 main story, not long after the player met Qin Che, he stuffed the pistol into the player's hand and fired a shot at his heart. According to the plot, the character played by the player did want Qin Che's life at first, but when Qin Che held her hand and shot, the matter changed - it was not like the player came to take his life, but like he took the initiative to hand over his life.

For another example, in the "No Forbidden Zone" card interaction, although Qin Che was a person who was handcuffed, he did not give in from beginning to end, and kept provoking words: "As a tamer, don't be so stingy", "Plus", "That's it...... The attentive player found that he had already secretly untied the handcuffs, and he was cooperating with the player. When he got to the back, Qin Che didn't pretend anymore, his hands were taken out from behind his back, and his right eye was glowing red (one of Qin Che's abilities, the right eye can see people's inner desires). Who exactly is a hunter? Who is the prey? At this moment, the offensive and defensive momentum seemed to be exchanged.

"If you want to tame me, you'll need more means. I wouldn't mind spending the whole night with you. ”

On the other hand, Qin Che's character arc is not single, danger is only the most obvious feature on his surface, and behind this, there are more three-dimensional and multi-layered character details.

For example, in the concept video, Qin Che did not step on the flowers at his feet, indicating that although Qin Che has a very strong strength, he does not have a preference for bullying, and at the same time, a slightly abrupt white flower appears in the dark scene of black and red, which may also imply that there is a gentle side hidden under Qin Che's cold appearance;

In addition, it should be noted that although the game has a clear portrayal of Qin Che's strength and sense of oppression, the character does not fall into the stereotypical trap of strong men and weak women, and the interaction between the player and Qin Che still highlights the meaning of equality.

For example, in the plot, the player and Qin Che have a trading relationship and ask for each other, and both parties have chips in their hands;

In the "No Forbidden Zone" card interaction, the player is in the active position, wearing a black silk + short skirt that pleases men and conforms to the impression of men, but looks more like a houndstooth suit + black leather boots that highlight the capable and awe-inspiring temperament.

And a character like Qin Che has sparked a wave of discussion around the world, which has a very special significance for the entire B game circle - Paperfold broke his previous ceiling, and also pierced the model of the past National B's character routines and standard answers.

To do this, the team will not be able to look back and focus on the successful personas that have been proven by the market, but rather look forward and outward to see what is lacking in the market today and what players really want. This kind of courage to jump out, as well as the observation of the B game market, is the premise for "Love and Deep Space" to make Qin Che.

03

Only folded paper can roll the road

Some people may say that now that Qin Che has taken the lead, similar characters will become more common in the future. Indeed, the character design may be able to learn from it, but the upgrade of the gameplay of the 2.0 version of "Love and Deep Space" is really not so good.

First, they have their own job - to enhance their sense of love. However, the playing style of "Love and Deep Space" is based on 3D technology, and the volume is more free and diverse intimate gameplay:

In version 2.0, the game has launched a new gameplay Glint photo, players can DIY and the male protagonist's full-body photo, lighting (direction, brightness), wind (strength, wind direction), background, the two of their respective actions, clothing, position, orientation, shooting camera position of the height, left and right, orientation...... can be adjusted;

In the limited-time heart-to-heart costume change gameplay, players can also change the male protagonist's outfit, let him wear the clothes he chooses, and relive his memory.

Qi Yu · flowers fall in the summer, fragment of the original heart

A fragment of the heart's trail after changing clothes in an illusion

Generally, when talking about the love feeling of B-game, few people will mention the point of freedom, because in many countries B, players are often following the established path provided by the game to experience emotional warm-up. and when, where, and what the male protagonist is doing, these are all arranged. However, Glint's photo and heart change give the player the right to portray this memory moment.

It's not as simple as "being able to take full-body photos and play costume changes", but players can finally shape their own stories. This kind of self-pinching image, and the high degree of freedom and sense of substitution of the male protagonist to interpret different lives together, are currently available and can only be achieved in 3D.

Second, in addition to the original work of Juan Yiyou, "Love and Deep Space" seems to want to expand the boundaries of the entire B-game track again - they were already challenging everyone's perception of the operation of B-game by doing combat gameplay in B-game before, but now Stacked Paper not only confiscated, but also wanted to continue to increase the size and launch a combat meat pigeon game called Chaos Deep Web.

In this gameplay, players can get different exclusive codes to strengthen the male protagonist; The levels aren't just about combat, but sometimes they're full of traps and puzzles that test the player's skills.

But in fact, what broke through my perception even more was the reaction of players: many people commented that they love to play battles, show operations, and even some people have a surge in playing time, killing in the deep web for 8 hours a day.

Therefore, "Love and Deep Space" increases the difficulty of combat and operation, which is not a reckless operation. On the one hand, it's really about taking care of the needs of the players: if they want more and more cool battles, give it to them; On the other hand, it may also represent Paperfold's further exploration on the B game track, after all, no one stipulates that B game must be limited to text AVG.

In addition, from another point of view, Grape Jun guesses that this move is probably also to cultivate a user base for "Infinite Warmth" and "Contract of Everything", which are under research and not yet online.

And the update direction of the 2.0 version of the gameplay, that is, the high degree of freedom gameplay derived from 3D technology, as well as the increase in combat and operation, except for the current only 3D+ battle "Love and Deep Space", there are almost no other countries B can get involved in reproduction.

The volume of "Love and Deep Space" is indeed the road that only they can roll at present.

04

It is no less than the circle-breaking effect of opening the server

Another thing that is difficult to replicate is their marketing actions before and after version 2.0.

Its publicity strength and circle-breaking effect are no less than the open beta service - not only on many hot searches on Weibo, but also on multiple trailer PVs related to version 2.0, with more than 2 million views on station B, and also ranked 9th on the list of station B; #恋与深空秦彻剧情#曾登抖音热点榜Top 7;The offline activities launched by the game at the People's Square subway station in Shanghai occupied the top 1 and top 2 of the Douyin Shanghai city list, and also rushed to the top 3 of the Xiaohongshu hot list, and hung in the top 5 for a whole day......

Although there are a lot of actions, the marketing of "Love and Deep Space" can be divided into several characteristics.

First, their marketing front is very long and widespread. In addition to the regular forward-looking live broadcast and PV promotion, the game has been promoted and publicized on Weibo, Bilibili, Douyin, Xiaohongshu and other platforms.

The preview live broadcast at station B rushed to the first place in popularity

Second, some of the linkage partners of 2.0 this time are quite tonal. From the Paris Olympics, to Apple...... These activities, IPs, and brands are not short of reputation or money, and they do not need to deliberately use others to drive their own popularity and income, and they are also more critical of the popularity and influence of the partners themselves.

Therefore, this linkage is more like a two-way choice: these brands are willing to cooperate, which shows that in their opinion, "Love and Deep Space" has a wide and high-profile perception in the public circle, no less than these brands.

Third, stepping on the 2.0 version node, "Love and Deep Space" has done a lot of marketing activities that break through the dimensional wall.

For example, at the People's Square subway station in Shanghai, they set up a group photo booth, an escalator screen display, and a special train for pain iron (the body is dressed as the theme of "Love and Deep Space"), which attracted many players on the morning of the event (July 11).

Source: Little Red Book

To be honest, it's not the first time that game manufacturers have advertised in Shanghai subway stations, especially in recent years, subway advertising has become a battleground for many second-game soldiers, and it stands to reason that everyone has long been used to it. But surprisingly, the subway event of "Love and Deep Space" has a larger flow of people than many game subway advertising campaigns in the past.

Not only in the subway station, but also during BW, they are also one of the most popular games in the audience. It's not to blame the players for their whims, after all, the booth of "Love and Deep Space" is indeed somewhat unique: the venue is large, and the scene of the game's name is restored.

Photo source Xiaohongshu, above the booth is Qin Che's "eyes"

And it's not just offline activities that bring games closer to reality. During the open beta, "Love and Deep Space" cooperated with Sarah Brightman to depict the bond between the male protagonist and the player through her singing. This time, they collaborated with the original creative team of the French musical "Rock Mozart" to collaborate on the 2.0 version of the theme song "Staggered Vision", once again using realistic music to convey the game's love experience.

Compared with the open beta theme song, "Staggered Vision" has a different emotional tone. Dove Attia, producer of "Mozart in Rock", said: "This song does not explore the sweetness or sadness of love, but wants to make a more interesting interpretation of the other side of love...... the protagonist and the male protagonist in "Love and Deep Space" are fighting against fate, so we wanted to express the feelings of the characters fighting against fate in the song. These are the price of love, something that cannot be understood apart from the dimension of love. ”

Dove Attia

Many players also said that they heard a different mood in "Staggered Vision" than the open beta, and it was more struggling and entangled, which may be the theme that version 2.0 wants to present.

Fourth, "Love and Deep Space" has played a lot of stalks that players like to see this time.

It's like letting the super e host come to the stage to sing "Playing Love and Deep Space, Being a Happy Woman" on BW...... It's earthy and trendy, and social terror (social terrorist) is full of tension, but it makes people a little tempted to take another look;

See watermark for source

and playing the most well-known tea egg stalk in the lottery session;

Source: Little Red Book

There are also various slip-ons...... was stunned to make BW out of the "cross talk taste".

It is worth noting that "Love and Deep Space" plays self-created stalks throughout the whole process, or its own stalks like tea eggs. can play such a show effect on the premise of not rubbing the heat and not stepping on it, which shows that they are a bit level in the whole work.

Therefore, their 2.0 version can get out of the circle this time, not because of any "big factory marketing, deep pockets", and generosity is not the key to impressing players inside and outside the circle. The "Rock Mozart" cooperation and BW's booth design with a sense of substitution are amplifying the game's features; Playing memes is breaking the circle through interesting content; All kinds of linkage cooperation, online and offline activities, through multiple channels, convey the message of "immersive love + meme" to potential users in the periphery.

To put it bluntly, the core of the operation of "Love and Deep Space" is not to show off how much muscle you have and compete with others for face, but to be very pure content marketing that conveys the player's experience based on the characteristics of the game.

05

Root causes of the fault gap:

Don't be distracted by the competition, focus on yourself

Seeing this, you may already understand how "Love and Deep Space" has opened a fault gap with other countries B - the character design, the gameplay, and the direction they are taking, not many people dare to do or can do; Marketing efforts and campaign tonality are not replicated by all manufacturers.

The above-mentioned best-selling data, as well as the ultra-high popularity of Shanghai People's Square subway station and BW, are concrete manifestations of this gap.

Many people should not have expected that "Love and Deep Space" would come to this point. In a letter from the production team on July 6, the team also mentioned that along the way, they seem to have been dealing with various challenges, and when they first revealed it three years ago, they received a lot of doubts, and the first test evaluation was also mixed...... After the open beta, the game's productivity became the biggest challenge, and the team tried various possibilities to meet the expectations of players.

And now, half a year after its launch, "Love and Deep Space" not only has not decreased in popularity, but has a tendency to exceed the popularity of the public beta.

An excerpt from a letter from the production team

So, why does this product have so much stamina? I think that the unique existence of 3D+ combat is only a superficial advantage. If a big manufacturer wants to make the next 3D B game, it is not difficult from a technical and financial perspective. In contrast, the most distinctive core difference of the "Love and Deep Space" team is that they do not jump into the old routine of National B, nor have they been disturbed by fierce competition, but seem to pay more attention to themselves: what others dare not do, what is not in the track, but what can I do?

That's what makes them really special - it's one thing to follow up on the 3D B game; But it's another thing for them to do something unexpected and something that wasn't on the track before.

This kind of focus on rolling oneself and not being blown around by the wind of the market should be the root cause of the widening gap between "Love and Deep Space" and many products.

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