What are the bosses of the gaming industry sad about?

During this time, I chatted with a few friends who were making small games. Everyone is in good shape, and we exchanged projects, products, and industry ...... Feedback on the current situation of some industries.

Of course, different types of teams are facing very different problems in the current market environment.

01 First of all, it is a friend of Dachang

A friend from a large factory in Beijing and Hangzhou plans to do a good job of small games this year.

In my communication with them, I feel that the pain point of most of the big manufacturers who are currently entering the mini game is that they can't spend the money. I started because of the game, so I don't smash the game, and I don't know where to smash it.

The needs of large manufacturers are very simple, that is, they want to use their experience in mobile game publishing with tens of billions of mobile games around the world to find matching mini game development, investment, acquisition, contract and distribution, etc.

Then I said, this is quite difficult on a small game platform. The difficulty is that at present, there is no relatively certain new product in the world with tens of billions of potential that is worth copying.

For so many years, it seems that there are only SLG and MMO in the whole world, which are relatively certain products that can break through tens of billions of dollars (because these two costs are also large), and other categories always make people think of what is too possible in such an involuted market. And these two categories are just not so suitable for mini games, so there are very few teams that the mini game platform is good at. At present, the quality of SLG products that run out of small game platforms is not able to compete with top mobile game SLG products at home and abroad.

Aside from the global market, it is even more difficult to make a single small game platform with tens of billions of dollars.

My friend said that he knew, and he just shared his expectations, and down-to-earth, in the current environment, it is very reasonable to reduce 0. All the big manufacturers want to start from scratch and create tens of billions of game products with partners from small game platforms and R&D. They hope to share their experience of trading more than 10 billion turnover with their partners.

I believe that this is also the first pain for most large factories at present. Not to mention those who have already entered the game, but for most of the big factories that were waiting and watching last year and officially entered this year, it seems a little late to come in this year. And what bothers them the most is that the money is depreciating, and they can't spend it.

Although I have to sigh, it's good to be rich. But once it encounters the dual impact of the global economy + the contraction of the game market, it is really painful.

For large factories, having money is the biggest advantage, and having money is also the biggest disadvantage. Having money seems to have become the pressure on them when they are pressuring R&D, because light is better than money, and the few small game manufacturers that are already doing it are not necessarily out of money. Then the big factories will generally say that they still have a lot of resources, but these resources may not be able to match the mini game.

As a result, the new big factory is generally stunned: it seems to be oh.

You can imagine such a scene, the person in charge of distribution of a certain three or four has just left your office, one talks to you about 300, and the other talks to you about 200+ guarantees. Then, the person in charge of the new big factory came in, and he was also very sincere, consulted your intentions, and said that he could give you three hundred or four hundred. You don't know how to reply, you want him to give you four hundred or five hundred, but you yourself feel that your offer is a bit high, and you don't deserve it. So, it will be embarrassing. I can only say that I will cooperate again next time.

It seems that money can't bluff people in this era...... This makes it difficult for many people who rely on commercial products to start the distribution with creative research and development products in the current market.

Some people say that sincerity is nirvana. But I think sincerity is the foundation of every big factory. Let R&D feel that you have personality charm, which is an effective means of competition between large manufacturers. In addition, business resources with connections in the game circle may be needed by large manufacturers at present. Because he just happened to meet the behavior we mentioned above, matchmaking for large factories.

On the other hand, I thought that in the future, there may be investment and mergers and acquisitions of exclusive mini game companies.

Because the local small game team and the traditional mobile game manufacturer, it may seem similar, but it is a different platform for publishing and development, and the operation idea may also be, but as the competition becomes more and more fierce, the more the future, the big factory may be anxious, which makes me seem to see the news that the XX small game team was acquired by the XX big factory in the future.

Corresponding to this is the sadness from the small and medium-sized game team. Let's think about it from the perspective of the boss and management, whether we want capital to bless or even sell the company.

I believe that the first reaction of many bosses in front of the screen is that it is impossible. It is also impossible to sell the company in bankruptcy.

Because most of the owners of the mini game team are small business operations, just like a small business. And the environment in our country seems to be different from overseas. Foreigners seem to like to sell a company and sell a company. But in our country, we still have a fighting spirit and arrogance, and we are better at competing who can survive to the end and who can make achievements. I don't really like to transfer equity, let alone sell the company. Every company founder and employee, everyone came together because of a single entrepreneurial dream. Especially now that the business is still doing well, how can it be sold?

But I also believe that when reading this passage, everyone will also hesitate. Because we clearly see that 2024 will not be too easy, and the future environment may not be good, and the game industry is even more boundless.

At a time when the economic environment is so bad, I believe that there will be a handful of small game company owners who have thought about withdrawing.

Correspondingly, there are some small bosses who have entered the mini game business this year. Last year, they could still fight a dozen, and this year there are so many big factories, they want to laugh at themselves that this is 49 years into the national army. However, some of them have bragged about the capital, and seeing the competitive environment this year, they can only endure the pain while continuing to brag about the capital.

This is the first sorrow.

The sorrow of large factories, as well as the sorrow of small and medium-sized factories under the radiation of large factories.

02 The sorrow of small and medium-sized manufacturers

Before my trip, I chatted with the owners of several small game companies in Hangzhou. There are pure R&D team, IAP team, IAP+IAA team, and IAA team.

Hangzhou is a city that is relatively in line with the golden mean in the country (because it is also geographically in the middle). Therefore, it makes sense to think that the survival status of the Hangzhou mini game team represents the survival status of the medium-sized mini game team in the country. Thankfully, they're all pretty good.

Let me summarize their strengths, I think these mini-game teams are very strong in execution. This is also part of the characteristics of small and medium-sized mini-game teams that I think will survive this year: talk less and do more.

I've been busy lately, they all said.

Of course, everyone is also a little distressed:

For example, the sorrow of the pure R&D team. At present, the problems they encounter are basically directional problems, such as how to transform after getting used to IAA product customization. Whether to try to do IAP to moderately exercise R&D ability, or try to do distribution by yourself, many friends in front of the screen are also facing this problem, and both roads are quite boring. Without thinking, I will give the answer that it is best to try to buy the quantity myself.

But with the tightening of platform censorship in April, this also means that this road may not be easy to follow. Then, they also, IAA is about five or six models that can produce a small hit. But over time, this probability may become smaller.

Then there is the difficulty of the moderate R&D team in the current environment. The efficiency can't compare to IAA, and the quality can't beat the big manufacturers. We also all think that this is almost unsolvable at present, only boiling, only innovation and creativity.

Several friends are similar, I envy you, you envy my state~ After sharing each other's distress, they were also moved by each other in the direction of transformation.

The Hangzhou team is actually a bit slow in the transformation of IAA, and I clearly remember that the team in Shenzhen saw the momentum of IAP involution this year in September last year, so they started to lay out IAA early.

In terms of new business, such as the exploration of the overseas track, the rhythm of IAP games overseas is different from that in China. It is estimated that it will take three or four days overseas for one day at the domestic checkpoint (which I think is quite interesting).

In terms of project establishment, issuance ideas and talent training, each company is different, but it is not worth referencing.

For the rest, we also talked about the current delivery issues, such as the multiplier and multiplier that everyone is pursuing. The reason why moderate IAP is not good now is that most of the new products can't be rushed on the first day, let alone multiples and multipliers.

For example, the two-in-one track that everyone talks about, it is understood that there are only 2~4 on the first day. The head two-in-one products are basically piled up by manpower, and it is already a relatively difficult category to compete. Including most IAP games, the payback period is at least half a year. And some unpopular categories will have some organic volume on weekends. Therefore, differentiation and preemption of subdivision and unpopularity are still the core of the currently surviving mini-game team.

Here we will analyze the multiplier again:

Why is everyone pursuing multiples now? Because multiples and multiples are the most stable, and they are the most reflective of the commercial rate of return on buying volume-based products.

There are some IAA friends who want to transfer to IAP, trying to use ROI and multiples to enter the IAP track, among which it is more difficult to figure out how to look at the natural quantity and retention of these data (because IAA needs to consider these).

Let me explain here: if you analyze the product business model by multiple, these can be ignored. Because these data will be reflected in the ROI.

It's simple: my consumption of 10w brings 1000 natural amounts. The next day is also a consumption of 10w, and he will also bring ≈ 1000 natural amount. And the payment of 1000 natural quantities will be reflected in the paid ROI. It's the same with retention. Therefore, to buy volume-based products, it depends on the multiple rate and continues to consume the purchase volume. Until the first day, the ROI declined with the scale of the buying volume. The subsequent multiplier is optimized and activated through multi-dimensional tuning and activation such as content, operation, and planning.

It is precisely because the multiple rate is the current mainstream launch idea, so it has also created that if a new product wants to come out, unless it is particularly creative, and the rewards and activities on the first day are particularly good, it is almost impossible to amplify it in the environment of a large factory. Only 0.1 is unconventional, because the first day of 0.1 is high, and he can try to make R&D roll like a snowball.

We will also discuss whether we can jump out of the idea of multiples. It's not that everyone is in business, no one wants to be involved with big manufacturers, and they also want to send out the products of the partners around them. Unfortunately, none of us can find the answer. Because it is contrary to the market economy.

Yes. We can't expect a new product with an ordinary multiple to squeeze into the best-selling list through the operation of the distribution side. Obviously, this is unfair to other R&D that piles content on top of the product, and it is also a underestimation of other distributions with strong buying power. But we're still looking for new ideas to counter the increasingly competitive buying market.

There is also a question here: Are those products with low first-day ROI and multiples not saved?

That's not what the above says. Multiples and multipliers are predictive analysis of the commercial scale of a product. It does not mean whether the product can make money. As long as you can get a cheap amount and a natural amount, you can run it for a year, and the product can make money. But if you do the math, you'll find that you might not make as much money as renting out BH. The unpopular products that are subdivided into the track, buy them without amplification, the user stickiness is strong enough, the ROI on the first day may not fall quickly, and there are still many products that make a fortune quietly.

Then he ate the food and drank the wine.

Everyone talked about one point: there was no turnover this year.

According to previous years, there will be voluntary resignations at the beginning of the year. But this year, for the first time, there was none.

It may be that the general environment is not good, or it may be that small games can still create dreams.

Although I'm not sure if it's an accident either, I would consider it a social phenomenon.

For the rest, we chatted more cheerfully.

For example, we will talk about the XX family and three more version numbers, and the money lost in the game will be earned. XX products exploded again, XX lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in buying volume, and so on. We even talked about gold and bitcoin, which have risen sharply...... (Everyone is cheesy~)

In short, we all sighed: the current mini games are exactly the same as the mobile game market!

03 The sorrow of a small team

The sad thing for a small team is money. And they dare not spend money because of survival problems.

As we mentioned above, there are some small teams that do medium products that can't go up or down this year.

You say do sinking and do casual IAA, the moderate team comes in and wants to roll you to death. There are almost no options.

When I was on a business trip to Yunnan, I had an exchange with an R&D company. They are the top local R&D team. It's hard to believe it, there is a R&D team in Kunming, Yunnan (ps. The R&D of "Taiwu Picture Scroll" is in Kunming, which is the most famous in the local area).

They currently have more than 30 people, and they are doing well, but the business is not a small game. Their core business is overseas, because they did it early, the product quality and efficiency are very good, so they are deeply bound to Xiaomi's overseas, which can be regarded as the dividends brought by continuous binding cooperation. I've also thought about coming in this year to make a mini-game, but I don't seem to have enough energy.

I've also asked them what advice a team like them would give to a small team that is going to start a game this year. I'm thinking about it myself, but I just can't seem to think about it. There seems to be no good way to do it except to customize the team first and slowly familiarize yourself with the track.

Yes, for such a team, the founders have to work overtime on weekends. In Kunming, I have to work overtime...... Let me, who was traveling, bow my head in shame.

But from his back, I can see that a small team to start a business may want to be able to endure hardships. Let those who can endure hardships get rich first!

Of course, hardship is not absolute. It still needs opportunities, ideas and chances. The small team needs to have a voice, and it needs to make the bright spots visible. Direction, thinking, cognition, and execution are all indispensable.

Earn money first, then learn to spend it. I think it's one of the ways that small teams break the shackles.

In other words, I think a small team should imagine itself as from Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan, and the opponents are those from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai.

No way. There are many people around us who were born in poor areas, but through their willingness to endure hardships, studiousness, their desire for money, the help of nobles, or through their appearance, intelligence, and the opportunities of the times, they have started a family in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen and become big bosses. Without exception, it is all contributed by these innate advantages + acquired efforts.

And if you have a little experience, in addition to starting a business, I highly recommend being a second-hand dealer.

04 The sorrow of the three parties

Recently, there have been a lot of live broadcast teams looking for me, so I found that I was wrong, I shouldn't encourage everyone to be the supply side of the game team, I should encourage everyone to be the middle match, this is the current market demand.

Issued, more than gone,

R&D, more goes,

Three parties, more than gone,

platform, more than that,

Flow, more goes,

It's not bad for anything, it's just matchmaking.

Similarly, this year is talking about business. I recommend that you put forward some needs point-to-point, and don't post such as whether there is a good R&D introduction or whether there is a good release introduction. It doesn't seem to be useful to look for me, because I know too much. It's best to decide which one to develop and which one to publish, and then ask me.

And for these cooperation needs, it is better to find a relatively familiar friend around you, which will be more effective than my one. They don't necessarily have as much contact as me, but on the contrary, they can give some definite answers or candidates. Even syncing in the community would be better. For example, which foot bath shop in the country is good, you can come and ask me, because I don't have much contact, and I can still push it.

Don't go for the so-called best, it's almost hard.

Let go of this obsession and you'll be incredibly efficient.