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| This love is justice |
For the game industry, doing a good job of virtual idols and having high attention, is nothing more than Tencent, Byte, Mihayou and other companies, whether it is influence or the technical power of the planning itself, we have to admit that the entry of game companies is quietly changing the pattern of the entire virtual idol market to a certain extent.
In the domestic game companies that do virtual idols, Perfect World may be a relatively inconspicuous one. Compared with the influence of ASOUL, the technical power of Star Pupil and Luming, Perfect World's idea of being a virtual idol is very [retro].
Engage in guilds, do clubs, have more than 30 virtual idols, each with their own strengths, most of them are vegans, and there are spokespersons derived from games, which at a glance look no different from those well-known societies in the circle. In my words, this is called entering a state of calmly integrating into the most common and normal ecology of this circle, and this state is peculiar in exactly the opposite of the ones I mentioned earlier, not the normal mode of playing virtual idols in the game circle.
It's hard for me to say how far the path to a virtual idol in a perfect world can go. But I think that this group of people who are virtual idols in Perfect World must be very happy and love virtual idols.
01
From learning, to independence
In game companies, it is not too late for Perfect World to enter the virtual idol track.
In September 2020, the official virtual idol of "CS:GO" national service Gubao Long Ji (hereinafter referred to as Ji Bao) officially debuted, which is a symbolic beginning. Ji Bao's name comes from CS:GO's highly valuable weapon skin Dragon Legend, which is also known as the Castle Dragon Sniper because the way to obtain this skin is to open the in-game Castle Battle Pack.
The first version of Ji Bao wore a light gold Chinese dress, decorated with a dragon-shaped pattern, carrying a dragon legend behind him, and a dagger from CS:GO on his right thigh, just looking at the shape, as an official virtual idol, it is easy to be directly related to the CS:GO game itself.
As Perfect World's first attempt at virtual idols, Ji Bao has been streaming CS:GO for most of the more than 2 years since his debut, apparently as part of the game's marketing. Judging from the persistence of more than 2 years and the total fans of station B exceeding 300,000, Ji Bao's role as a virtual idol has still been recognized in terms of perfection. After all, I have personally seen many personal and corporate trends rise and fall several times in just 1 year, even if it is simply talking about virtual idols as a marketing method, it is very rare to be able to stick to them for more than 2 years.
After Ji Bao's successful test of the waters, Perfect launched DODO and Eternal Niang (hereinafter referred to as Nini) in October 21 and December 21 respectively, the former is the virtual idol of the "Dota 2" national service, and Nini is another "CS:GO" official virtual idol after Ji Bao.
Please refer to the actual product
Please refer to the actual X2
After about 1 year of precipitation, the research on virtual idols in terms of perfection is obviously much deeper, and from this stage, Perfect World should have started the idea of seriously shaping a [virtual idol] from scratch in addition to marketing for the sake of marketing, which is embodied in two aspects:
First, eliminate the mark. Starting with DODO and Nini, the virtual idol of Perfect World has been difficult to see the shadow of the game itself in addition to the name. Interestingly, DODO is often called the Fade Head by fans because its iconic dull hair is very similar to the game icon of the late equipment in "Dota 2", and the accidental design has become a bridge to the game.
Now, Nini and DODO have a lot of nicknames, such as Nini's swinging elf (because it is often rotten, the frequency of live broadcasts is low), DODO is DI Zi (Ji Bao calls the wrong DODO name), these nicknames that are more remembered by fans have nothing to do with the game itself, and the spread is wider, and it has become part of the IP ecology under the power of UGC.
Second, community operation. PW-Live is a virtual idol club/guild created by Perfect Esports, originally only Ji Bao, after the debut of DODO and Nini, the three began to cooperate and interact frequently, and gradually the combination of "Castle Three Fools" began to be known to the outside world.
The advantage of having more people is obvious. Aside from some objective factors, the "Three Fools of the Castle" accelerated Perfect World's exploration of the virtual idol track, and in just one year, all three virtual idols have increased their considerable fans due to the strategy of community operation.
It is recommended to watch it several times, it is very cooking
At this point, the results of the Perfect Virtual Idol business have been very good. Simply from the positive operation state has exceeded most of the friends in the same period, if this stage is regarded as an end, then this end point should be the envy of many game companies.
Of course, the story is clearly over here, and it is clearly not over.
02
Lumi, Luna, and PW-Live
In September 2022, Perfect World virtual idol Lumi officially debuted.
Unlike "Three Fools of the Castle", Lumi does not belong to any of the games under Perfect Perfect, her positioning is Singer, which is used to be called Song Momentum in the circle. Except that the background belongs to the perfect world, Lumi is no different from the newcomers who debuted in the circle.
Lumi is beautiful, good-tempered, hard-working, and has studied national vocal music, and has gained a lot of popularity in the early days with extremely difficult songs such as "Heavenly Road" and "Opera 2". In the Glow-in-the-Dark Cup, a singing competition that kicked off the main competition in November, Lumi was directly invited to be one of the four resident judges.
At the birthday party in December, Lumi, who had less than 50,000 fans at the time, achieved the Thousand Ships achievement (an important milestone) that night. Many industry insiders, including those in the virtual idol industry, told me that Perfect really picked up the treasure and drew an SSR card.
A historic moment
Didn't hold back, drove the captain ...
At the same time, another newcomer Luna, who is set as Lumi Twins, also began to emerge. Luna's debut was a little later than Lumi, and although the name Luna and the hero of "Dota 2" Luna collided, the positioning is still the singing momentum, the sound is mellow and elegant, and the song "Boys Don't Cry" makes me loop indefinitely.
It is worth mentioning that PW-Live includes a total of more than 30 virtual idols under the "Five Sisters of the Castle", and most clubs continue to expand the club team, compared with the competitor PW-Live's biggest advantage is the perfect e-sports resources and the support of professional art teams, for PW-Live, which is not very famous, it is also the only point that can be taken out to attract (flicker).
The "Three Fools of the Castle" has successfully evolved into the "Five Sisters of the Castle", and the virtual idol career of Perfect World has reached a small peak. Putting aside subjective factors such as the person in the middle, PW-Live, which is mainly promoted by the "Five Sisters of the Castle", can also be regarded as having made some fame in the circle, although most people are still accustomed to calling the V of the perfect home.
The schedule is getting crowded
Lumiluna's debut and the full expansion of PW-Live mean that the understanding of the virtual idol track in perfection has entered a new stage, and one of its core performances is "degamification". Previously, the soft start and operation of the "Three Fools of the Castle" required a long time to bundle the game itself, which had advantages and disadvantages in terms of the development of the virtual idol itself, and the appearance of Lumiluna meant that the perfect aspect had once again refreshed its thinking and officially integrated into this circle as a cutting-edge society.
In my opinion, this is what the virtual idol route that I have perfectly laid out for myself must go through. When it is detached from the soil of perfect resources, what extent can perfection itself polish and cultivate virtual even-pixel people, and when this door is opened, its responsibility as a corporate power will be more arduous, and the cultivation, support and even all aspects of artists need to be comprehensively considered.
The "Five Sisters of the Castle" currently has almost no bad reputation in the entire V circle, everyone says that there are many popular people, which is practical to look at the idea of the game, in short, "calm down and avoid killing". Of course, not everyone can do it consciously.
03
The road to the best
For game companies, aside from the relatively special IP that has pre-research value for the entire game business, the latter can take the road of TOB by providing product solutions, and the remaining virtual idols are still TOC as the majority. As a [product], being able to shine in many fields like many predecessors is the best destination at present.
The "Five Sisters of the Castle" are still a lot away from this point, or it is better to say that the overall domestic virtual idol market can achieve strong IP value, and the number is very small. Being a perfect virtual idol is certainly not pure power generation, I can feel their love for virtual idols from this road, but whether it can really continue for a long time depends on business feedback, and good business returns are necessary conditions for the healthy development of any business.
DODO LIVE PLAYS THE PERFECT "ONE PUNCHMAN: WORLD" WITH RECENT TESTING
Perfect in the promotion of the meta-universe specifically mentioned that virtual idols are the key first step, according to the official statement, Perfect is building a special virtual idol platform, has completed technical reserves, to support different games within the company to launch their own virtual idols. According to my understanding, this is a middle platform used to coordinate resources and management, although it has little to do with the meta-universe, but if it can be implemented normally, it may be a perfect opportunity to go further in the virtual idol career.
At present, in China, except for a few head game companies, most game companies have basically not taken care of the virtual idol, and the approach of head companies has no reference value for most companies that may be interested, even if there is a need to buy ready-made solutions may be the first choice.
Okay, that's pretty much it. This article has a lot of my personal selfishness in it, but you think about it, an A-share listed company, in the era when other head game companies are not either technical dimensionality reduction strikes or virtual human concept muddled, how much value can a practice as pure as perfect bring to itself or the industry? Probably not much.
But this does not affect for the time being, because some people have been pursuing an interesting soul.