Two days ago, when Xiaofa I was surfing, I brushed a Weibo, and the general content was that there was a mobile game called "Revenge of the Sultan", which was crazy in the Middle East.
The game is about rebuilding the Ottoman Sultans, and then collecting beautiful women along the way while conquering Europe.
This game doesn't sound like a smell of oil, but it's actually a completely domestic game.
The style of painting is as follows ▼
This game comes from a Fujian game company - Longteng Jianhe, they specialize in the Middle East game market, relying on the wallets of the people of the Middle East, earning a lot of money, and the monthly flow can total 20 million.
Since its launch in 15 years, the game has dominated the top five download lists in the Middle East for seven years. The first few years of the launch were more beautiful, sitting firmly at the top of the list.
Guys, how awesome is this game?
As a result, when you enter the game, isn't this the skin of a Middle Easterner in the early page game?
Game interface▼
After the success of the game, they also skinned themselves and produced a bunch of similar works according to the template of "Revenge of the Sultan".
However, foreign friends have also bought it, and the latest release of "King 's Choice" has successfully entered the European and American markets.
Xiaofa went over the Middle East mobile game best-seller list and found that not only the company's works, but also half of the top twenty on the list were Chinese games.
Moreover, a little understanding will find that in fact, Chinese games have been quietly making money in the Middle East for a long time.
June 2021 Middle East Mobile Game Ranking ▼
ay? Why do these manufacturers all run to the Middle East to get rich?
Or because these big brothers are rich enough.
The Middle East has a population of more than 500 million and a bunch of countries in the world's top 30 GDP, and the highest countries have a per capita annual income of 100,000 US dollars, each of which is very rich, and the focus is on spending money.
Take Saudi Arabia, where everyone wants to get rich. According to tamatem, the CEO of Tamatem, the largest game publisher in the Middle East, Chinese players spend $32 a month on games, which can reach $270 in Saudi Arabia.
However, although there is such a large group of gamers. Before Chinese game makers came in, the game market here was as barren as Hangzhou cuisine.
Because it is a small language, less than 1% of the content on the Internet is translated into Arabic. And there are almost no game developers and publishers in the area. When we shouted at our brothers in Legends to cut people, they could only play with lions.
A bunch of oil guys waiting to be fed are simply the most perfect "players".
At that time, the first to discover this business opportunity was actually China's page game manufacturers, who had entered the Middle East market more than a decade ago.
The earliest company to sell is called NetDragon. In 2009, they launched an Arabic version of Conquest, which became the most popular online game in the region.
The average page game has a lifespan of only 5 months, but conquest in Arabic is 7 years old, and it can bring tens of millions of monthly turnover in 15 years.
Everyone sees, this Arab money is so good to earn?
So mobile games also began to pour in, and the Middle East gold rush opened silently.
Take the earliest mobile game ,Clash of Kings," which was made by a company called SmartStar, which started out as Happy Farm and promoted it to more than 20 countries.
After that, they simply specialized in foreign countries, and made a strategy turn-based mobile game "ClashofKings", which was a global service at that time, and Chinese players could directly PK with foreign friends.
In 16 years, the monthly turnover could reach 377 million yuan, and now it is still bringing stable revenue.
It also began with the success of ClashofKings, setting off a COK like frenzy.
There are a large number of leather-changing mobile games to catch up with its successful exhaust and set off for overseas markets. For example, "Zombie War", "Queen's Dispute", "Magical Heroes" and the like are all imitators of it.
Of course, this includes the "Sultan's Revenge", which was launched in 2015, as mentioned at the beginning, and has since begun a seven-year journey to dominate the Middle East.
Left "The Clash of Kings" Right "The Sultan's Revenge"▼
But Xiaofa I am not welcome, like "The Sultan's Revenge" this kind of imitators are actually pure skins, and the european and American mobile game works of the same period are not excellent.
And there are so many strategy games, why are they so popular in these Middle East regions?
It can only be said that to make money, it depends on Chinese. Although the quality of the game is not as good as others, these manufacturers have their own set of special operations.
Let's let Xiaofa teach you how to get rich overnight in the Middle East.
First of all, the most awesome thing about skinning games like "Revenge of the Sultan" is the extreme localization.
Because the Middle East is a very special place, that is, their cultural threshold is very high, and the game setting can easily step on their minefield.
There are very few games translated into Arabic, and it is even more snowy in the summer that satisfies their cultural habits - very rare.
But! If you want to say that the people who know the people of the Middle East the most now, then we Chinese gamers say two, and certainly no one dares to come out and say one.
The reason why Chinese games can catch fire here is because manufacturers have tailored exclusive games for the people of the Middle East from head to toe.
In order to conform to the reading habits of Arabic, all text and visual design need to be arranged from right to left; when women appear, they must be masked, and the following mouths are considered large-scale; and there can be no crosses, pigs, wine, etc. in the game.
Don't worry, the above is just an appetizer, after entering the door, you can see the gorgeousness of this set of Middle Eastern skins.
These Chinese manufacturers are now more Arab than Arab, and all the worldviews and backgrounds are based on the history of the Arab region. In addition, special services are also available during local festivals.
In the local Ramadan of 2017, "Revenge of the Sultan" specially launched a campaign. Look at the people's CG, not only everything is strictly in accordance with the local culture, but also specially invited local singers to fill in the lyrics.
For example, this lamp that gives a close-up is a local special lamp.
Not only is the game content according to their preferences, but also the GAME mode of COK that everyone imitates is also to cater to them.
The core of this game is "real-time battles in alliance units", which is in line with the belligerent personality of Middle Easterners.
Because this part of the Middle East has always existed in the form of tribes. As the world's powder kegs, they stage the most authentic clashes of tribes every day.
Yemen, with a population of only 30 million, has more than 400 tribes in the northern mountains alone, "the princes are divided". They even set aside a plot of land to bury soldiers who died in "tribal clashes."
Therefore, this kind of alliance battle game can make them feel more intimate.
Look at the proverb that says, "I'd rather be hungry than demote." Starve me, I will fight for my honor. Brothers, come and help me rebuild the Arab Empire.
It is with such an extreme "spirit of service", a game like "Revenge of the Sultan" that can win the great achievements I mentioned at the beginning.
However, such an era of monopoly and glory is already a thing of the past.
It does not mean that the era of Chinese manufacturers dominating is over, but this kind of simple skinning work is a bit unable to keep up with the rapid development of domestic games. From the list changes of mobile game publishers, it can be seen who goes and who stays.
With more and more games going to sea in the past two years, big manufacturers have entered the game, and there are richer quality games that have begun to be exported to foreign countries.
The page game of that year was skinned, and now only "The Sultan's Revenge" is still standing. But "Revenge of the Sultan" could dominate the Top bestsellers in the Middle East until the advent of another game from China, Tencent's PUBG: Mobile.
These games are not only facing the encirclement and suppression of large manufacturers, but also many small manufacturers are also making strange moves.
For example, Saudis like to socialize, and a company called Yale Interactive has seized on this feature and made a board game "Yalla Ludo" with a built-in chat room. Now the income in the Saudi region is comparable to "PUBG: Mobile", and occasionally a wave of homes can be stolen.
Many veteran manufacturers also regard going to sea as a way to break the game, squeezing in to share a piece of the pie. 4399 made a "Pasha Fencer", successfully went to the Middle East, so that this veteran manufacturer returned to the light of a wave.
Xiao found that these main service cards of the game, if you can eat the local culture thoroughly, in fact, it is a "crooked door evil way" that is extremely good at breaking into the market.
It's just that people crowd people on the way out to sea, relying only on the method of changing skins, it has become more and more impossible. At that time, the domestic page game was because of the skin exchange of each other, and finally played themselves to death.
In the early years, how far the manufacturers who went to sea by relying on a trick to beat the world could only depend on their own creation.
Images, sources:
Official website: Qimai Data, Sensor Tower, Longteng Jianhe
Station B up: The great Jia sir
Sensor Tower | "December 2021 China Mobile Game Publishers Global Revenue Ranking"
AppStare Growth Institute | "SLG Mobile Game Opportunities: The Middle East"
Tiger Sniff Network | "Going to the Middle East: The Highest Unit Price, the Most Difficult Market to Break Through"
Net Fox Technology | "This board game with built-in chat room is on fire in the Middle East"
The game Gyro | "Sultan's Revenge" has a monthly revenue of $6 million, and Chinese developers are the first to smell the business opportunities in the Arab market.
Li Chen| "Research on the Development of China's Digital Game Industry in the Middle East in Recent Years"
Zhang Jialin | "Analysis of Development Factors and Prospects of Middle East Game Market—— Taking "Sultan's Revenge" as an Example"
This article is reproduced from the public account "Bad Review" with permission
Written by | four editors| polygon lines