Looking back on the domestic mobile game market in 2023, the fierce competition in the two-dimensional track is an unavoidable topic. According to the incomplete statistics of Gyro, since April 2023, at least 22 mobile game products for core two-dimensional users were launched last year, not only with a wide distribution of game categories, but also with differences in themes and gameplay. However, as of the statistical time, only 4 models remained in the top 200 of the iOS best-selling list, and the vast majority of products were reduced to a flash in the pan.
2023 Second Tour New Product Chart.
The strong are always strong
In stark contrast to the bursting two-dimensional bubble, the revenue of the second-game market in 2023 has actually ushered in strong growth. According to the "2023 China Game Industry Report", the sales volume of the domestic second-game mobile game market this year will be 3170.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3101%。
Based on the increasingly mature industrial pipeline, rich game content and deep brand fan base, miHoYo used this turn-based RPG to once again expand the possibilities of two-dimensional products, not only successfully ranking among the frequent users of the global monthly revenue list, but also winning the three major awards of "Google Play Game of the Year", "2023 iPhone Game of the Year" and "TGA Best Mobile Game". In the new two-dimensional products, there is no other in the limelight.
Last year, it occupied a place in the second-game player group, as well as Deep Blue Interactive's "Back to the Future: 1999". With its recognizable art tonality, differentiated themes and excellent narrative capabilities, this product not only has an estimated turnover of more than 100 million yuan in the first month, but also adjusted the pace of commercial operation in the first storm and successfully gained a firm foothold. However, it is worth noting that the publicity force and cost invested in this new product are not low, and DataEye statistics show that the amount of materials in the online outbreak stage far exceeds that of "Honkai: Star Dome Railway" in the same period, becoming a rare case of saturated purchase publicity in the two-dimensional track in 2023.
But more often than not, a large number of non-head products have not gotten a piece of the pie, before the launch of "sitting on the whole network of millions of reservations", "art volume crazy", soon after the launch of the rapid fade out of the player's field of vision of the product is not a few, many second game products "you have not sung I have appeared", but in the end, everyone only found that the limited time and energy of the second game players is far from enough to support such a dense similar products, especially in the first half of the year after the baptism of two head products and the repeated stimulation of new products, The tolerance for a generic product has also become less inclusive.
It is conceivable that in the future, a suitable launch schedule and excellent product quality will become the necessary conditions for the successful breakthrough of a new second-game product.
Overseas to domestic sales
Among last year's new second-game products, there were not a few second-game products that were first released or introduced overseas, which made the already overloaded track even more crowded.
Tencent's "White Night Aurora", Youzu's "Crimson Echoes", and Shanghai Frog Pounce (Dena China)'s "Echoes of Fate: Sighs on the Strings" are the first products to be launched overseas. Among them, "White Night Aurora" was regarded as the art "volume king" in the second-game products when it was launched overseas in June 2021, and it was once optimistic that it was an important attempt by Tencent to enter the two-dimensional track, but last year, surrounded and diverted by a large number of more "new" products, the original art advantages are no longer so obvious, and the results achieved are only unsatisfactory.
The ** products include Zilong's "Seventh Epic", Youxing's "Azure Archive", and Bilibili Games' "Shine! Handsome Girl". "Returnees" and overseas products have a certain impact on last year's second-game track, and also let us have a certain view of the second-game audience, such as the very heavy PVP gameplay of "The Seventh Epic", which is unexpectedly not so "unadaptable", and has good feedback among players. The multi-faceted nature of the "second-game players" and the sense of tearing of each small circle can be seen in the fierce community discussions, and it is also very important for a product to think clearly about what kind of audience it wants to serve.
There are many ways to play
Compared with the major manufacturers in previous years, they have engaged in art arms competitions and talked about the differentiation of content themes, on this basis, in 2023, we will see a lot of second-game products working on subdividing the gameplay.
For example, at the end of the year, there were a succession of war chess mobile games with different gameplay of "Ganglan" and "Girls' Frontline 2: Pursuit" on the market (including pan-two-dimensional products such as "Sword of the Lily of the Valley"), carving up this category featuring strategy.
It is worth noting that "Dust White Forbidden Zone" also relies on the release of the PC side ("Kara Picchu" is currently only available on the PC side), so the data from third-party statistical agencies cannot reflect the market performance of the game on the whole platform for the time being.
In addition, there are more niche RTT gameplay ("Fog Sequence") and **G ("Singularity Era"), which is really rare in mobile games. Despite the variety of fresh gameplay, it's worth noting that last year's winners, whether it's Crash Iron or 1999, are actually the ubiquitous turn-based RPGs. Perhaps this also shows that the innovation of the gameplay of the second game is a plus, but there is also the risk of screening users, and it is still the key to be able to integrate with the characters and plot to serve the overall product experience.
It's been a product blowout, and it's been a tough year
2023 is not only a year of blowout for the second tour, but also a difficult year. Game Gyro also counted the second game that was announced to be suspended last year. According to incomplete statistics, there are finally 19 second games that will be announced to be suspended in 2023, some of which belong to the "end of life", and many of them have left the market with regret in less than a year.
2023 Suspension Second Tour Chart.
In the past, Tencent's determination to squeeze into the two-dimensional track is obvious to all, but there have been few outstanding results, this time, in the statistics**, a total of 4 mobile games published by Tencent announced the suspension of operations.
Among the discontinued products, IP adaptation accounts for a certain proportion. Although in recent years, with the development of high-quality games, IP adapted games have bid farewell to the past routines such as changing skins, but in order to continue to operate on the second game track, it seems that it is difficult to meet the needs of increasingly discerning players, and manufacturers may need to pay more attention to game quality, innovation and user experience.
Among Tencent**'s games, the much-talked-about "Noah's Heart" also announced its suspension a year after its launch. This two-dimensional open-world MMO developed by Zulong only reached No. 46 on the best-selling list at the beginning of its launch. The overall scale of resources invested is not small, and the team of more than 200 people spent 4 years of research and development. In today's open-world environment where gaming traffic is a hot keyword, it can also lead to greater disappointment and backlash while creating high expectations for players. Noah's Heart's ambiguity in terms of both the open-world and MMO experiences is one of the reasons why players are generally criticized.
As a two-dimensional B station, it has been difficult to improve in the game business in recent years, and a total of 4 second games issued by B station ** have been suspended. It has been a year since the adjustment of the game business structure of Station B, and "Non-Anonymous Instruction" is the first product launched after Chen Rui took over the game business, and it has been ranked 15th on the best-selling list, but unfortunately it is still facing closure in the end. Nowadays, the majority of Station B's revenue is still the two old products of "Blue Route" and "Fate Grand Order".
With the suspension of a large number of game products in 2023, it is foreseeable that manufacturers will have to take a more cautious and wait-and-see attitude in terms of future project approval and capital investment.
A strong man breaks his wrist
In addition to the cut projects, there are also 4 second games this year that have been "stillborn" before they are launched, some of them were cut because the project did not meet expectations, a bit because of team conflicts, and some because of the rupture of funds. It is worth noting that judging from several tests, the player feedback and overall quality of these second games are actually not very bad.
Chronological Echo 24 36 is the product with the highest number of reservations, with 890,000 reservations on taptap and a rating of 82, and has already got the version number in February last year. In 2022, the two-dimensional track has set off a wave of niche cultural creation style products such as new weird stories and supernatural ones, and "Chronological Remnants 24 36" is one of them, becoming one of the currently promising dark horses with stylized art and PV performances. But in the end, the team's expectations fell short of reality, forcing them to make the decision to shut down the project.
The news of the suspension of the other world came even more suddenly, with 420,000 reservations for taptap and 8A score of 2 is enough to see that the quality of the game is **. Shortly after the end of the previous round of testing, the official was still interacting with players and said that they would actively absorb their opinions for optimization. However, after 3 days, there is only about a month left before the open beta, and Xishanju informed players that due to the test not meeting user expectations, "The Other World" will be shut down. However, for Xishanju, instead of facing a serious risk of word-of-mouth damage after going online, it is also a reasonable way to stop losses by simply cutting it.
The remaining two "Touring Trains" and "Stars" have 8 on TapTap30,000 appointments and 130,000 reservations. The "Touring Train" team broke up unhappily after a lack of funds and internal conflicts. "Zhuangxing", which has been invested by Tencent and Bilibili, was unable to bear the high R&D costs and stopped its development after the latest financing problems encountered by the employer.
Conclusion:
Last year, most of the second games "opened high and went low" or even "opened low and went low", and the phenomenon of product suspension and R&D project death occurred frequently, which further confirmed everyone's consensus at the beginning of the year: 2023 is destined to be a tragic year for two-dimensional games.
In the future, the fierce competition in the ACG track is still continuing, and a number of ** ACG products have not yet been launched, including "Ming Tide", "Jeopardy Zero", "Codename: Infinity" and other open-world masterpieces that will be full of expectations, as well as products such as "Return to the Dragon Tide", "Ring of Fire", "Echo of Vision" and other products with differentiated styles, and the IP adaptation of the second game also has Perfect World's "Persona: Phantom of the Night".
Not surprisingly, the 2024 second tour market will still be a year of more monks and less porridge, who can break through in this competition, and who will become a dark horse, let's wait and see.