Wen | Wang Yuchan Editor| Qiao Qian
In 2022, "100 Scenic Spots of Jiangnan" ushered in a new map. On January 20, Yangzhou Will become the sixth new city in the game after Yingtianfu, Suzhoufu, Hangzhoufu, Songjiangfu, and Huizhoufu. This ancient style simulation business mobile game independently developed by Coconut Island Games has been in service for a year and a half, and it has aroused the enthusiasm of ancient style enthusiasts when it was first launched, and it has also caused controversy and rectification not long ago.
Compared with the summer of 2020, both the Coconut Island game itself and the entire domestic game industry have changed. "100 Views of Jiangnan" should not only consider how to keep old players, but also compete with the new guofeng game to attract new players. In addition, it is now also a member of the tide of domestic games going to sea - Coconut Island Games intends to push it to Japan in April this year.
In 2021, the actual sales revenue of China's self-developed games in overseas markets reached 18.013 billion US dollars, an increase of 16.59% year-on-year. Domestic games have been very successful in the sea - App Annie released the "2022 Mobile Market Report" shows that last year, The "Original God" developed by Mihayou was the game application with the highest breakthrough in Chinese mainland user spending, and it ranked second in the global market. The success of "Original God" has made many domestic games see the hope of going to sea.
At this special time, 36Kr interviewed Chen Wen, COO of Coconut Island Games, and discussed issues such as art creation, IP linkage, and game going to sea. The following is the transcript of the interview between 36Kr and Chen Wen:
About new cities and new characters
Q: What are the characteristics of Yangzhou City that has been launched this time?
A: Yangzhou is the first flower city in the Jiangnan Hundred Scenic Map, so this map will have a large number of local flowers such as forsythia, begonia, qionghua and so on. Local landscapes such as Wenchang Pavilion and the Grand Canal will also appear. We have also restored some local cultural phenomena such as incense powder, engraving and printing. In addition, we will also carry out a series of offline cooperation with local museums and traditional cultural brands.
Wenchang Pavilion
Q: What is the basis for selecting a new map? What factors will be made internally when setting up a project?
A: First of all, we will select cities in the Jiangnan region, that is, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, three provinces and one city. Second, we will examine whether the human and natural landscapes of a city are special in the context of the game, the history of the Ming Dynasty. Prior to this, the Grand Canal in "100 Views of Jiangnan" did not have a very big impact on the game world, but Yangzhou is a city built on the Grand Canal, and its addition can supplement this territory.
Offline cooperation resources are also one of the factors we consider. If it can be combined with local cultural tourism resources, it will be a plus. In this regard, Yangzhou Guangling District contacted us when we were still conceiving a new city, and the two sides also hit it off and reached a willingness to cooperate.
Banknotes
How to make the business of the game more than the game?
Q: Will we explore new business models next? For example, the combination of national style game elements and cultural tourism and national tide brands.
A: We have been developing and selling peripherals. Coconut Island wants to combine traditional folklore with well-known characters in the game, such as combining the art of kneading clay people with Tang Bohu, Shen Zhou and other characters who have formed IP in the game "Jiangnan Hundred Views" to create a new tide to play around. We are responsible for design, suppliers are responsible for manufacturing, and cooperate with cultural tourism scenic spots for sales.
In addition, we also want to bring the IP of "100 Views of Jiangnan" to the offline through modern art methods, such as immersive drama and garden scenic design. Both peripheral and immersive theatre are planned to launch this year.
Q: Some game companies are very cautious about brand linkage, and even prefer not to do it wrong. Coconut Island Games has done a lot of offline linkage, how do you evaluate the marketing effect? What data performance is most important?
A: Offline linkage activities are actually not very obvious for the improvement of game data, if you want to increase the new and active, the most efficient advertising behavior is still the purchase volume. Offline linkage is mainly to enhance word of mouth and allow players to get a better experience. Many games do not do offline, only online promotion, which is also for this reason.
However, we feel that the IP of "Jiangnan Hundred Views" itself has its own traditional cultural attributes, and we value its long-term value, so we will do this kind of offline activity to let users and some outsiders notice us. It's more like doing branding than advertising.
We did it twice in Yu Garden, Shanghai. The first time was last year when the map of Songjiang Province was launched, we put Yuyuan Garden as a spectacle in the game, and at the same time did the Lantern Lantern Festival in Yuyuan Garden; the second time was last summer in the central square of Yuyuan Garden, and the theme market of "Jiangnan Hundred Scenic Spots" was done, exhibiting a lot of intangible cultural heritage.
Our partners also feel that Jiangnan Hundred Views is a game of traditional culture, which is very suitable for the style of Yu Garden, and they are more disgusted with pure advertising behavior and elements that do not fit with the atmosphere of the entire Yu Garden.
Q: At the end of last year, there was a linkage between "100 Views of Jiangnan" and the "Tianshu Qitan" IP of Shanghai Fine Arts Film Studio, how was this cooperation promoted?
A: Meiying Studio has created many animation works that have left a deep impression on a generation, among which the art style of ink painting in "Tianshu Qitan" is closer to the style of Wumen Painting School in "Hundred Views of Jiangnan". Mei film studio hopes that through "Jiangnan Hundred Views", classics such as "Tianshu Qitan" will be seen by more young people after 00, and we also hope to recall the childhood memories of the 80s and 90s and attract them to play with our products.
During the linkage period, we launched the characters in "Tianshu Qitan" in the game, hoping to arouse the desire of old players to return to the pit to collect characters, and finally achieved the expected effect.
Next stop: Japan
Q: Are there any plans to go to sea?
A: We will push "100 Views of Gangnam" to Japan in April. The idea is not to make too many changes and to push Chinese traditions and Chinese culture overseas in its original form. This is a very bold attempt, but I think that beauty and art are interconnected all over the world, and through some of our purchase tests, foreigners will also appreciate the beauty of our main national style, hoping that "Jiangnan Hundred Views" can make people in different countries better understand each other's culture.
Q: Why did you choose Japan for your first stop?
A: Because after doing the art absorption test, we found that the Japanese market is the best place for data performance. Japan is also a country influenced by Confucian culture, so it is more acceptable to Ming Dynasty culture.
Q: Is there a plan for the Southeast Asian market?
A: There are also plans in Southeast Asia. However, the cost of corresponding to the local language is relatively high, and the southeast Asian market is not as large as That of Japan, so we plan to try it in the English version first. After the Japanese version, we will do the English version.
Q: Do you have any expectations for overseas income?
A: There are no particularly high expectations, because this is the first time we have done the localization operation of an online game. Before acting as the agent of "Dark Cuisine King", we only did text translation, and did not specifically do localization operations. In order to cope with the Japanese market, we have expanded our company operations and team responsible for localization, and we will also use local offline suppliers.