It is said that change is the only constant truth in the game industry. In the game circle where the "survival of the fittest" jungle law is particularly prominent, the sense of crisis has always pushed major manufacturers towards the main theme of the boutique, globalization, and z-generation industry, even if it is the giants in the industry.
Indeed, even Perfect World Games (hereinafter referred to as Perfect), an established game company that has had its own research and development and marketing strength since the end game era, is now actively getting rid of the identity of the "traditional mmo factory" in the impression of players and peers.
Perfect recently opened a new brand upgrade, with a brand identity that never stops "comma", highlighting its determination to actively "seek change". Not only that, but then on April 13, the Perfect World Game Strategy Conference was held in Beijing, and the latest news of its reserve of new products was further disclosed.
Holding a series of global high-quality IP, the conference showed a perfect extension from the past four flagship categories to the new layout of z-generation and diversified categories such as secondary yuan, cards, jrpg, etc., and the number of products was as many as nearly 30. In Gamelook's view, this is undoubtedly the most determined change of Perfect after the release of the Z-generation brand strategy three years ago.
Classic, trendy, technological, perfect determination of the three declarations
As early as a few years ago, Perfect began to extend the main line of product research and development around the end game IP and wuxia IP, and gradually explored and tried in the direction of diversification. From this point of view, the product launch conference with three major chapters such as "classic chapter" and "trend chapter" as the axis is more like a collective handover of the past strategic layout.
In the "classic chapter" at the beginning of the press conference, Perfect first unfolded its inherent advantages, and announced its product reserves of four flagship categories of fantasy, magic, immortals and martial arts, including the familiar perfect world IP, the immortal IP, the martial arts IP and the god demon IP based on the god eagle and the laughing pride, as well as the film and television drama IP "Fragrant Honey Sinks Like Frost" and the Dream Set IP and many new products.
At the same time, Perfect also announced that it will continue to dig deep into the moat, starting from categories and classic IP, and jumping towards the goal of diversified and long-term development. Soon, Perfect Immediately announced products such as "Magic Tower", "One Punch Superman: World", "Code Name:x", "Black Cat Strange News Agency" and other products in the second chapter, trying to seek a new breakthrough direction in multiple subdivisions such as quadratic, card, jrpg and so on.
But obviously, these do not make the perfection of "seeking change" feel satisfied, and it is also trying to absorb high-quality IP in more fields. For example, Perfect announced its cooperation with Caitiaowu to win the three major animated movie IPs of the Fengshen series "Nezha's Demon Child Descending", "Jiang Ziya" and "Journey to the West: The Return of the Great Sage"; at the same time, it also joined hands with Bilibili and Art Painting to dig deep into the popular science fiction national comic IP "Spirit Cage". There is no doubt that Perfect is about to launch a series of trendy new products in the hot field of national comics.
In the end, Perfect also shows the determination to consolidate core competitiveness. To this day, the self-developed giant still adheres to the "technology dare to be the first", while retaining its own engine and taking into account the commercial engine "walking on two legs", it also announced that it will continue to lay out the 5G cloud game field. In addition, Perfect is also working on creating the "Perfect World Game Stars Program" and a new game community app that focuses on creating global mini-games.
Starting from the advantage of the track, covering more segments, and connecting a series of high-quality IP, etc., in the face of the intensification of competition in the era of boutique, this veteran manufacturer does not want to stop at past achievements. In gamelook's view, the new product explosion of perfect this conference is more like an open declaration to the whole industry to highlight its determination to self-change of quality, diversification and globalization.
Behind the transformation of self-confidence, it comes from the deep precipitation of R&D integration
It is undeniable that "seeking change" itself is not an easy task, especially for such an industry giant, it takes more than courage. So, what is the basis for the change of Perfect World game products?
In fact, from the end game era to the present, the combination of R&D and marketing is the foundation of this established game company.
As we all know, the perfect self-research ability is always at the forefront of the industry. As early as the end game era, he used the self-developed 3D engine to create a number of industry-leading boutique products such as "Perfect World". After accumulating more than ten years of experience in three-terminal research and development, the two self-developed engines of Perfectera and Angelica X have become more and more mature.
However, this does not mean that Perfect abandons the use of Unreal Engine altogether. Under the general trend of market boutique transformation, Perfect has also noticed the remarkable effect of Unreal Engine in product development. The highly anticipated original light science fiction open world arpg product "Magic Tower", as well as new products such as "Sui Xian 2" and the new "Jie Xian World" are also developed based on Unreal Engine. At last year's "Unreal Open Day", Lu Xiaoyin, president of Perfect World and CEO of Perfect World Games, also mentioned that the next one or two years will be an explosive stage for Perfect's Unreal Engine product matrix.
Of course, in addition to attaching importance to engine technology, Perfect is also actively developing cloud games and the application of innovative technologies such as AR, VR, and AI. For example, "Dream Set Cygnus" has added ar facial recognition technology; in addition, from the launch of the cloud game version of "Deep Sea Trek" in 2017, to the first flagship cloud game "New God Demon Continent" previously cooperated with China Telecom, to the native cloud game "Xuan Xian 2" that is under development. Perfect is constantly exploring cloud gaming in the form of a "cloud gaming trilogy", which has aroused continuous attention inside and outside the industry.
As one of the most successful manufacturers of "end-to-hand", perfect is the biggest difference from the companies with self-development capabilities in the same period, in fact, it lies in its mature marketing methods, and it is even jokingly called "the most entertaining company in the game circle" by peers in the end-game era. It is not difficult to understand that at the moment when the issuance strength of many established manufacturers has been hit hard, Perfect can still hand over a number of bright release results.
At the beginning of 2020, after the launch of the "New Laughing Pride Jianghu" mobile game, it achieved a good result of 1 billion yuan in 3 months; at the same time, under the perfect and skillful marketing methods, the "New God Demon Continent" that was publicly tested in July last year also successfully achieved a bright performance of breaking 100 million in the 5 days of online and exceeding 400 million in the first month.
It is no exaggeration to say that behind the rare failure of perfect research and development and the release of new products, it is the most intuitive manifestation of its self-development + marketing comprehensive ability that is becoming more and more mature, and this unique advantage has become the biggest reliance on Perfect to boldly choose to change now.
Niche, quadratic, cards, JRPG, narrative puzzle all need to get rid of the shackles of "mmo maker" identity
More than a decade ago, there was almost only one type of game manufacturer in China, namely mmo developers. The perfect world that grew up in this period naturally began to be known to players and peers as an mmo company. But in fact, based on its multiple R & D teams with independent development capabilities, as well as the advantages of the mature model of R&D integration. As early as a few years ago, Perfect began to dabble in many "non-mmo" projects.
Not long ago, the perfect first Cthulhu-themed roguelike mobile game "Legend of the Old Days" once rushed to the top 2 of the iOS free list. The success of established manufacturers in niche themes once refreshed the cognition of peers and players for this well-known "label" in the industry. What I didn't expect was that at this conference, the perfect high-profile voice was once again heard, and its category layout was far richer than others imagined, further subverting the industry's long-standing stereotype of it.
From the perspective of product attributes, the original two-dimensional mobile game "Magic Tower", the popular Japanese manga adaptation "One Punch Superman: World", the new work "code name: x" adapted by the hall-level Japanese IP, the urban fantasy puzzle mobile game "Black Cat Strange News Society", the film and television drama adaptation game "Fragrant Honey Sinks Like Frost", and a number of independent games in the Stars Plan. Obviously, the perfect new product matrix has achieved a big leap from mmo to emerging categories such as two-dimensional, cards, jrpg, narrative puzzle solving, and solo travel, to meet the diversified and personalized aesthetic needs of more current user groups.
At the same time, holding perfect world IP, Xuexian IP, wuxia IP, magic IP, and four national comic IP and other fresh forces, Perfect is also trying to create a diversified IP ecosystem, continue to launch high-quality games favored by new and old players, in order to link more users.
After understanding this, it is not difficult to find that this is exactly the core concept that the perfect brand wants to emphasize after the upgrade - "never stop, build the game products that the times and players need, and always 'play, together' with players." ”
epilogue
In recent years, the excellent performance of emerging companies in the Shanghai game circle has been obvious to all, and it has gradually come into the spotlight of the whole industry. On the contrary, the veteran game companies that were once sought after by their peers have encountered criticism due to factors such as fewer explosive games and conservative projects, and even appeared to be sung by some gamers.
In gamelook's view, as the perfect world game of the "big brother" of the game circle, it is obviously of great significance to choose strategic information such as upgrading the brand and announcing new products at this time node. This is tantamount to making the seemingly calm game circle start to rise, and it also makes a good start for all game companies to break through in the second half.
More importantly, players and peers have also seen that perfect world games that adhere to the quality of products and content still have the determination and strength to transform and break through. Nowadays, it is obviously not respectful enough to use the name of "mmo manufacturer", and this industry "comma" who refuses to stop at the "period" and is committed to change and progress will bring surprises in the next two decades, and it is more exciting.