At present, the trend of major manufacturers to reduce costs and increase efficiency is still prevalent, and betting on a game product has become increasingly cautious. This has also led to some strange phenomena in the market: on the one hand, large manufacturers with strong capital are sparing no effort to ALL IN a new product, which is difficult for small and medium-sized manufacturers to match from product size to publicity and distribution budget; on the other hand, many projects have been Confirmed as lacking market competitiveness, many were stillborn.
In this cruel environment, for many non-leading businesses, a product can find the right audience and establish itself in the market through differentiated themes and segmented tracks. Its importance may not be less than that of making the game itself.
Recently, Mr. Top has noticed that a product that has returned from overseas regions has found its own path and is already gaining momentum in China.
“MapleStory: Will of the Alliance” under Xinghui Games is authorized by NEXON.MapleStory IP placement game independently developed by Xinghui.
This product was launched in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan in September 2021. The market response was enthusiastic when it was first launched, and it won the first place in Taiwan, China within 5 hours.No. 1 on iOS bestseller list and free listresults, and inIt has dominated the best-selling list for 19 consecutive days.After the game was launched in Southeast Asia in July this year, it also achieved outstanding performance by ranking first on the free list and in the top three best-selling lists in many countries.
The game itself has been recommended by Apple Store editors many times, and has frequently been featured in key resource booths such as TODAY special topics.
As a product that has received good response overseas and is backed by classic IP, this product will soon be launched inPublic beta on January 24, 2024It seems that the game will not only cause a wave of waves among the old players of MapleStory, but will also become a strong competitor in the placement track at the beginning of next year.
Understand classic IPs and better understand old players 20 years later
As mentioned at the beginning, the game has received enthusiastic response in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Southeast Asia, and it is very promising to show its strength in the domestic market. According to Mr. Gyro, it has a lot to do with the product being able to find its own positioning.
The PC game “MapleStory” was introduced in China in 2004. Most of the old players at that time have now married and started businesses. And “MapleStory: Will of the Alliance” has undoubtedly identified the current demands of these old players:I hope to feel the emotion and happiness to the greatest extent within the limited time.
Probably based on this understanding of users, “MapleStory: Will of the Alliance” chose a vertical version of the track that can be operated with one hand, highlights the ease of use, and is highly tolerant of themes, and has a “vertical layout”. The slogan “new adventure, fun and classic” focuses on two aspects.
First, it can retain the flavor of the original work.As a product for fans, “MapleStory: Will of the Alliance” has also made great efforts in IP sentiment: the familiar cartoon style, highly restored professions, melodious music and various scenes that can quickly evoke memories, all It can immediately take players back to the lazy days of the past.
The second is to create an overall more relaxed and enjoyable gaming experience for players.To this end, “MapleStory: Will of the Alliance” has made many drastic cuts and changes to the daily gameplay and character development of the traditional placement category.
On the one hand, the game intentionally weakens the “office-style gaming experience” that is often criticized by many players today.The game is presented in a vertical screen mode, which can be easily operated with one hand. Daily dungeons that often take up a lot of energy under manual control can also be automatically fought, and can be swept away in the middle and late stages.
Source player video
At the same time, traditional and cumbersome cultivation has also been simplified. For example, the system will automatically match skill groups in the character’s rich skill pool, allowing players to focus on the timing of skill release and level development. The equipment system is also simple and straightforward. For example, the enhancement of equipment abandons the randomness of numerical improvement, and does not introduce various materials with unknown meanings. You only need to specify the materials to achieve the purpose.
On the other hand, games make positive feedback more direct,For example, the tower-climbing gameplay that players are familiar with has been changed from general weekly rewards to daily rewards; combat power feedback can also be obtained through various methods such as obtaining riding pets, home decorations, etc.; the number of pets that can be owned has increased to 7.
In addition, “MapleStory: Will of the Alliance” also avoids some sensitive payment points, such as idle upgrades are completely free. At the same time, there are also some cute changes, such as clothing that has a combat power bonus regardless of whether it is worn or not, allowing players to dress up more freely.
It’s also worth mentioning that “MapleStory: Will of the Alliance” is currently availableMultiple reservation bonus activities have been launched.By signing in and inviting friends, in addition to giving away more in-game props such as fashions, red diamonds (paid currency), and pet fragments, there are also physical items such as game peripherals, electronic products, concert tickets, and even the right to live on a Maldives island. This magical prize.
But one thing needs to be pointed out,Regardless of the depth of development of the game, the complexity of the mechanism or the degree of commercialization, it cannot be discussed in general terms without being separated from the product’s own positioning and its audience.It’s just that for this product, when the portrait of the target group is very vivid and clear, these changes are undoubtedly reasonable to simplify the development as much as possible and amplify the immediate feedback on the values.
Whether the manufacturer can take advantage of the above product advantages and this wave of welfare marketing tactics to obtain a group of active users immediately after its launch is crucial to “MapleStory: Will of the Alliance” – this will It lays a user base for the player social environment and PVP competitive ecology at the beginning of the game.
Release millions of bounties to attract attention, and let all flowers bloom in PVP
As a card-placed track product, PVP gameplay is also an indispensable part of expanding players’ game social interaction. “MapleStory: Will of the Alliance” has also launched various types of PVP modes. I hopeMeets the competitive needs of both light and medium-to-severe players.
One is a relatively simple numerical verification PVP such as “1V1 Arena”, which is the classic combat power PK. The system will recommend suitable opponents for players every day, and players will receive rank rewards at the end of each season.
In the “Duel Arena—Full Server 1v1 Knockout Tournament”, players will conduct several PKs in a short period of time. Since they can control the characters by hand, their technical level will also become the key to winning or losing the battle.
The other is“Masked Party” is a 3V3 fair competition.In “Masked Party”, players are divided into two camps and need to bring the opponent’s flag back to their own base camp, while also preventing their own flag from being taken away by the opponent. Since attributes and props are uniformly provided by the system, the player’s skill level and teamwork have become important variables in winning or losing.
The design of this mode undoubtedly encourages players to actively play in three rows with game friends. However, since it is a completely fair competition, players who are confident in their skills have no problem being a “cold-eyed lone wolf”.
In addition, there are even largerCross-server event “Treasure Island Hegemony”.This mode adopts a rotating PK system, and in each round of competition, the adventure groups will launch a 30V30 large-scale stronghold attack and defense battle. Among them, the adventure group needs to reasonably allocate 30 members and send them to 5 areas in Treasure Island to occupy. After the time is up, the adventure group with the most occupied areas will win.
Obviously, in “Treasure Island Battle”, what strategies each team will use will become a highlight. Using the ancient wisdom of “Tian Ji Horse Racing”, an adventure group with a disadvantage in per capita combat power can also win cleverly; if it can use a trick of “Secret Chen Cang”, it is not impossible for a team that has been stumbled to achieve an ultimate comeback in the countdown. In addition to this kind of “intrigue” strategy and the excitement of the ever-changing war, the full and rapid cooperation between the members of an adventure team has also become a bargaining chip to increase victory.
On the day the game is launched, “MapleStory: Will of the Alliance” will also launch server-wide events centered on multiple PVP gameplays, including the above-mentioned “Duel Arena”, “Masked Party” and “Treasure Island Hegemony”. Each method of play settles the prize pool separately, which allows most players to put their punches to the test.
This kind of event itself focuses on “all people can participate, as long as they have the skills.” Although winning the grand prize still requires players to thoroughly understand the rules of PVP and learn how to play it, there is almost no threshold for participation. In addition,A million-dollar prize pool was released as an eye-catcher.This shows how much the manufacturer attaches importance to an active game atmosphere when launching a server.
It can be seen that in order to fully encourage players to socialize, “MapleStory: Will of the Alliance” has put a lot of thought into the design of PVP gameplay, but it also provides a relatively loose game space for “lone wolf” players, and uses millions of bonuses to Events help players quickly understand the core rules of various PVP gameplay and experience the fun.
For a product aimed at fans of the MapleStory IP, this is not only in line with the original social attributes of the “MapleStory” PC game, but also serves as a platform for those who are “simply curious about what this classic IP looks like” but have little social interest. The new generation of players has left a small door open.
Feelings, a business that never goes out of style
In some past articles, Mr. Top has also mentioned the unique value of emotional marketing in today’s stock market.
The MapleStory IP is a typical representative of feelings for current players and the market. According to rough estimates, the number of users of this IP in China has reached tens of millions, and the market value contained in it can be imagined.
Currently, “MapleStory: Will of the Alliance” has received 1 million reservations on the official website and 100,000 reservations on TapTap.
Looking back now, IP play has been popular in the gaming industry for many years, but it is not always effective. Many products often gain a small burst of explosive power during the period of intensive promotion, but then die out.
Mr. Gyro believes that one of the reasons is actually that some manufacturers fail to see clearly the true face of the target audience and the real demands of this group for game products. Therefore, IP often only remains on the surface, and it is difficult for feelings to settle into the game. of actual experience.
As mentioned at the beginning, “MapleStory: Will of the Alliance” has accurately identified its target users and its own positioning. Coupled with the product’s unique gameplay and welfare marketing, it is very hopeful that it can successfully play this emotional card and take the lead in 2024. Get a good start on the placement track. We’ll have to wait and see.
