DataEye Headline Issue 465 | 2023/4/4
While complaining, but while krypton gold.
The mouth is crackling, but the wallet is faint, and the "true fragrance theorem" seems to apply to players around the world.
Recently, 37 Interactive Entertainment's fantasy adventure-themed MMO mobile game "데블M" (English: Devil M) has been popular in the South Korean market, according to Sensor Tower data, the game's overseas revenue in February increased by 107% month-on-month, ranking fourth in the growth list.
As of March 20, the global revenue of 데블M has exceeded 15 million US dollars (about 100 million yuan). This is another MMO that Sanqi has performed brilliantly in the Korean market after "Song of the City on the Cloud".
However, Google "데블M", and the "not very positive" report of Korean media Gametoc on February 13 appeared in the fifth article on the front page, and the headline called it "양산형 게임" ("production game").
In addition, the player reviews for 데블M are polarized. In the past 90 days, the Korean comment with the highest number of likes for the game on the Google Store has only given 1 star, spitting "I don't know if I'm playing the game, or if the game is playing me", which was liked 222 times.
데블M, how is it? How does it do marketing?
Why are Korean players physically honest when they say no?
MMO goes to sea, and there are new cases to learn from?
Today, DataEye Research is talking about Sanqi's 데블M.
In order to show objectivity, this article will strictly distinguish between "facts & figures" and "DataEye Institute views".
If you disagree with your opinions, you can only refer to the [Facts & Figures] section, based on your own opinions, see in the comment area.
One
Downloads & revenue
【Facts & Figures】
In terms of market data performance, Android users have much higher performance than iOS in terms of download and revenue.
In terms of downloads: the total number of downloads exceeded 800,000, Android is about 7 times that of iOS, and Android downloads account for 85% of the total downloads (South Korea, Android has a high market share).
Revenue: As of March 20, the total revenue exceeded 15 million US dollars, which is about 14 times that of Android, and Android revenue accounts for more than 90% of the total revenue.
Comparison of the two games: Compared with its own MMORPG predecessor "Song of the City on the Cloud" (Korean version), the market performance (download revenue) of 데블M in the first week was slightly higher than that of its predecessor in the same period.
Average RPD since its launch: "Cloud City" is about 1.5 times that of "데블M".
"City on the Clouds": iOS is about 15% higher than Android.
데블M: Android is about 50% higher than iOS.
【DataEye Research Institute Viewpoint】
After the outbreak of online downloads, it continued to be stable, and there was no "re-action" in the follow-up. 데블M, like most games, only exploded in downloads, then slipped to a plateau, and then fluctuated little. It's not like some games that suddenly explode (such as "Egg Party"), there are sudden explosion opportunities, or special operations. After carefully observing all aspects of the game's marketing, DataEye Research found that the game does not endorse, does not link, and does not spread advertising on a large scale. In general, it is issued relatively low-key (most likely for the provincial budget).
↑ 데블M ranked highest on the free list of Google Play Korea in the last 90 days
↑ "데블M" ranked highest on the Best Seller List of Google Play Korea in the last 90 days
Although "데블M" is not a "hit", the data is acceptable, and the long-distance run is expected to catch up with "City on the Cloud". "데블M" and "City on the Cloud" have certain differences in positioning from the perspective of art style and market positioning, so the overall feedback is not consistent from the perspective of market data. "Cloud City" has been online in South Korea for 21 months in June 2021, with a total revenue of $107 million, while "데블M" has been online for less than 3 months and currently has a total revenue of $15 million+. The average monthly income is around $5 million. If the long-term operation of "데블M" can maintain the current level, it may be comparable to "City on the Cloud".
The two games have different art styles, and the target players do not have strong competitive attributes, and they are Sanqi's right and left hands in the Korean MMO track. From the perspective of the style of the product, one is biased towards cartoon cute style, one is biased towards demonic style, and the players of the two games will most likely not be a group of people, for manufacturers, it opens up the differentiation of the same type of game and avoids competition in terms of purchase quantity.
Two
Delivery & Material
【Facts & Figures】
1. Delivery
"데블M" is about 70% more than the total number of double-ended releases in the first month of "Song of the City on the Cloud".
The volume of "데블M" in the first month of its launch was relatively stable, while "Song of the City on the Cloud" fluctuated greatly in the first half of the month and then stabilized.
2. Creative content (Top30 efficient materials)
Eye-catching: There is not much difference between the two games, long-term interest is the main eye-catcher, and the difference lies in about 10% of the personal interests and user status.
↑ "데블M" Hero Rescue Bridge shows the game characters ↑
↑ "데블M" multi-screen display scenes and the richness of character equipment ↑
Conversion points: There is no difference in conversion points between the two games, only a slight difference in proportion, and "Song of the City on the Cloud" gives more benefits.
↑ "Song of the City on the Cloud" shows the characters and gives benefits at the same time ↑
3. Creative form (Top30 efficient materials)
"Song of the City on the Clouds" has made a lot of real material, and the main plot is "fake apologies, real gifts".
"데블M" has more character stories + brand advertising than "Song of the City on the Clouds".
↑ The boss of "Song of the City on the Clouds" "fake anger, real gift" ↑
↑ "데블M" with real-time game subtitles ↑
4. Delivery platform
In addition to local media in South Korea, Meta's total media accounts for more than half of the total number of international media, and the rest of the media accounts for no more than 10%.
【DataEye Research Institute Viewpoint】
Delivery: medium, but the more investment, the less, the marketing method is relatively single and concentrated. Compared with the first month of its launch, "데블M" opened the market in a medium format, and "Song of the City on the Cloud" was also a medium release. The average amount of "데블M" material is about 230 sets, and the average delivery volume of "Song of the City on the Cloud" is about 140. "데블M" has 60% more deliveries than "Song of the City on the Clouds". The amount of investment is more because "데블M" does not have much action in other marketing, and even does not operate Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other official accounts to interact with players, and prefers to invest in the purchase volume - in the past, Sanqi, which did not invest bad money, this time the funds are obviously stretched.
Another example is that the amount of material delivered in 23Q1 "Song of the City on the Cloud" is only one-tenth of that of 22Q1. See
Guangzhou manufacturers go overseas in South Korea: Sanqi, Netease, 4399 collected 70% of revenue
Creative content: MMO routine, "Korean flavor" is strong. "데블M" mainly shows the characters, background/world view, and skill fighting, creating a sense of 3A, the picture is gloomy and dark, and the Korean flavor is strong. On the whole, the creative content direction of the game is more brand and more traditional and conventional, and strives to let users feel the quality of the picture and character drawing, which is more like a Korean MMO and attaches importance to the style brand. In contrast, "Song of the City on the Clouds" is more creatively inclined to the display of in-game battle scenes, as well as some live-action plot real shooting materials to show the welfare direction, more routine, more like domestic MMO play, in order to effect will be a variety of fancy ideas.
Creative form: focus on the gameplay, highlight the dark god theme, "데블M" is based on game recording, oral broadcast, story, do not be a real person, do not engage in horse-catching plots. The overall presentation is a sense of vertical painting quality, and it mainly communicates the difference between the dark god theme. In terms of creativity, "Song of the City on the Cloud" is more inclined to live nonsensical materials + game records, and generally speaking, it is more inclined to display welfare + game records to attract players to download games.
Delivery channels: "데블M" is more inclined to multimedia coverage, each channel accounts for a single proportion is not high, Meta accounts for more than half, and focuses on social media platforms. "Song of the City on the Cloud" divides most of the budget to Google, focusing more on streaming media.
Three
Social Media & Communication
【Facts & Figures】
YouTube's highest video views this year is 46k, and other platforms have no interactive high posts.
【DataEye Research Institute Viewpoint】
Only in the early stage of the launch of the activity + social media communication, the core communication point is "welfare". "데블M" mainly in the early stage of launch, around the event + social media (online media) + purchase advertising carried out a series of marketing, and focused on providing benefits for players - online publicity with game tens of billions of diamonds, PS5, Samsung S22 ultra, switch, cultural commodity coupons and other welfare content to attract users.
Batch advertising soft text + welfare redemption code. Subsequently, although there are not many "big moves" on social media, many game media and community websites have a large number of "데블M" introductions, reports, and advertising articles, often with a batch of welfare redemption codes. It's also a low-cost way to earn money – for gamers and with a benefit code as a conversion point.
In terms of social media: Twitter, FB, YouTube are not, but the NAVER community is more active. This also confirms that "데블M" is aimed at the local Korean market and less deployed in international media; It may also be because it is necessary to reduce costs and increase efficiency, after all, more overseas operation manpower and maintenance costs are needed on global social media.
The Naver community is one of the largest online social networks in South Korea with many game users. If a game operator adds its game to the Naver community, this means the following for the game:
1. Higher frequency interaction: By promoting the game in the Naver community, game developers can attract more core users. The Naver community has built a large user base, which means that the game can be promoted more widely and more exposed. Game developers can create a private domain for games, allowing manufacturers and users to share game content, communicate with other players, form teams, participate in competitions, etc.
2. More market opportunities: The Naver community provides an online marketplace that allows developers to sell game content and virtual items to users. Therefore, by promoting the game in the Naver community, game developers can get more sales opportunities and increase game revenue.
3. The circle is small, it is difficult to break the circle: The Naver community is different from Tieba and the Tieba and can be walked in the game area mostly as core players, which means that this is a small circle, which is used to maintain a small community of core users, but it is difficult to do circle-breaking operations on it.
Four
What can MMOs learn from going overseas?
【DataEye Research Institute Viewpoint】
1. Harvest Korean players with "Korean flavor"?
Judging from the current feedback from the market data, the revenue performance of "데블M" in the first week is better than in the early days of "City on the Cloud". Due to the difference in the positioning of the two games, the art and positioning of "데블M" is also very in line with the aesthetics of Koreans, more like Korean MMO, on the whole, "데블M" Although the cost is a little "poor", the market data is not bad, but it should be noted that the current negative feedback from the media and users.
2. What are the experiences and lessons learned from MMOs going overseas?
(1) The product is stable, refined, and differentiated, and incorporates more micro-innovations that Koreans like, such as automatic pathfinding, automatic monster fighting, and monetization is very mature, which is also highlighted by the Korean media Gametoc.
(2) Pay attention to the brand in terms of buying quantity, do not engage in horse-catching plots and vulgar routines, and integrate some routines of domestic creativity under the premise of imitating Korean MMOs. For example, some oriental ancient style elements are integrated, such as chivalrous fighting elements, ancient style and prosperous scenes; For example, in the material of Korean MMOs, character fights are common to "stand on piles and punch sandbags", while "데블M" shows elements such as displacement and mowing. In contrast, the material of "City on the Cloud" is more routine, funny and live-action plot, and the balance of character and effect tends to be effective.
↑ 데블M Warrior Fighting Elements ↑
↑ 데블M Oriental Vision ↑
(3) Under the premise of low-cost publicity, the marketing focus is spent on event welfare + community operation + media release, creating momentum on localized social media, and mainly operating core players.
In general, in terms of "데블M" products, it caters to the tastes of Korean players, and has made some micro-innovations against the fixed large frame foundation of MMOs; In terms of marketing, in the case of limited expenditure, the way of playing is more selective, not pursuing the number of users to break the circle and pull new, but honestly operating core users (buying volume + media release + Naver community).
On the one hand, there are indeed many Korean players who can recognize at a glance and dislike this ("mass production game") and "highly mature mode of monetization"; On the other hand, the core players and old players among Korean players are indeed very capable of krypton, and also eat modes such as automatic pathfinding and dark style.
In the case of limited resources, word of mouth and business cannot be combined.