Recently, NetEase's "Eagle Shooting" and Xishanju's "Swordnet 3" have been sparking a price war for MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online) games on social media platforms.
Liu Zun, the head of DataEye Research Institute, told China Business Daily that traditional MMO has many payment points, severe pressure on players, and mainly focuses on selling value, which leads to unfair and unfriendly game mechanisms, and low cost-effectiveness in gameplay. With the increasing development of social media, the voices of players towards low prices, freedom, and fairness are becoming more apparent.
The mobile game "Against the Water", which claims to make MMO great again, has been at the top of the charts since its launch. Liu Zun stated that the mobile game "Against Water and Cold" has established the model of "selling skin appearance as the main product, not numerical value", but it has not innovated the MMO category.
"Roll down the price"
The characteristics of large DAU (daily active user volume), low consumption, and low entry barriers make the mobile game "Against Water and Cold" more like a martial arts version of "Egg Party" than an MMO game.
"The revenue of the mobile game 'Anti Water Cold' relies on DAU support, rather than top consumer users, so it needs to continuously gain traffic and improve retention." Liu Zun said, "Its revenue relies on continuous marketing, including continuous buying volume, influencer marketing, attracting public opinion and attention, and continuous brand content."
On March 12th, the official Weibo account of NetEase's "Shooting Sculpture" reposted the news of the permanent cancellation of equipment repair fees on the official Weibo account of "Sword Net 3", stating: "In 2024, there are still game equipment repair fees to be charged? Players can rest assured that Shooting Sculpture has arrived. What are you dissatisfied with? Let's help you roll down the price together!"
In response to this, Yu Yuxian, the producer of "Swordnet 3", posted on Weibo: "It is recommended that NetEase Games learn from Swordnet 3 and cancel equipment repair! Cheap or not is not just a matter of words, let's live for 15 years before we talk!"
NetEase's "Eagle Shooting" and Xishanju's "Swordnet 3" have been fiercely contested across the air, causing games under NetEase and Tencent, such as "Tianya Mingyue Dao", "Yimeng Jianghu", "Tianxia 3", and "Star Dawn", to compete for popularity.
In the end, NetEase's "Shooting Sculpture" took advantage of the popularity of the "team battle" and announced the direct sale of fashion and accessories for "permanent 9.9 yuan".
According to social media marketing platform storytelling data, as of March 12th, the interaction volume of the three products "Shooting Eagle", "Swordnet 3", and "Tianya Mingyue Dao" on Weibo reached 411000.
Before its launch, NetEase's "Against the Cold Water" mobile game and "Beyond the World" have also used it as a way to attract attention by engaging with competing games.
Liu Zun told reporters that as the number of game players continues to expand, there is also a demand for young players to play MMO for free and at a low cost. The mobile game "Against Water and Cold" needs to be distinguished from the end game to avoid left and right competition. Therefore, it is necessary to rub against and stir up public opinion on Weibo to attract young players and even non game players.
Jianwang 3, which was criticized by NetEase's "Shooting Sculpture," is an MMO product developed by Xishanju Studio, a subsidiary of Kingsoft Software (03888. HK). It was publicly tested in 2009, with the selling point of not making any content that damages the fair environment of the game.
After more than ten years of operation, Jian Wang 3 still has vitality. According to the 2023 financial report of Kingsoft Software, the annual revenue of "Swordnet 3" has reached a new high. This game has been in operation for 14 years, with continuous iteration and the release of new expansion packs. The graphics quality has been comprehensively upgraded, and "Swordnet 3 Unbounded" is expected to be launched in 2024. Zou Tao, CEO of Kingsoft Software, stated that the revenue from Kingsoft's online gaming and other businesses was 3.977 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6%, mainly driven by the strong growth of Sword Network 3.
Ms. Yu, a player, told reporters that the "equipment repair fee" criticized by NetEase's "Shooting Eagle" for "Swordnet 3" consumes in-game coins that can be swiped within the game and does not pose a significant burden to players.
Regarding the controversy over MMO pricing and future MMO game pricing, the reporter contacted NetEase and Kingsoft Software, but as of publication, no response has been received.
The bitter MMO has been forcing Krypton for a long time
In the early stage of China's Internet development, online games were almost only MMORPG (large multiplayer online role playing) games. In the early 21st century, overseas games such as "Stone Age", "Legend", and "World of Warcraft" entered China, and domestically produced MMO games with more Chinese characteristics such as "Fantasy Westward Journey" and "Swordnet 3" emerged successively. These MMO games have undergone changes in themes, mechanisms, and business models.
Liu Zun told reporters that most of the early MMO games used a combination of point cards and internal purchases. The appearance of Journey overturned this model, making most of the MMO games become free play+internal purchases. The internal purchase payment points include treasure box opening, equipment upgrading, fashion, social props, and passes. "These payment points can be summarized into three modes, one is to buy numbers for forced payment, the other is to buy skin appearance, pay for love, and the third is to buy social props, such as renaming cards, roses, etc." Liu Zun said that at present, most products in the MMO track combine the above payment mode.
The sales power value of MMO games means that the product revenue mainly comes from large R users, and the gaming experience of ordinary players is very poor. "Traditional MMO has many payment points, severe pressure on players, and a focus on selling value, which leads to unfair and unfriendly game mechanisms, and low cost-effectiveness in gameplay," said Liu Zun.
"One Knife 999" - "The experience of ordinary players being money lords" and other business models often used by players to mock MMO games, which have dense payment points and can become stronger by recharging. With the growth of players and the gaming industry, the call for a fair gaming environment has become even stronger.
Liu Zun stated that in the decades since the development of domestic MMO, it has undergone the evolution of PC games, mobile games, and multi end interoperability; At first, players could only play imported products, but now there are different types of premium games to choose from. In this process, the player community has also changed: players have become more layered, such as "some people like to play" Legend ", some like fairy tale themed games, some like PC games, and some are used to mobile games"; With the increasing development of social media, the voices of players towards low prices, freedom, and fairness are becoming more apparent.
Against the backdrop of the long suffering "MMO forced Krypton" in the world, NetEase has launched a "price war".
At the end of June 2023, NetEase's "Against the Cold Water" mobile game was launched. The PC version of "Against Water and Cold" was once mocked by players for "breathing requires money", while the mobile version shouted the slogan of "completely not selling numerical values". Now, on the eve of the launch of the mobile game "Shooting Sculpture", NetEase first fired a gun on "equipment repair costs" as a friendly merchant, and later announced the direct sale of fashion and accessories for "permanent 9.9 yuan".
The Transformation of "Against the Cold Water"
Before its launch in 2023, the mobile game "Against the Cold Water" gained attention through marketing methods such as online peers and competitors. After its launch, its intelligent NPC also gained a wave of attention on social networks. According to data from third-party research firm Sensor Tower, in July 2023, the mobile game "Against Water and Cold" ranked second on the revenue ranking of mobile games in the Chinese App Store.
After the initial traffic dividend passed, the mobile game "Against the Cold Water" still maintained a high ranking on the revenue chart. As of February 2024, the mobile game "Against Water and Cold" ranked 5th on the revenue ranking of mobile games in the Chinese App Store.
Different from the traditional MMO model of "small DAU, high ARPU (average revenue per paid user)", the mobile game "Against Water and Cold" has shifted to "large DAU, low ARPU", accumulating a large number of users and obtaining high revenue through small profits and high sales.
"The mobile game 'Against the Cold Water' attempts to change the traditional MMO's combination of three payment modes, focusing on buying skin and appearance, weakening or even canceling the mode of buying numerical values and social items." Liu Zun analyzed, "In this way, its payment mode is more centralized and single. Players can buy skin and appearance, or not buy them, which does not affect the strength of the characters, and thus appears' not forced to pay '."
NetEase's Q4 2023 financial report revealed that the number of active users of its PC and mobile games exceeded 100 million. On February 5, 2024, the official announcement of the mobile game "Against the Cold Water" revealed that its 6-yuan fashion has sold 200 million pieces.
"In terms of payment, the mobile game 'Anti Water Cold' is indeed the best MMO mobile game I have ever played in recent years." Player Mo Qiu (pseudonym) said, "I have not spent money on combat power. I have spent all my money on fashion, but my combat power can be in the first tier of the game."
At the same time, Mo Qiu did not spend a lot of time on improving his combat power without spending money. "One to two hours a day is enough, I think. Even during the long grass period (when there is no new content in the game), he only needs to go online for 5 minutes." Moreover, as an MMO game, "Cold Water" mobile game does not require social interaction, and single players can also pass through dungeons.
The reporter learned through Mo Qiu that in the mobile game "Against Water and Cold", spending money can also enhance combat effectiveness, but it has a great randomness, so the effect is not significant. In addition, players can purchase high combat weapons from other players through auction houses, while the game official does not directly sell numerical values.
Compared to enhancing combat power, players of the mobile game "Against the Cold Water" spend more on appearance. Mo Qiu told reporters that some high-end fashion and mounts are composed of rare materials and small materials. Rare materials are randomly dropped in the game, while small materials are drawn by players after recharging in the game. Both can be purchased through second-hand transactions in auction houses.
The fashion in the mobile game "Cold Water" is not related to the player's combat power. "Divine Gift Fashion has a skill that can change surrounding scenes for a few minutes. The cooldown time for the skill is one day, equivalent to about 150000 RMB; Divine Gift mounts cost about three to four hundred thousand RMB." Mo Qiu introduced.
The reporter learned through Mo Qiu that some players spent 170000 yuan on the appearance of the mobile game "Against the Cold Water", and spent 400000 yuan on enhancing their combat power in another MMO game to reach the top of the rankings.
Has the mobile game "Against Water and Cold" that shouted "Let MMO be great again" really changed the MMO category?
"The mobile game 'Against Water and Cold' is not a revolution, but rather a model that focuses on selling skin appearance rather than numerical value," said Liu Zun.
Mo Qiu believes that the audience for the mobile game "Against Water Cold" is different from traditional MMO games, with most of them being new to MMO games. "For traditional MMO players," Against Water Cold "mobile game is like a dessert that meets the needs of mobile devices, but its playability is average. Most traditional MMO players are still playing World of Warcraft or Swordnet 3." Based on this, he believes that "Against Water Cold" mobile game cannot change the MMO category.
"About one-third of the users of the mobile game" Reverse Water Cold "have not played any other NetEase games before. These users mainly come from other products with larger user scales in the market." During NetEase's 2023 Q3 financial report conference call, NetEase CEO Ding Lei revealed that "Reverse Water Cold" mobile game adopts a more affordable and non mandatory numerical payment model. Players pay a small amount, so the payment ratio is relatively high, and the average contribution of revenue per user is relatively low. We are committed to creating a healthier and less stressful new profit model for players to maintain long-term healthy operation. "