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From July 13th to 16th, Japan Expo, the largest ACG exhibition in Europe, was held in Paris, France. During the period, two of the top three in the domestic game circle, Mihayou and Tencent, both participated in the exhibition with their own games.

This time, Mihayou showed three games: "Honkai 3", "Genshin" and "Honkai: Star Dome Railway". Judging from the actual situation of the exhibition, Mihayou Tencent "kicked the pavilion successfully" and stole the limelight at the Japan Expo. For example, Mihayou's booth attracted many European players, especially the "Genshin" booth, and players who wanted to enter and check in directly lined up, which was very eye-catching. There are also many players who directly COS the characters in "Genshin" at the exhibition site, which added a bit of popularity to the Miha Tour booth.

Domestic games harvest the world

Domestic games are gradually harvesting the world. According to Game Data data.ai, consumer spending on overseas mobile games accounted for 21% of the overseas mobile game market share in 2021, and the number of Chinese publishers surpassed the United States for the first time in the top 52 global publishers in 2021.

According to research agency data, global gamers are expected to generate $196.8 billion in revenue for the gaming market in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 2.1%.

As of March 2022, the top three Chinese game manufacturers in terms of overseas revenue are Mihayou, FunPlus and Tencent, while Lilith, Netease, and Sanqi Interactive Entertainment rank 4 to 6 respectively.

From the perspective of game revenue and popularity, Mihayou has firmly taken the top position with the games "Genshin" and "Honkai" series. According to Sensor Tower statistics, in September 2021, Mihayou's "Genshin" global mobile terminal revenue reached 341 million US dollars (overseas revenue of 234 million US dollars), surpassing Tencent's "Honor of Kings", "PUBG Mobile", NetEase's "Harry Potter: Magical Awakening" and all other global mobile game products, ranking first in the global mobile game revenue list.

Going to sea is becoming a choice that Chinese gamers have placed their infinite reverie and expectations.

The way Mihayou succeeds

Mihayou was originally founded in 2012. In just a few years, Mihayou has achieved great success in the global market with its high-quality gaming products. In recent years, Mihayou has also achieved outstanding results in France, and his game Genshin has achieved first place on the French App Store and Google Play.

For Mihayou, the main reason for its success is that "Genshin" is popular all over the world, and the game background and refined operation investment of "Genshin" open world have greatly improved the user's game experience and extended the user's life cycle.

In addition, Mihayou's game products have always been known for being well-made, and Genshin is a typical example, which has received widespread praise from players around the world for its open world, beautiful graphics and rich gameplay.

Secondly, Mihayou has a precise market positioning. For example, when Mihayou entered the French market, it accurately analyzed the preferences of French players and developed the game based on these analyses. This made Mihayou's game a success in the French market.

Finally, rely on strong marketing promotion. For example, Mihayou has invested a lot of money in marketing and promotion in the French market, which has made "Genshin" widely exposed in France and attracted a large number of players to download.

Mihayou's overseas localization experience

Mihayou's successful overseas expansion provides a good reference for Chinese game companies. If Chinese game companies want to succeed in overseas markets, localization is the most important, and the overseas localization of the game business mainly revolves around two aspects - content localization and marketing localization.

Content localization

Content localization includes both cultural and employee aspects. On the one hand, cultural localization refers to the release of games that conform to the cultural concepts of local users, which requires game companies to deeply understand the cultural tendencies and preferences of local users before creating games.

For example, Mihayou in France localized its content in the following ways:

• Language localization. Mihayou translates Genshin game content into French and provides French customer support for French players. This makes it easier for French players to understand the content of the game and get a better gaming experience.
• Cultural fit. Mihayou added some elements of French culture to the game, such as French-style clothing, food, and architecture. This allows French players to feel a sense of familiarity in the game and make it easier to accept the game.
• Marketing communications. Mihayou held a series of online and offline marketing campaigns in France to promote the game Genshin. These events include game videos in French, live games in French, game competitions in French, etc. These activities led to the game Genshin gaining widespread exposure in France and attracting a large number of downloaders.

Marketing localization

In terms of game marketing, the current marketing method is also shifting from traditional buying volume marketing to social media marketing. In France, for example, Mihayou is mainly marketed through social media platforms such as YouTube, Twitch and Twitter. These platforms have a large number of users in France, so Mihayou can reach more potential players through these platforms.

Specifically, marketing localization is divided into "three steps", the first step is to understand the local user portrait and preferences, and promote it in a targeted manner. Second, select influencers on the content platform to attract potential users to get started. In this process, the interactive nature of the content must be strong, because the social media users themselves are quite receptive to the advertising, if the content is interactive, the delivery effect will be very good, and the positive feedback of users will be more. For example, Mihayou held an exhibition on the theme of "Genshin" in Paris and invited well-known French KOLs to participate in the live broadcast of the game. These events have led to the game Genshin gaining greater attention in France. Finally, guide users to carry out secondary creation and dissemination, expand the basic user disk, and attract a large number of users to participate spontaneously through operation activities, so as to achieve secondary dissemination.

As domestic game competition becomes more and more fierce and the pressure increases, going overseas has become an inevitable result. Mihayou's successful overseas expansion provides a good reference for Chinese game companies. If Chinese game companies want to succeed in overseas markets, they need to work game products, market positioning and marketing promotion.

• Develop quality gaming products. Gaming products are the key to the success of a gaming company. For Chinese game companies to succeed in overseas markets, they need to develop game products that meet the preferences of overseas players.
• Precise market positioning. When Chinese game companies enter overseas markets, they need to accurately position their target markets. This includes understanding the preferences, habits, and needs of players in your target market.
• Powerful marketing promotion. In overseas markets, game companies need to invest a lot of money in marketing promotion. This includes online marketing, offline events, KOL collaborations, and more.