SensorTower's February 2025 list of Chinese games going overseas has once again brought Leniu Games into the public eye - "I9: 인페르노 나인" (hereinafter referred to as "I9") topped the overseas revenue growth list of Chinese mobile games as a dark horse, and ranked 27th in the global overseas revenue of mobile games. What's even more intriguing is that its publisher, Leniu Games, simultaneously rushed to the same place in the overseas revenue list of Chinese manufacturers.

This "Double 27" coincidence is particularly paradoxical in the South Korean market, a Shura field full of local giants: how can a Chinese-made MMO game make Korean players who have always been picky willing to empty their wallets?

Why do Korean players pay for "Made in China"?

The product design of "I9" does not drastically change the framework of traditional Korean MMOs, on the contrary, what really makes Korean gamers addicted is the game's accurate deconstruction of local aesthetics and gameplay logic.

The breakthrough of "I9" stems from the accurate grasp of the needs of Korean MMO users. With "combat" as the core selling point, the game relies on Unreal Engine to build a seamless 10-million-square-meter map, with silky and smooth scene transitions from the ice wasteland to lava hell, and the physical collision details of the characters' costumes are full of "local feeling".

What really ignites the enthusiasm of players is the "social confrontation" of the game's battles: the visual spectacle of thousands of players hedging on the same screen in the territory war, the tactical game of "beheading the enemy leader" in the monarch war, and the destructible walls and real-time changing offensive and defensive strategies in siege battles, pushing the "large-scale social confrontation" of MMO to the extreme.

This design accurately hits the "battlefield obsession" of Korean players. A Korean player commented in the community: "It reminds me of the shock of "Paradise" ten years ago, but the graphics and smoothness of the operation completely belong to this era." ”

It is worth noting that "I9" does not adopt the heavy krypton design of Korean MMO stereotypes, but adopts a lighter payment model. For example, the first charge and mount price of the game are significantly lower than similar Korean MMOs.

"Local Dark Horse" to "Global Surprise Soldier"

Leniu Games, the company behind I9, is a typical representative of the "hidden champions" in the wave of Chinese games going overseas. Founded in 2015, the Guangzhou company gained a firm foothold in the early years with domestic MMOs with a monthly turnover of more than 100 million yuan such as "Nine Spirits Divine Domain" and "Shenhuo Continent", but its real transformation began with the launch of its globalization strategy.

By testing the waters of Southeast Asia and exploring the themes of Nordic mythology with "Flame of Valhalla", Leniu has gradually built a two-wheel drive system of "industrial R&D + regional customization": on the one hand, the company has invested in building a thousand-person R&D center to realize modular production from original painting design to combat values; On the other hand, it has set up a localization team in South Korea to adjust the plot lines and even reconstruct the class system according to cultural preferences - for example, the "Onmyoji" class in "I9" incorporates Korean shamanic elements.

This "deep-water combat capability" is vividly reflected in the operation of "I9". In response to the high demand for content updates and collective honors in the Korean market, the balance of GVG (Team Battles) and the season honor system have been strengthened.

Epilogue:

The success of "I9" marks that Chinese games have entered the stage of "deep water competition" - no longer limited to the "dislocation competition" of SLG and casual categories, but dare to go head-to-head in the traditional advantages of overseas manufacturers such as MMO and shooting. The implications go far beyond the success of a single product: through technological breakthroughs (such as the in-depth application of Unreal Engine), gameplay integration innovation (dynamic events + GVG), and hyper-local operations (price strategy, cultural adaptation), Chinese manufacturers are reconstructing the power map of the global game industry.

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