Recently, the domestic game "I'm Surrounded by Beautiful Women!" (hereinafter referred to as "Finished") has unexpectedly exploded, topping the best-selling list in the steam country for several days, beating many popular free games such as "PUBG", "CS2" and "Apex". What's more special is that most of the previous love games were two-dimensional games, and the interactive object was a virtual "paper man", and in this love game, the six heroines are played by real people, and the interactive picture of the game is like a popular short drama.
Recently, there was news that CMGE's national IP "The Legend of Sword and Fairy" series will be licensed to INTINY Studio, and will work with Hippo Games and Strange Tree Youyu to create an interactive image product based on the IP of the Legend of Sword and Fairy, and the game is tentatively named "Oh my God! I am surrounded by Sword and Fairy". INTINY Studio is the producer of "Finished".
Fairy Sword Studio statement
The exit of "Finished" has made people see that the boundary between film and television and games has been further broken, more and more games are implanted with live-action film and television content, and more and more film and television practitioners have entered the field of games.
Provide "emotional value" to players
"Finished" is not a particularly complex game, it adopts a male perspective, and the player is responsible for playing the debt-ridden male protagonist Gu Yi, who can choose different dialogues at key points to drive the plot, thus triggering different love endings with 6 heroines with different looks and personalities. The price of the game is 42 yuan, the duration of a single line and a single ending is about 120 minutes, and it takes about 3 hours to experience all the endings of a single character. According to SteamSpy, the game has sold more than 800,000 yuan, and the cumulative sales have exceeded 30 million yuan. Up to now, on Douyin, the core topic of #Finished I was surrounded by beautiful women# has been viewed 1.56 billion times, which shows how hot this game is.
On the short video platform, related topics are read a lot
The reason for the popularity of games is not much different from the emotional value provided by many entertainment products such as online novels and micro-short dramas. In the past, the simulation of love games was to fall in love with the perfect "paper man", but this time it was replaced by a real person, which is more like an idol drama.
Game-related screens
In the eyes of player Cagalli, "Finished" is actually a traditional Galgame (beautiful girl game). This game mode aimed at male players appeared in Japan back in the 80s of the last century. She believes that the popularity of "Finished" is similar to the popularity of games such as "Love and the Producer", "In the current situation where material life is basically satisfied, the demand for emotional value for both men and women has greatly increased, and the basic point of satisfying this demand in the way of games is the same." This year, a love development mobile game "Singularity Era" was also launched, and the revenue performance was also good. Coupled with the success of "Finished", it can be seen that the market for games that provide emotional value to men is huge. ”
The boundaries between games and film and television are broken
Some people feel that "Finished" is not so much a game as a live-action skit that can be interacted with. And its out-of-the-circle is also related to the short drama that is currently in the wind.
The film and television clips in the game are not inferior to the general small and medium-cost online dramas, and the actors' performances are also remarkable. Among them, actor Zou Jiajia is from the female idol group SNH48, and Dong Qi is from a professional class and has participated in movies such as "Chinese Partner" and "Taoist Priest Descending the Mountain". Some people in the industry pointed out that the development cost of such a game is not high, mainly in live-action shooting, and the cost of players to buy content is also cheaper than paid short dramas.
游戏Screen
This kind of entertainment products with both game interactivity and film and television watchability have been explored in the market in the early years. Previously, the concept of "interactive drama" was hot, and iQiyi once launched the youth love interactive drama "His Smile", which has 21 selection nodes and can produce 17 endings. Whether it's a TV series that can be interacted with, or different live-action plots unlocked through interaction in the game, it shows that the boundary between film and television and games is increasingly blurred.
The relevant person in charge of a film and television company in Shanghai told reporters that the popularity of "Finished" has a great impact on the film and television and game industries, and they are negotiating with a game company to study and promote new content trends, "If you can open up the linkage of film and games, it will be a new growth point." ”
"For the film and television industry, new ways and methods are emerging one after another, and the popularity of micro-short dramas has actually solved the survival problem of a large number of small and medium-sized film and television companies, and also solved the employment problem of many people. In the view of Chen Xiufeng, co-founder and chief producer of Shanghai Fanku Culture Media Co., Ltd., the emergence of interactive dramas and live-action interactive games is a good signal for the industry, "When the new business format is becoming more and more abundant, everyone can not be crowded on the same track, which is a good thing for the industry." ”
游戏Screen
According to Chen Xiufeng's analysis, the gameplay of early interactive film and television dramas was that long video websites explored interactive forms dominated by video content, while "Finished" was a game-led video, with strong playability and game attributes, and its initial fermentation and exit from the circle also relied on the game platform. "The core of the game and the external performance of film and television, this logic will be more logical;The original interactive drama is for the audience of long videos,When watching, you have to move forward the plot from time to time,Emotions will be disrupted;And the mentality of gamers is different,It's when the game is played,It's just that the original two-dimensional、Three-dimensional animation content,Presented in the way of live-action video。 He believes that with the application of devices, the innovation of thinking, and the maturity of users, many new business models will slowly emerge in terms of film and game linkage.
Ethical issues deserve attention
However, in the face of live-action romance film and television games, players may not necessarily accept all the orders.
Earlier, "Codename Sea", known as the "cross-dimensional real-life suspense love mobile game", released a trailer, using a real image to "virtual love" with players, which caused huge controversy, and was scored a "historical low score" of 2.7 points on platforms such as Station B before it was launched.
For this game, some players believe that the image of "boyfriend" in the love game is actually constructed in the hearts of players. "Once you become a real person in reality, the illusion is completely shattered. This is a 'dimensional wall' that is impossible to traverse. "There are also players who have calculated an economic account, thinking that the game company is replacing the two-dimensional image with real people just to save costs. "The cards in traditional games are hand-drawn by artists and professionally voiced. Are you willing to spend 68 yuan to watch an unknown actor shoot a small video? For more than 300 yuan, I can recharge a one-year membership on the video website, and how many variety shows and dramas of first-line idols can I watch?"
In response to the controversy, the game's producer later said that the reason for the game's production was that "it can tell more and more complex stories and build a bigger and grander stage with the same team size and financial support", and that the live-action narrative works have "more delicate emotional expressions and more immersive plot performances".
"Codename Sea" has also involved ethical issues. Many people said that they could not accept "real love games" because they were unethical. In the popular comments on the trailer of "Codename Sea", some netizens bluntly said that letting a real person star in a love game is very similar to a "fan circle operation".
In recent years, most of the young idols who do not have good professional singing and acting skills can only rely on their "personality" in variety shows, live broadcasts, and short videos to get the traffic support of fans. And fans' requirements for these idols who entrust their emotions also go beyond the screen and stage, once they find out that idols are in love, fans will think that idols "violate professional ethics" and "idols collapse". In the end, the word "love" in the trailer was deleted from Codename Sea, and the game's producer Chris apologized in a letter to players, saying that the follow-up production "will further strengthen our core setting and suspense elements, and tell our own unique story".
"Codename Sea does spray a lot of people, but I have also seen players who have downloaded and played the closed beta expressed a relatively peaceful opinion, thinking that such a game is still playable. Cagalli believes that whether there is a market for a game depends on the experience of the work after it is actually launched. "The success of "Finished" proves to investors that this market is very promising, and I believe that in the next one to two years, or even one to two months, many people will enter this field and more rich products will appear. A good quality work will attract the attention of all circles. ”
Column Editor-in-Chief: Shi Chenlu Text Editor: Shi Chenlu Title picture source: Sina Weibo, Douyin
Source: Author: Zhang Yi Zhong Han