2024/11/19 00:07
Female-oriented game "Battle Royale"
2024/11/19 00:07
Author | Ding Qianwen Editor| Editorial Department of Simcere
Domestic women are getting bigger and bigger to the game.
On November 16, women officially announced several large-scale platform events to the game "Infinite Warmth" in one go to warm up for the upcoming global open beta on December 5. This is also another female-oriented mobile game launched by Papergames Studios, which focuses on the female-oriented track, this year after "Love and Deep Space".
According to the 2024 Tmall Double 11 full-cycle (October 21-November 11) brand transaction list, the miHoYo flagship store, which includes the female-oriented game "Undetermined Event Book" and the general game "Honkai Impact Series", has become the first brand to break 100 million yuan on this year's Double 11, and ranks first in the sales list of toy trendy toy stores and trendy toy stores. Papergames Studio's "Papergames Heart's Flagship Store" ranked second on the double list. Not only that, the official stores of female-oriented games such as "Codename Kite", which was launched in March last year, "Beyond the World", which was launched in January this year, and the old IP "Painted Traveler in Time and Space" and "Idol Dream Festival", also all exceeded 10 million and reached the top 20 on the double list.
Compared with last year's Double 11, only the flagship store of "Love of Light and Night", the flagship store of Paperfold Heart, and the flagship store of miHoYo were on the list, which can be described as a fierce battle for IP heads.
In fact, in recent years, as women have become more and more popular in games, their IP-derived peripheral profits have also been relatively considerable. Women are pulling out all the stops they can to get players to spend money.
To a certain extent, it is a direct reflection of the importance of female gamers and the seizure of control by women.
The concept of "female-oriented" originated in Japan, and in layman's terms, it refers to games that target female gamers and meet women's entertainment interests. In this category, it can be divided into B game (a love simulation game for a woman and a man), dress-up, cultivation, BL (rotten girl), elimination, cuteness and other vertical categories, but on the whole, it generally has a more exquisite vertical painting, rich plot, and a game experience that pays attention to emotional value feedback.
Looking at the active female-oriented games on the market, Yiyou has supported half of the domestic female-oriented games.
For example, "Love and the Producer", which opened the "first year of female-oriented games", and "Love and Deep Space", "Love and Night Love", "Beyond the World", etc., are all positioned as a "love" based B game mode between female players and male protagonists of the game; The few are like "Code Name Kite" and "Like Kite", which give the player a love theme while giving the player a game mode in which the superior person seizes power; And such as "Miracle Nuan Nuan", "Shining Nuan Nuan", "In the Name of Shining" and other main characters are dressed up and cultivated.
But regardless of the positioning, the perspective of the game needs to serve the emotional needs of the player. It is also like this that domestic women are generally moving towards the road of game B to the same end.
Taking Qimai data's statistics on women's turnover to the game in October as an example, "Love and Deep Space" earned 324 million yuan in October, "Like a Kite", which was launched for a month, reached 288 million yuan, and "Beyond the World", "Love of Light and Night", "In the Name of Shining" and so on also reached 10 million yuan. According to the data on the flow of women to games in the first half of 2024, "Love and Deep Space" recorded a turnover of more than 1.62 billion yuan in the first half of the year alone, and "Beyond the World" ranked second with more than 685 million yuan.
After all, most female gamers are eager to escape from real emotional problems, obtain companionship services, and the need for gender equality through games, which also creates a certain extreme for women to go to the game - B games are booming, others are deserted.
Therefore, in addition to the papergames studio that ate crabs through "Love and the Producer" early, even Tencent ("Love of Light and Night"), NetEase ("Painted Traveler in Time and Space"), miHoYo ("Book of Undetermined Events") and other leading Internet companies have also chosen to embrace B in the layout of the women-oriented game track, and finally formed the current situation of "Four Great B".
Looking at the middle and upper reaches of domestic game manufacturers, they are basically one B game per capita.
For example, NetEase's "Meet Against the Cold" was originally a small assistant in the terminal game of "Against the Cold", which was transformed into an independent B game in the later stage, but in the end, it also went through problems such as the name change of the male protagonist, the protection of players' rights, and the low flow of water, and the main plot was stopped indefinitely.
Interestingly, even though "Meet the Cold" is cold, NetEase still continues to cultivate the female-oriented game track with the two B games "Painted Traveler in Time and Space" and "Beyond the World", and at present, "Beyond the World" has also become the largest revenue of NetEase Games this year.
However, Yiyou is not a one-size-fits-all template.
With the launch of products on the same track, even if the consumption power of female players has increased, it is difficult to get all the "krypton gold", and the requirements for game quality are also increasing. As a result, some manufacturers are unable to bear the cycle and budget of developing sub-gameplay, and it is difficult to "escape" in the homogenization dilemma of B games. For example, the ancient style B game "The Boss is Too Busy" from small and medium-sized manufacturers, and the food anthropomorphic B game "Food Language" have been suspended one after another in the past two years.
At the same time, a large number of CV actors (voice actors) are abused, modeling collisions, plot or character plagiarism and other problems are also endless.
In the early days of "Beyond the World", the main male characters were drawn and the plot was pointed out to be similar to "Love and the Producer" and "Love of Light and Night"; For another example, because many male protagonists of different games such as "Love of Light and Night" Qi Sili, "Book of Undetermined Events" Zuo Ran, "Painted Traveler in Time and Space" Lu Chen, "Love and Producer" Ling Xiaoye and other games share the same CV Zhao Lu, many players also bluntly say "The second game of flowing water, the Zhao Lu of iron"; And CV's "rolling drama" also caused complaints such as "not distracted" and "perfunctory".
What's even more magical is that many women run away after handing over semi-finished products or replicas to the game, making a wave of quick money. For example, "Girl's Throne" only took four months from the launch of the service to the loss of users.
Therefore, under the premise that the number of cases of traditional "paper man" B games is gradually increasing, it has become a new choice for many game manufacturers to meet the increasingly updated needs of different female players.
For example, "Love and Deep Space", which focuses on the combination of 3D and love interaction and innovative two-person love battle mode, is a new B game that has outperformed the encirclement of competing products this year; "In the Name of Shining", which also plays a 3D dress-up gameplay, also occupies a place as a new game on the dress-up track; And "Like a Kite" and "Codename Kite" also broke the usual "Raiders Male Protagonist" B game routine, and put it in the perspective of how male characters "seduc" players to fall in love with their own female protagonists.
In addition, with the increase of competing products, domestic women are becoming more active in the game buying market, and the frequency of marketing through co-branding, cultural activities, and peripherals is becoming more and more common. For example, "Love and Deep Space" has reached cooperation with many intangible cultural heritage projects, and "Like a Kite" officially announced on the day of its launch, including 28 cross-circle co-branding, including Yangzhou Canal Grand Theater, China Paper-cutting Museum, All-in-One Card, Lingnan Pass, etc.
However, women's fandom to games is becoming more and more mainstream at the moment. After all, the "paper people" are also virtual idols, and players will inevitably cause chaos such as "dream girl confrontation", "sharing and tearing each other", and underage krypton. The plot direction and activity planning of women to the game are also correspondingly "disciplined" by players from multiple perspectives. For example, players are accustomed to studying whether the plot of male characters is watery, whether the activities are fair, krypton gold rankings, etc., to protect their rights, and this kind of phenomenon once led to abusive attacks between different IPs and characters, and even players were "unboxed" private information.
To put it bluntly, Yiyou used to be the "originator" of the game market for women in many countries, but even the top game manufacturers are ignoring a reality - women's games need diversified female perspectives.
In fact, the main gameplay of female-oriented games is not uncommon in male-oriented games that focus on love, upbringing, raiders, and even harem-oriented.
In the early two-game (two-dimensional game) flattering house works, it was very common. The most representative is the long-term popularity of galgame (girl and love game) and erogame (erotic game), which focus on interacting with beautiful girls and the audience is mainly male, such as "The Sky of Edge" and "CLANNAD", which have even been adapted into anime.
As for the relatively vague gender positioning of domestic general-oriented games, it is becoming more and more involved in the controversy of developing towards male-oriented games. For example, this is true of "Genshin Impact", "Echo of Vision", etc. In such games, female characters who are supposed to be "treated equally" are often given the mission of "rubbing edges" to attract users in a more open and exposed way than male characters.
Xiao A, a senior game operator, told Entertainment Xiansheng, "For a long time, the mainstream game market has defaulted to male gamers as the main target audience, so it is actually the general trend to turn to games to be male-oriented. And no matter whether they wipe the edge or not, female players are more tolerant of the game, and the bottom line can be constantly lowered."
It is worth noting that the general games made by women-oriented game teams are very "exceptional". For example, the fifth-generation Nuan Nuan dress-up game "Infinite Nuan Nuan" is officially positioned as a general game. Among the materials on the inside of the player that have been revealed so far, Nuan Nuan's modeling also shows a healthy female figure, not a stereotypical white and thin appearance; In addition, the fifth generation has also opened a 3D combat confrontation mode under the roaming world view, rather than relying on 18 banned content to transform and break the circle of audiences.
It can be said that with the globalization of the game industry, female-oriented elements and female gamers also have a very eye-catching presence, and due to regional cultural differences, their needs and preferences are also different.
According to Sensor Tower's 2023 Analysis Report on Mobile Games Popular with Women, the global IAP (in-app payment) revenue of mobile games popular with women reached $16 billion last year. Among them, female gamers in the United States prefer money (treasure) and decoration games; In Japan, otome, ornaments, and idols are more popular; Similarly, the Korean market also has a relatively balanced orientation towards otome, candy (desserts), sandboxes, and space games.
It is not difficult to see that female gamers also have extremely diverse needs for games, and they are not limited to the category of women's games. Essentially, the emergence of domestic female-oriented games in the game market and the fact that female players have to be "tolerant" in general games is also due to the fact that female players have fewer restrictions on playable categories.
Therefore, unlike female gamers whose penetration rate has peaked and has not yet been completely "harvested", female gamers have become an important "nugget" target in the game industry.
After all, the development of domestic women in the game market has only been eight years since they were full, and it is still a blue ocean that has not been fully cultivated. This year, with the efforts of major game manufacturers, games such as "Love and Deep Space", "Beyond the World" and "Like Kites" have been launched successively, which is also known as the "big year for women-oriented games" by the game industry.
According to Niko Partners' 2023 Asian Female Gamer Analysis Report, Asian female gamers account for 37% of the total number of gamers, and have grown significantly over the past five years. At present, it is also growing at an average annual rate of 11%, which is almost twice the growth rate of male gamers.
The market value of female gamers has also been verified in the financial reports of game companies. According to the financial report for the first half of 2024 released by Zulong Entertainment, the revenue in the first half of the year was 439 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.2%, and the adjusted loss was 120 million yuan, narrowing the loss by 42.5%. The "hero" behind it is the female-oriented game "In the Name of Shining", which was launched in March last year, and its revenue has been stable so far, with more than 16 million cumulative users worldwide.
Similarly, this potential for krypton gold is also reflected in women's IP co-branded consumption of games and different circles. For example, in June this year, "Beyond the World" and KFC jointly launched the 52 yuan limited package barrel giveaway "Fang Bar Chirp (Badge) Set", which was speculated to an average price of more than 200 yuan per bar in the secondary market, and also became a high-value "collectible" of the game, and there was even no shortage of high-priced bidders.
To put it simply, female gamers have a huge market potential for the emotional value provided by games in both virtual and real life. The spending power of female players is also giving female audiences more say in the construction of games.
This also means that game manufacturers need their development teams to think about how to accurately explore the "desires" of female gamers.
Looking overseas, especially in the Japanese female-oriented game market, in a mature environment with a very clear classification and positioning, there is a wider range of stories and gameplay that are not limited to the theme of love, which can be used as a reference template.
According to Sensor Tower, mobile games, which are popular with female gamers in Japan, earned more than $1.5 billion last year. Among them, Yiyou accounts for 19% of the total revenue, and idol cultivation is 11%. As a "veteran" of female-oriented games, Japanese game manufacturers are well aware that the focus of their efforts cannot be put in the same basket, and they have built an immersive world view and cross-platform IP around games, comics, novels, animation, music, and even live-action stage plays, and upgraded them in continuous innovative gameplay, such as "Idol Dream Festival", "Devil Lover", "Magician's Promise", etc.
Taking the classic IP "Idol Dream Festival" as an example, after its undeleted public beta in 2015, comics, novels, animations, and concerts have been launched one after another, and stage scenes, CV performances, and festival activities are frequently new physical peripherals, network materials, and even cross-circle linkage with the Japanese entertainment industry, from online to offline to achieve comprehensive coverage of breaking the circle. According to the data, since its launch in 2015, the IP of "Idol Dream Festival" has always been in the top echelon of Japanese women's games, and it still reached 4.903 billion yen in the state of declining net profit last year.
As a game that develops female idols, the gameplay is not complicated - players interact with 37 male characters as transfer students and producers, cultivate and build a boy group. This kind of idol development setting is not uncommon in the Japanese female-oriented game market, including "Idolish7" and "His Royal Highness the Prince of Songs", and they are all popular with female audiences.
But it is worth mentioning that based on the early setting gameplay, there is no shortage of collisions, and "Idol Dream Festival" also underwent "fission" later. On the one hand, the music game rhythm, 3D MV, and 3D Live mode are added, and the sequel "Idol Dream Festival!! Music》； On the other hand, it is the launch of "Idol Dream Festival!! Basic, which includes the plot before the new chapter. The gameplay and system are different between the two, but the story and cards are still the same, and they are still written by the light novel writer "Day Day".
In addition, with the launch of the Switch and the sales volume in Japan exceeded 6.67 million in 2018, the single-player buyout system of female-oriented games has also re-emerged as the focus of Japanese game manufacturers. Even though the sales of single-player buyout games have declined in recent years due to the shift of sales platforms from PSV to Switch NS platforms, the solidification of game modes into audio novels, and the lack of fresh gameplay, the popularity of single-player games is still unabated in Japan and abroad.
For example, on Steam or Switch, the price of such games is generally relatively high, and the text plot scale is different. It not only involves love and cultivation, but also includes the discussion of human nature, family affection, ethics and other aspects, such as "Distant Time and Space", "Butterfly Poison", "Devil Lover", etc., which are all masterpieces that have aroused heated discussions at home and abroad. At present, this type of game has also tested the waters in China, such as "The Wind Rises in Chang'an" and "Blindness", although it has caused heated discussions, but due to the immaturity of the plot and painting style, it is still difficult to have word-of-mouth representatives.
It can be said that compared with the "veteran" Japan, domestic women have a certain sense of "crossing the river by feeling the stones" when it comes to games, whether it is commercialization or text plot construction.
The in-depth long-term cross-border planning and timely gameplay update of an IP will continue to meet the needs of generations of female players, and it is more likely to break the circle and remain evergreen.
Women's development of games to this day is still generally based on emotional experience as the background color of games. And women's play is essentially a high commodification of emotions, that is, the commodification of intimacy.
As a result, female gamers have always traded through the relationship they have established with the characters in the game, and under the "quasi-social relationship", the intimate relationship is more simple and direct, and the emotional experience is commodified, and the commodity has also become a medium for emotional expression.
At a time when feminism has become a hot topic in society, women's spending power and emotional needs are also being fed back from reality to the virtual world. Female gamers' consumption investment in in-game krypton gold and IP-derived peripherals is also a manifestation of their desire to choose freely, dominate, embrace desire, and obtain more effective emotional value.
In the second half of the female-oriented game, "love +" is not the only way to solve the problem. If you don't want to sail against the current, game manufacturers can't just stare at B You.
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