Cyberpunk, once a niche concept of science fiction literature, is now really out of the loop. Not only penetrated into various commercial entertainment fields, but also won the love of young people around the world, a sentence "everything can be cyberpunk" shows its popularity.
In the game circle, cyberpunk is also one of the most interesting themes for overseas players. Taking the hottest "Cyberpunk 2077" as an example, according to CDPR's latest financial report data, the game has sold 18 million sets so far. Successfully crossing the threshold of billions of dollars in sales, it can be said that it has truly become a super IP in the hosting field.
However, in terms of the wave of mobile games that have swept the world in recent years, the themes loved by players in the console field will inevitably appear in the mobile game market, and cyberpunk is no exception. And the Chinese companies that take the lead in the mobile game track will naturally not miss this popular theme.
Recently, GameLook discovered such a game: Cyber Fantasy, a cyberpunk MMO developed by Qingguo Lingdong. It is reported that the game has opened a new round of internal testing in Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia since April 11. Later, due to the popularity, the official had to open two additional servers two days later.
You know, although it is temporarily impossible to bring cyberpunk-themed AAA games, mobile game research and development is the largest self-reserved place for Chinese manufacturers. What's more, MMO development is the strength of Chinese companies that have been continued from the end game era, and Qingguo Lingdong has also created an MMO mobile game "Wings of Rage", which has a cumulative revenue of more than 3 billion yuan and an overseas monthly income of more than 100 million.
So, what kind of game is Cyber Fantasy?
Under the neon, China's cyberpunk world
Strictly speaking, the reason why cyberpunk can stand out from the old paper pile of decades ago and become a representative of the new wave and avant-garde is that its unique cyberpunk aesthetic style and philosophical speculation are particularly critical.
Tracing back to the source, this highly recognizable visual style is basically defined by three film and television works: Ghost in the Shell, Blade Runner 2049, and The Matrix. Among them, pink, blue and purple bisexual lighting, as well as a large number of backlights and large chromatic aberration lenses, the neon illuminates the psychedelic and nihilistic unique to the cyber world, so that today's "electronic neon lights" are basically regarded as the standard of such works.
Blade Runner 2049
At the same time, thanks to the special structure of the Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong, China, which is squeezed by modern high-rise buildings and surrounded by neon lights, it can intuitively show the real and illusory, prosperous and barren cyberpunk world, and Chinese elements have become an important part of the works of the same theme.
Because of this, in recent years, there have been many Chinese game companies that have actively tried cyberpunk themes, such as the new SLG game "Reboot The World" launched with reference to "The Matrix". In the MMO track, which domestic companies are best at, there are products represented by "Cyber Fantasy".
In cyber fantasy, for example, the game's "Libery City" is always rainy, dotted with dense and towering skyscrapers, high-tech spaceships, billboards, huge humanoid projections in the distance, and flashing neon signs running through every building in the city, showing the cyberpunk world in the public's impression.
Game demo
The difference is that Cyber Fantasy is more like creating a rare Chinese version of the cyberpunk world. It can be seen that in addition to the common Japanese and Western elements, the in-game scene is rich in Chinese elements and Chinese characters.
For example, the "Welcome to Game Night" street sign when you first entered, the neon sign of the store such as "Digital House" hanging in the distance, etc. What is even more surprising is that the classic slogan from "The Wandering Earth" appeared on the electronic screen scrolling in the city: "Ten million roads, safety first, irregular driving, two lines of tears for relatives", a sense of familiarity suddenly emerged - this is undoubtedly a cyberpunk world belonging to the Chinese people.
Under the cloak of cyberpunk, the standard sub-era MMO
Genre aside, Cyber Fantasy is also a sub-era MMO mobile game.
It can be seen that the current beta stage of the game opens up three classes: Vanguard, Dark Blade, Geek, and can choose between male and female genders, which greatly meets the needs of different players.
At the same time, each class's skills have cool animations and special effects, and most of them are wide-ranging AOE damage. Even in the vanguard profession of close combat, dazzling visual effects combined with a good sense of blow can bring players a refreshing "mowing" experience. After that, the class level can also be equipped with two sets of weapons, freely switch to release skills, and further enhance the player's experience of the refreshing.
It is worth mentioning that the game also incorporates a similar "Armadura mode" of incomparable skills, which further enhances the "mowing" pleasure of the game. In this mode, the player will transform into a Gundam-like giant armor in a dozen seconds, the damage will be significantly improved, and the game UI will become a sci-fi mecha "operator station": left and right sticks and a skill key, with the countdown to the mode in the middle.
In addition, the face pinching system that comes standard with MMO games also appears in Cyber Fantasy. However, the latter only provides hairstyles, hair colors, face shapes, pupils, clothing, and relatively few choices. Compared with the domestic MMO bone pinch portrait of the plastic surgery face pinch is slightly simpler, but considering that the game is still in the testing stage, it may further enrich the face pinching gameplay later.
Not only that, but Cyber Fantasy also reinvents the common elements in MMO. For example, the characters are dressed in sci-fi tights or mech suits, and the player's wings are transformed into mechanical wings, even decorated with cyberpunk's iconic neon fonts. Players also have Akira-style motorcycle vehicles, as well as various sci-fi vehicles or mechanical creatures for riding, and even pets wear avant-garde and stylish cyberpunk-style suits.
Therefore, shortly after the opening of this round of testing, Cyber Fantasy has also won the favor of many foreign players. In particular, the cyber sci-fi mecha design in the game has won the recognition of a large number of players, and some netizens said: "The mecha type MMORPG is relatively rare, which makes me curious... Hopefully, it will be released globally as soon as possible. ”
Overseas Advanced: MMO developer for overseas markets
Over the past year, the MMO category seems to be regaining the attention of overseas players.
From "New World", which has an online peak of more than 910,000; to "The Lost Ark", which has 1.3 million simultaneous online players and 20 million users worldwide in the first month. Apparently, MMORPGs, once regarded as unpopular, are gradually becoming a bounty for the overseas gaming market.
In GameLook's view, the popularity of the two MMORPGs is enough to prove that global players still have a high acceptance of MMO. At present, only Chinese and Korean game companies in the field of mobile games can explore this potential category. In other words, for domestic manufacturers going overseas, the overseas MMO market that has been cold in recent years is currently promising.
It is also understandable that netease recently took the lead in holding hands with Zilong, launched its oriental fantasy MMO mobile game "Heavenly Oracle" in the Japanese market of "two-dimensional power", and achieved good results in the local iOS best-selling list TOP25. Earlier, Qingguo Lingdong had cooperated with Asahi Lightyear to launch a dark MMO "Dark Nemesis: Infinite Quest" overseas, and the turnover of the game in the first three weeks was close to 30 million yuan and the number of downloads exceeded 1.5 million times.
Today, another MMO new game "Cyber Fantasy" under Qingguo Lingdong is being tested overseas. Although the publisher is not yet known, from the perspective of the cyberpunk theme, this is also a new product for the global market. To some extent, MMO has gone overseas from the past products to the birth of professional MMO developers facing overseas markets.
Just imagine, especially in the case that the domestic MMO is becoming an increasingly vertical subdivision category, and the start of 200 million yuan for large manufacturers has become the norm, compared with continuing to struggle in the domestic market with serious volumes in the category, it is also a new choice for MMO manufacturers to go overseas.
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GameLook Daily Game Industry Report
Global vision / depth is material