Tencent has started to work with people overseas.
Just yesterday, Tencent's "Arena breakout: Inifite" announced that it will start its first test on May 8, but coincidentally, this time it actually crashed the pioneer of the same genre "Escape from Tarkov" - they also announced the content of the new version at the same time.
It stands to reason that the head big brother who ran into the track was overseas, and even Tencent should be overpowered.
But things developed in a direction that no one expected: "Escape from Tarkov" encountered a serious crisis of public opinion, and tried to point the finger at the overseas version of "Dark Zone Breakout", saying that it was blatant plagiarism. But I never thought that Tencent, which has always been in a weak position in the field of public opinion, has hardened up this time, and players are all inclined to Tencent, and finally "Escape from Tarkov" also admitted its mistakes and revised the content of the new version.
So, what's going on here?
If you want to clarify this word-of-mouth battle, you must first understand the word-of-mouth decline of "Escape from Tarkov".
On April 25, Nikita, the developer of "Escape from Tarkov", suddenly released a new version of the game, the Unheard Edition, which costs up to $250 and is commonly known as "Phnom Penh" or "Blue Edge" in the domestic community.
Compared to the original most expensive "black border" version, the content of blue border is more luxurious, and most importantly, it also offers a new way to play: PvE team mode.
Previously, in the "Escape from Tarkov" player community, there was an "offline version" made by unpacking. It can be understood as a product of players to meet their own needs: the game is released for free, completely stand-alone, players will not encounter big bosses abusing vegetables, nor will they encounter cheats, they encounter NPCs played by AI, and everyone can pick up garbage without being disturbed.
The PvE team mode launched by Blue Edge is officially made, similar to the "offline version" of the gameplay, and allows players to team up.
Originally, it should be a good thing that this highly requested mode was finally officially implemented, but what is intriguing is that this mode was put into the blue edge bundle and cannot be purchased separately. If you want to connect with a friend, it also means that both parties will have to pay $250 for a blue border.
Player: "It's really two hundred and five"
This provoked the anger of the players.
Nikita had previously promised that all players who had purchased the black-barred version would receive the subsequent DLC for free. However, when questioned by players, officials said that PvE teaming is not DLC, but a "special mode" added to the new version.
This explanation undoubtedly destroyed the trust of players, and once again pushed Nikita to the forefront of public opinion.
Many players have listed various gameplay changes in Escape from Tarkov in recent years, such as the change of the inertia system and the obstinate change of the auction house rules...... Some players believe that these measures are enough to shake the foundation of the game's gameplay, and the disease of player churn also comes from here, but due to the lack of similar competitors on PC, everyone has endured it in the past.
At the beginning of this year, Nikita's many actions have saved the trust of players, such as permanently removing the black-barred version, and then listing paid content on the official website that does not affect the balance of the game, such as warehouse expansion and clothing, and previously promised on Reddit that the game will not introduce P2W (Pay to Win) elements into microtransactions.
At the time, some players thought that this meant that Nikita had finally figured it out and was gradually transitioning to GaaS (Game as a Service).
But now the $250 blue-edged version has to make players re-examine Nikita's decision-making logic and attitude.
On YouTube, the video of the new version of "Escape from Tarkov" was frantically disliked.
Players discuss the video like ratio in the comment section in real time
X, the player begins to taunt Nikita for being ugly and only caring about making money.
The Reddit community's management team ignored the rules and allowed everyone to vent their complaints, and even allowed everyone to discuss competing products. Posts about game uninstalls have also been hotly discussed.
In the game's official Discord channel, players kept swiping the screen with the same paragraph to express their disappointment:
Since 2016, players have purchased the most advanced version of the game in order to support the developers. For 8 years, we have been helping our friends and bring more and more players into the community. But what about Nikita's response? They are dismissive, refuse to discuss, and will only continue to harvest players who are not respected. I had high hopes for Tarkov, it was the best and most ambitious product in the market. And now, these disrespectful moves against players are unacceptable and selfish, and you have lost loyal players and disgraced yourself. I would like to say to everyone who feels the same way, do not be silent, and should spread this intolerable behavior in various ways.
Even the Twitch streamers who were originally the closest to Nikita during the "Escape from Tarkov" movement began to express their dissatisfaction.
Tarkov million followers anchor retweet for 17 years
The game promises Black Border Player DLC free tweets
On station B, there are also a large number of players who criticize Nikita.
But despite this, Nikita still didn't make any response until the overseas version of "Dark Zone Breakout" came out.
On April 25th, the official launch of the overseas version of the terminal game "Dark Zone Breakout" released the 4K actual machine map of the game, and the next day announced the information that the overseas version will start the first test on May 8th.
Whether this delicate point in time is a coincidence, or whether the overseas version of "Dark Zone Breakout" is intentional, we don't know. But what is certain is that Tencent's response was swift.
After noticing the shock of the "Escape from Tarkov" player community, the overseas version of the "Dark Zone Breakout" mobile game brought the pun "unheard" intentionally or unintentionally in the official tweet. In the eyes of players and KOLs, this is supposed to be an allusion to Tarkov's blue-edged version, and Nikita's insistence on not being able to hear the player's voice.
Not long after, the overseas version of the "Dark Zone Breakout" mobile game directly released a tweet of "taking in homeless shooters", saying "Escape ____, welcome to Carmona. The implication is self-evident.
At the same time, it also said with a little humor that it "stole" an additional 10,000 test qualifications from its boss and actively lowered its profile, which made players look like the whole thing didn't seem so tense.
However, seeing this news, Nikita finally couldn't sit still. They began to look for a counterattack, and soon retweeted the overseas version of Dark Zone Breakout, saying, "This is a blatant plagiarism of the game, and it is only given 20 minutes. 」
However, Nikita, who had lost the confidence of the players, did not gain support. At present, Nikita's tweet accusing the overseas version of "Dark Zone Breakout" has exceeded 4 million views, but in the comment section, there are few supporters, all cynicism.
"Does the overseas version of "Dark Zone Breakout" cost $250?"
"If you don't pay $100, I can't see your push. 」
"Playing the dark zone for 20 minutes is already longer than playing with Brother Hang in your game for ten times, you guys are doing a great job. 」
Moreover, due to the PK of "Escape from Tarkov", many players also noticed the overseas version of the terminal game of "Dark Zone Breakout", which invisibly led to the flow of competing products.
At the same time, "Escape from Tarkov" evades its own problems and turns to mock the behavior of new entrants, which is seen as a diversion contradiction, which once again provokes the dissatisfaction of players. Everyone teased, "It's time for Nikita to change PR." "I'm afraid this is not an account managed by an intern. 」
What can be called a lore is that at the end of the overseas version of the terminal game of "Dark Zone Breakout", he also posted a message with high emotional intelligence to "thank you" for "Escape from Tarkov", "Brother, we can also send you the test qualifications, at least this doesn't cost money." Anyway, thank you for your support......
Things have developed to this point, and the overseas version of the terminal game of "Dark Zone Breakout" has obviously become the big winner in the whole incident.
Within a day after the incident broke out, the number of Discord fans of the overseas version of the "Dark Zone Breakout" PC game skyrocketed to nearly 80,000.
IGN, GameStar, GameWave, ixbt.games, 4Gamer, ThisIsGame, and others from the United States, Europe, Russia, and Japan have followed up on this incident, and this incident quickly spread to all parts of the world, and these reports all mentioned that the overseas version of "Dark Zone Breakout" has become a rookie challenger.
This turmoil has become a "PK" watched by the whole world.
Among them, GameWave said: There is not much time left for Tarkov, and on the last day of the "Gray Zone Warfare" test, another surprise appeared, that is, the overseas version of the "Dark Zone Breakout" terminal game.
Forbes, the mainstream business media, also gave a more objective opinion: I didn't know much about the game before posting this tweet, but now that I've watched the trailer and will probably try it out when the beta is released early next month, as it looks like an interesting competitor to Escape from Tarkov. The overseas version of "Dark Zone Breakout" looks great.
Now, in the community, there are endless jokes and memes about "fleeing from Tarkov and going to Carmona".
A large number of well-known anchors and KOLs in Tarkov, including LVNDMARK and DrLupo, took the lead in endorsing the overseas version of "Dark Zone Breakout" and staged the program effect.
Even, at present, the original "Escape from Tarkov" streamers on Twitch have collectively defected, and the live broadcast publicly supports the overseas version of the "Dark Zone Breakout" terminal game.
Now it's time to escape from "Tarkov" completely
Domestic Tarkov players have also defected to the dark zone.
Station B has a large number of Tarkov players gathered
For Tencent, this traffic and exposure can only be described as a splashing wealth.
Moreover, the overseas version of the terminal game of "Dark Zone Breakout" is not idle at all, and at the height of the popularity, in addition to welcoming ordinary Tarkov players, the official also released information on the recruitment of overseas creators, saying that the door is open to content creators.
At the same time, the mobile game version of the national server also distributed free "Phnom Penh Gift Box" and 25,088 Cohen coins to players. Obviously, it wants to strike while the iron is hot and win this word-of-mouth war once and for all.
In the end of the development of the story, perhaps the overseas version of "Dark Zone Breakout", as a powerful rookie, finally put pressure on "Escape from Tarkov", and really helped Tarkov players lower the price.
Nikita has released the latest blue-sided version of the rules, noting the dissatisfaction of players and promising to offer a free PvE party mode to all black-sided players and expand the server. At the same time, the mode will also add the ability to purchase it separately in Early Access.
Looking back to summarize the whole incident, some overseas players summed it up appropriately, "This is the PK of two official community accounts, and the final result is a judgment. 」
On closer examination, there may be two keys to the success of the overseas version of the terminal game of "Dark Zone Breakout".
First of all, Tencent's handling details this time make people feel that the pattern is open. Whether it is taking the initiative to mention taking in Tarkov refugees, or responding to plagiarism accusations, the official name of the overseas version of "Dark Zone Breakout" is always humorous and sincere, with no obvious stepping behavior, which is much higher than Tarkov's initiative to make trouble. This has also allowed them to win a large number of players and popularity overseas.
Secondly, Tarkov's blue-edged version this time is just the fuse for the collapse of its reputation, but it is freezing three feet, not a day's cold, and the more essential problem may be that players have a long-standing grudge against Nikita's attitude. This is not the first time something similar has happened, not long ago, "Russian Fishing 4", which is also a Russian manufacturer, also annoyed everyone with its arrogant response to players.
In contrast, the posture of the overseas version of the terminal game of "Dark Zone Breakout" is much more friendly. Referring to the operation process of the mobile game "Dark Zone Breakout" in China for more than a year, we can see many cases of official ending up and mingling with players, such as their planning 117 is one of the game plans with the largest number of fans on the whole network; And the PC version's consistent operation ideas also keep them on the same front as players.
As the blue-edged version of the name – Unheard – Tarkov didn't hear the players, which may have been the key to their declining reputation. From this, it is not difficult for us to find once again that if we want to win players, the essence is still to pay attention to communication with players and make players feel respected. In the future game industry, this should also be something that all manufacturers need to pay attention to.