In the past few years, the global game development environment has improved, and many manufacturers are busy reducing costs and laying off employees due to the difficulty of making money. However, IGG has recently bucked the trend and its revenue has risen steadily.
According to the financial report, in 2023, a year when many gamers think it is more difficult to make money, IGG has achieved a reversal and turned from a loss to a profit.
When it comes to this manufacturer, many people may immediately think of the classic SLG game "Lords Mobile". But IGG has turned from a loss to a profit, and it really doesn't just rely on the classic model - if you take a closer look at their 2023 annual report, you will find that the revenue performance of the new games developed and launched by the company in recent years cannot be ignored.
For example, Viking-themed SLG game "Viking Rise", which was launched globally in April last year, has earned more than HK$400 million in just 8 months after its launch, accounting for 7.8% of IGG's annual revenue in 2023.
Recently, stepping on the first anniversary of its launch, "Viking Rise" launched its first IP cooperation.
IP cooperation is not uncommon in the industry, and some products will even break the circle when they are launched. Looking back, "Viking Rise", which has an annual income of hundreds of millions, only did IP cooperation at this time, which seemed a little strange - why not do it earlier?
And judging from the specific content of their event, "Viking Rise" is not without ideas, but seems to be intentional, and has been preparing for a year behind the scenes, and finally broke out at the node of the anniversary. IGG's ambitions for this game are just beginning to emerge: they care and think about more than just breaking the circle.
01 Two-way choice: Enrich the game content experience through IP cooperation
This line of thinking is quite obvious in IP cooperation. "Viking Rise" wants much more than mass exposure.
First, in terms of cooperation choice, they are not simply looking for well-known IPs, but at the same time looking for IPs that match their tonality.
Their collaboration with Vikings: Valhalla is a Viking-inspired historical series. As a spin-off of the "Vikings" series that has blown up "Viking fever" around the world in recent years, "Vikings: Valhalla" has now aired for two seasons. It is said that it will launch its final season this summer, during the collaboration with Viking Rise.
Regardless of the ontology or a spin-off
The "Viking Legends" series has a high rating on Douban
The "Viking Legends" series may not be the hottest TV series in the world at the moment, but it has maintained high popularity and stable high ratings in the past ten years, which is enough to show the importance that the production company attaches to the show and its good audience, it can be called the world's hottest Viking TV series.
Netizen cos "Viking Legends" character, picture source network
For such a prestigious IP in the Viking circle, cooperating with "Viking Rise" may be more like a two-way choice: in-depth Viking themes, small accomplished games, and popular TV series, both of which have outstanding performance in their respective fields. It can be seen that Viking Rise chose Vikings: Valhalla, but it can also be said that it is Vikings: Valhalla that recognizes the Viking flavor and influence of Viking Rise.
Second, when it comes to the content of the collaboration, "Viking Rise" is not just looking for "Viking Legends: Valhalla" to put a name on it and increase exposure.
During the co-op, they made additional in-game event story dungeons. The dungeon follows the content of Vikings: Valhalla, telling the various experiences of the three protagonists in the play after they were shipwrecked on the game continent on the way to Kattegat.
Players can take on the role of different characters to experience and progress the story through multiple perspectives and different strategies. It's equivalent to having TV series characters make cameos in the game.
"Viking Legends" characters appear
Players who advance the story of the event will be able to talk to the Collaboration Heroes, deliver event items, and obtain Collaboration Heroes, March Emotes, Territory Skins, Main City Decorations, Avatar Frames, and more.
In addition, Viking Rise has also prepared a crossover feature flyer. Among them, there is not only a global display of linkage content, but also treasure chest activities: players can invite friends to form a team, log in to the game, challenge H5 mini games, recharge, etc., to earn points to redeem treasure chest rewards.
The rewards provided on the page are not limited to in-game items such as linkage avatar frames. Players will also have the opportunity to win physical rewards including iPhones, Amazon shopping cards, and BOSE headphones. This form may be more able to encourage players to spontaneously spread the linkage and increase traffic.
Linkage special leaflets
It is not difficult to find that in order to engage in IP cooperation, "Viking Rise" has made a lot of preparations, and has also made a lot of investment in publicity. For players, this is probably more immersive than a simple collaboration.
Thirdly, it's no coincidence that Viking Rise chose this time for the crossover – they just hit the ground running for the Viking Sagas: Valhalla season. Viking Rise not only complements the game's story with content that is highly aligned with the game's Viking theme; It can also try to break the circle with the greatest efforts, attract fans of TV dramas who are interested in Viking culture and history, and bring more attention and recognition to IP linkage.
From this point of view, IGG has been holding back for a year and spending a lot of effort on the IP cooperation of its new game, obviously the purpose is not just to make the game out of the circle, but to enrich the content experience of the game.
02 IGG blood support: young age, already the company's head product
However, the level of investment and action of "linkage with hit dramas" is only the tip of the iceberg of the anniversary celebration of "Viking Rise".
First of all, in addition to IP cooperation, the game also launched a series of anniversary celebrations called "Dawn Celebration", with unprecedented benefits. One of the most eye-catching players may be the "Gift of God" - the game randomly selects koi players to share tens of millions of gems. This kind of costly welfare investment is undoubtedly close to the level of price war.
Secondly, "Viking Legends" is not the only big name to help the anniversary this time.
For example, in the TV series "Game of Thrones", Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, who plays the character Gregor Clegan (nicknamed the Magic Mountain), was recently invited to record a video as the pioneer of the new version of Viking Rise, introducing players to the rules of the event and celebrating the birth of the first Valhalla Martial Arts champion in the game.
In addition to cross-border film and television collaborations, Viking Rise also focuses on brand content: they collaborated with Laia San José Beltrán, a Spanish historian of Viking culture, to launch the "Viking Lecture Hall" series, which elevates the game's delicacy of Viking themes to an academic level.
Make new content and send benefits in the game, and pull all kinds of celebrities outside the game to celebrate...... Obviously, IGG is riveting this time and wants to pick up "Viking Rise".
It can be taken so seriously by IGG because this game can really play:
When it first launched last year, Viking Rise topped the iOS download charts in several countries; Since then, it has been recommended by the Apple App Store and Google Play for many times; At the end of last year, Viking Rise also won several awards, including "Google Play Best Tablet Game of 2023".
Although it is young, it can be regarded as entering the head product echelon of IGG in terms of word-of-mouth and revenue performance.
03 Unconcealable ambition: An annual income of hundreds of millions is just the beginning
You might be surprised to see this: Viking Rise isn't IGG's highest-grossing product, and it's been online for a year, which means it's probably past the revenue explosion it was when it first launched...... But now that the anniversary is celebrated, it is a linkage with big film and television IP, and it is also inviting stars, why is IGG so willing to invest in it?
But after looking back at the recent game update initiatives, I think it's really hard to draw conclusions about whether Viking Rise's revenue peak is in the past or in the future. IGG's investment in this game is more like a purpose: earning hundreds of millions a year is obviously not their ultimate goal.
On the one hand, in the comfort zone of the Viking genre, although Viking Rise has gained a foothold, it is still adding new gameplay and features in order to maintain freshness.
In the past year, they have added dozens of gameplay and activities such as the "Mystic Sanctuary" dungeon (a dungeon that goes deep into layers) and the "Valhalla Martial Arts Show" feature (a knockout match between player clans, advancing the upper, middle and lower three lanes, and pulling out the opponent's flag to be considered a victory); It is reported that in order to enrich the cooperative play experience, "Viking Rise" is currently preparing for a large-scale naval battle raid GVG (Group vs Group, team battle) gameplay, as well as a new alliance BOSS.
"Valhalla's Martial Arts" map
On the other hand, "Viking Rise" does not limit itself to the Viking genre, but focuses on Viking, comprehensively excavating its geographical, historical, cultural and other external characteristics to expand the boundaries of content and attract a wider range of potential users.
For example, KVK (Kingdoms vs Kingdoms) S2 season "Expedition to England" (expedition and occupation of manors in the territory of England) expands the geographical scope of the game's story outward, so that European history lovers also have the opportunity to convert into game users; Another example is the currently planned KVK S3 season "Trial of Asgard" (faction confrontation in the God's Domain to get the reward of the gods), Asgard is the world where the gods are located in Norse mythology, and the gameplay is also based on Norse mythological stories, those who don't understand Viking culture, but are interested in mythology, may also try "Viking Rise".
"Expedition to England" captures Windsor Castle
Therefore, the performance of "Viking Rise" in the past year with hundreds of millions of dollars may be just the beginning. After all, now they are taking advantage of the anniversary to break out again, and they are taking a bigger step.
Judging from this situation, it is highly inaccurate to predict the future trend of "Viking Rise" based on past results. After expanding the gameplay and targeting a wider audience, the game's competitiveness in the SLG track and Viking theme may be worth reconsidering.