Since the beginning of the year, many old classmates have come to me to ask, "When will DNF mobile games be launched?", they have been associated with Dungeons & Warriors since they were students, and now they know that I am working in the game industry, and they want to ask me for accurate information about this game.
"DNF Mobile got the version number in February this year, and recently started testing, according to the current rhythm of game companies, it should be launched within this quarter at the earliest. "Every time I give this answer, I feel a panic in my heart - after all, this product was first exposed as early as 2015, and since then there have been repeated rumors that it will be launched, but after all, it has not been able to land for many years. I don't want to live up to their years of watchfulness and expectations.
Fortunately, this time it's really coming - this morning, Tencent officially finalized that "DNF Mobile Game" will meet players on May 21.
All over the country, DNF players known as the "Eight Million Warriors" are currently looking forward to this game. With the news of the finalization, players quickly sent this news to the top of the hot search lists of major platforms with an overwhelming number of comments and likes - within a few hours, the related topic quickly reached the first place on the Douyin hot list, the 26th place on the Weibo hot search list, and tens of millions of readers on multiple platforms...... In the industry group where GameLook is located, this official announcement occupies most of today's industry discussion space, which makes people have to shout "hot explosion".
After years of waiting, the "most playable" new product in the action mobile game track in 2024 is about to hit strongly.
With 300,000 players clearing hundreds of millions of dungeons, the most anticipated product in 2024 is unsurpassed
Even if you're not a DNF player, it's hard to miss news about DNF Mobile. As early as the pre-test stage in February, DNF mobile games detonated a wave of phenomenal attention. After the test server was opened, the relevant entries quickly appeared in the top three hot search lists of social platforms such as Weibo and Douyin, and the popularity lists of major live broadcast platforms. Even the official WeChat public account tweets have achieved "100,000+", which makes people have to sigh that the influence of DNF IP is really pervasive.
During the testing period, the popularity of the game was also unprecedented: in the number grabbing stage of the pre-test on February 29, more than 3 million players participated in the number grabbing within 3 days, and the game server was even directly squeezed out on the first day of the server. According to the official follow-up review data, a total of 300,000 players poured into the server during the test, created 736,000 characters, and cleared the abyss more than 35 million times, reproducing the hot trend of the 60 version of the year.
Behind the continuous explosion of popularity in the testing stage, DNF players are "really hungry" - it is not difficult to understand that although in recent years, many so-called DNF-Like products have appeared in many industries trying to seize the ecological niche of "meal replacement", but most of the games stop at tracing the skin, and it is difficult to restore the DNF action gameplay experience with a strong sense of impact. If you want to say that what can really resonate with DNF players, it has to be the original Arad continent.
Because of this, the previous advance test did not have the effect of satisfying players, but became an "appetizer" to whet their appetite. After the end of the pre-test, the voices of "seeking to open the server" and "seeking to go online" accounted for more than 70% of the videos related to each "DNF mobile game", and the momentum was overwhelming. When the official schedule was finalized, the players began to run to tell each other at the first time, calling friends in the classmates and dormitory groups of the year, trying to find the close "comrades-in-arms" who once fought side by side, and re-walking the road of Arad to open up the wasteland and reminisce about the past youth.
Players are "scratching their hearts and livers", and the folk god players have opened the layout in advance. Relying on the experience accumulated during the internal beta test, from character outfitting to brick-moving skills, a full set of nanny-level strategies arranged the entire game experience in the early stage of the game.
It's not a port, it's a comprehensive evolution
Despite the wide anticipation of the pre-test test, we can occasionally see player comments like this in the sound of "asking for a server": "There are too many UI buttons, it's not beautiful!", "The flash effect is not as good as the PC game!...... It's not hard to understand that there is no perfect game product in the world - according to the official data previously revealed, the game will collect about 10,000 such player feedback every day in various community positions during the beta period. Timely tuning of player feedback has been one of the priorities of the entire Dungeons & Warriors team over the past few years.
On the official account of "Dungeons & Warriors Mobile Game" on major social media platforms, we can find a column series called "Planning Blue Post", which is updated by the official planning team that claims to "swear not to be a dog planner", bluntly saying that with the mentality of accepting the "torture" of players, we continue to answer the core questions that players are concerned about through open and honest communication.
It was also after reading this column that GameLook updated its understanding of the game. Previously, most of the outside world regarded the "DNF" mobile game as a hand-to-end product, focusing on the efforts made by the R&D team in mobile device adaptation. After absorbing feedback from hundreds of thousands of players, many of the changes made by the current planner have long gone beyond the scope of simple "adaptation".
What's more, taking advantage of the opportunity of IP to create independent products on the mobile game platform, the mobile game "Dungeons and Warriors" has undergone a comprehensive innovation from the inside out under the framework of the world view of the Arad continent. With highly original game content and a fully restructured long-term operation system, the IP value of the entire "Dungeons and Warriors" has been improved.
For example, in terms of plot content, from the dungeon plot to the main story, "DNF Mobile Game" uses new original content that is different from the terminal game. Korean producer Ok Sung-tae said, "In the world of DNF mobile games, we reconstructed the storyline centered on characters who did not appear in the original game. The story of DNF mobile game is not a simple remake of the original work, but as an independent story, it expands the world view of the DNF universe more richly. "This means that veteran PC players can get a new game experience from the mobile game version, and it also enables new players to start from scratch and fully experience the customs of the Arad continent.
In terms of operation methods, the mobile game version has also made many changes that "touch the essence". The team wrote in the second issue of the "Planning Blue Post" column that they expect to make the DNF mobile game a game that is "playable, fun, and not tired" enough - reflected in the operation design, the mobile game version has ushered in a comprehensive "liver reduction and burden reduction" compared with the terminal game version.
In this column, the planners announced the complete elimination of the setting of "Enhanced Failed Broken Equipment" - a setting that players have loved and hated for years, bringing both the thrill of a high-altitude tightrope to the enhanced equipment, and the risk of "losing the whole game if you are not careful". As a result, many players will choose to stop after upgrading their rare equipment to +13 or +14. DNF's head streamer "Baby Xuxu" had failed to get a +19 weapon in the terminal game for several years, but in the mobile game version, it only took a few days to successfully get it, and he was happy to show his big white teeth.
In addition to canceling the "Enhanced Failed Broken Equipment", the mobile game has also added new settings such as failure without leveling up and inheritability, and greatly reduced the enhancement fee, allowing players to obtain high-level weapons faster, while greatly reducing the negative feedback on the enhancement part, making the development experience "silky smooth" in the mobile game version.
In addition, the mobile game version has also been greatly streamlined in terms of commercialization. For example, the synthesis of rare costumes ushered in a significant price reduction, the price of dress-up synthesizers was reduced from 10 yuan to 5 yuan, and the single synthesis consumption of dress-up synthesizers was reduced from 2 to 1, and the success rate of synthesis has also increased significantly from the single digit of the previous terminal game version to 20%. With the new "moving bricks" mechanism, the daily income of the single character is up to 40,000 terra, and the "sky set" that was previously the envy of the majority of players is no longer an unattainable dream for "micro krypton" and even "zero krypton" players.
The planning team bluntly said that commercialization has always been a sensitive issue, so in the past three years, they have been thinking and adjusting, and have continued to discuss with developers the balance between emotion, experience and commercialization: "Our goal is to continue to improve the experience and make it easier for everyone to play DNF mobile games...... More important than income is, of course, the fond memories in our hearts. ”
It is worth pointing out that although "DNF Mobile Game" is an independent product from the terminal game, this does not prevent it from restoring the classic feelings and brilliant design of the terminal game. In order to faithfully shape the Arad continent in the memory of players, the production team has also done enough homework.
For example, in terms of the action of DNF signboards, in order to enhance the sense of impact, DNF mobile games specially exaggerate the key frames, so that players can understand the direction and strength of the attack, and superimpose special effects, screen vibration, impact displacement and other details, and finally present the feeling of punching to the flesh. At the same time, the mobile game has also optimized some professional skills, making it easier for players to "rub" combos on the screen, so that the game can truly "play".
In terms of art, the mobile game version inherits the classic pixel style of the 60 version that players have the deepest feelings, and classic NPCs such as Celia and Kelly are back, and ancient maps such as the Cave of Sorrow and the King's Ruins have also been faithfully reproduced in the mobile game version.
"It's back, it's all back!", said one DNF fanatic fan who has been following the test all along, saying of GameLook.
From inside the circle to outside the circle, DNF mobile games seize the window period
Judging from the content of various updates, it is based on the long-term listening and absorption of the real needs of players that "DNF Mobile Game" can hold the most urgent needs of the old players in the series and form a close resonance with the "eight million warriors" across the country.
Jumping out of the perspective of the internal IP, the enthusiastic pursuit of old players is only part of the reason why "DNF Mobile Game" has gained widespread popularity this time. From the perspective of the entire market environment, the current "game shortage" caused by the trough period of distribution in the entire game circle has unexpectedly become an opportunity for "DNF Mobile Games" to break the circle.
GameLook will conduct a comprehensive inventory of the outstanding products of the month at the end of each month, but in the first quarter of this year, the supply and competitiveness of new App game products showed a relatively weak trend, and in March, there was a rare situation that no new game product exceeded 100 million yuan, and the publishing market fell to the freezing point. From the perspective of the track, the field of fighting and action games has not been born for a long time.
The stagnation of the supply side has caused pan-user audiences of action genres and even other types to set their sights on the "DNF Mobile Game" in the test period, creating an explosive space. In the previous test, UZI, Xiaoxiao, Sika and other non-DNF field anchors also participated in the live broadcast of this game, and shouted satisfaction after experiencing the gameplay.
Some action mobile gamers contacted by GameLook also said that although they have never played DNF, the refreshing sense of action still allows them to still have a good gaming experience. With the help of solid product quality, DNF Mobile has successfully seized the new game window in the market and turned it into its own upward trend. GameLook believes that even the project team had not expected such an outcome.
Under the intersection of the two, the current DNF mobile game stands at the best crossroads, receiving attention and heat from inside and outside the circle. All signs are showing us that this classic product will not only be "kept", but also have full potential to break the circle.
At that time, DNF successfully created a new era of fighting online games, achieving a cumulative number of 800 million users. We have no doubt that today's DNF Mobile Game is also expected to attract more mobile gamers to experience the beauty of fighting action games. While helping DNF IP reach new heights, it has become Tencent's next evergreen tree in the field of mobile games.