For domestic counterparts, after the demographic dividend of mobile games disappears, overseasThe importance of the market is self-evident.However, in the unfamiliar overseas markets, only SLG and tactical arena have proven to be successful categories.

However, as we all know, RPG is one of the favorite games of Asian users, and this category is the best of most domestic manufacturers.At the beginning of 2019, GameLook introduced an overseas RPG mobile game "RAID: Shadow Legends" that "sneaked into" the Chinese market, and it soon approached the top 50 in the domestic App Store revenue list.

Unfortunately, "Raid: Shadow Legend" has been removed from the domestic iOS platform (whether it is because there is no version number, or because the reason for poor performance is unknown), although the sneak attack on the Chinese market failed, but thisHowever, this RPG mobile game has gained a firm foothold in overseas markets: according to AppAnnie's statistics, the game remains at No. 27 on the US best-selling list (the highest No. 13).

Overseas is also popular: RPG mobile games with a global monthly turnover of 85 million yuan

In most people’s impressions, apart from tactical competitions (for example, PUBGMobile, Fortnite, Wilderness Action) and SLG (e.g., Age of Kingdoms, Awakening of Nations, Age of Guns), the best-selling list in Europe and the United States is mostly occupied by casual (Candy Crush) and moderate games (Clash of Clans), whileDomestic counterparts are best at RPGs with relatively heavy gameplay, but there are few successful players in overseas markets.

Surprisingly, "Raid: Shadow Legend" has achieved success in Europe, America, Eastern Europe, and Russia.strong>The game’s global dual-platform revenue in September reached 12 million US dollars (equivalent to more than 85 million yuan), and the number of new downloads was 2.7 million.

September data forecast for "Assault Shadow Legend"

It is also unexpected that the game isThe performance of different platforms: According to the platform, the revenue of this RPG mobile game on Google Play is higher, reaching 7 million US dollars (the iOS platform has a monthly turnover of 5 million US dollars). In terms of user volume, Android players account for the majority.Two million new downloads came from the Google Play platform.

In fact, although RPG mobile games do not appear frequently in overseas revenue lists, they are not without success. For example, the turn-based RPG mobile game "Summoner" launched by Com2uS in 2014 becameAccording to the company's financial report for the second quarter of 2017, the game's revenue in the three years since its release exceeded US$1 billion, of which US$890 million came from outside Korea, especially the European and American markets.

How do RPG go to sea?Localization and lightness

Although there is a saying in China, "foreign monks can chant scriptures", but when they really go to sea, the most fundamental reason why most of their peers cannot succeed, or the product itself does not adapt to the tastes of European and American users.When it comes to localization, in addition to the localization of language and art, the localization of culture and gameplay cannot be ignored:

Magic realistic or cartoon style

The tastes of Eastern and Western players are different. This may not be difficult to understand. Unlike Chinese players who mostly like aesthetic styles, European and American players generally accept magical and realistic styles, or European and American cartoons.The style of painting, such as the "Raid: Shadow Legend" mentioned in this article, adopts a realistic style of character design, while the top regulars in the US income list, such as "Clash of Clans", "Clash Royale" and "Fortnite" are allIt is a European and American cartoon style.

Summoner

Including the "Summoner" mentioned above, although the game isDeveloped by Korean manufacturers, but a large part of the character design is more European and American cartoon style.

Focus on the depth of the gameplay rather than the complexity of the heap system

In China, MMORPG is classified as a heavy game. One of the big reasons is that this categoryThe gameplay system of the game is extremely complicated, and it takes several hours to understand the general gameplay.From the perspective of gameplay design, the reason why many RPG products have a high threshold for getting started is more because of the complexity of stacking gameplay, rather than the pursuit of depth of gameplay.

Of course, compared with domestic RPG products, "Raid: Shadow Legend" has not gone further in terms of gameplay depth or complexity. Instead, it has made a "subtraction" in the game system to reduce the complexity, including "Summoner", the gameplay tends to be more light.

Taking character training as an example, let's refer to the growth value as combat power for the time being.In addition to common equipment, pets (or primordial spirits), mounts, and magic weapons, domestic RPGs also stack growth points in multiple aspects, such as inlaying, strengthening, refining (additional attributes), and upgrading of equipment;There are attributes (adding points), skills, and Yuanying (there can be many categories, such as Dharma Body, Divine Consciousness, Tianlu, etc.), although it looks dazzling, but in fact they are all designed to increase payment points.Improve the combat power (some attributes can also improve the appearance), although these designs can provide more content for players to consume, but they do not increase the depth of the gameplay.

Character Attributes

Many gameplay systems of "Raid: Shadow Legend" are learned from Chinese counterparts, such as the fighting formThey are somewhat similar to the 2014 "Dota Legend", and even added automatic battles that European and American developers do not often do.However, the developer Plarium does not have too many stacking functions in terms of gameplay complexity. For example, in terms of character development, in addition to the common star upgrades and equipment, the number of skills each character can carry on the field is limited, and the talent points are also done well.It is clear at a glance.

Battle interface

In terms of payment design, the game has added gift packs (common in-app purchases), limited-time special offers (promotion) and RAID card (similar to Battle Pass) in three ways.

From the perspective of user attributes, there is a big gap between the preferences of European and American players and domestic players. In addition to language barriers, cultural differences, and differences in aesthetics, the system design of domestic RPGs is too complicated.The threshold to get started.Of course, there is another aspect that cannot be ignored. Whether it is "Raid: Shadow Legend" or "Summoner", both have a high investment in purchases. This is also a common problem faced by domestic mobile games going overseas.

Chinese players prefer to compete more aggressively, and foreigners are relatively balanced

In addition, according to a survey data from Quantic Foundry, Chinese players are more competitive than 75%American players pay more attention to the competitive elements of the game, and for arena games, the in-game leaderboards should pay more attention.

Chinese players are more enthusiastic about various elements in the game, such as collecting elements and completing challenges in the game. For example, many players are trophy party. According to the survey, Chinese players have four elements that are below the average level, respectively.Worlds (fantasy) and story-driven games, and discovering different places, and customizing their own characters and decorating ships are not very interesting.

From the comparison of the above data, if you want European and American players to like your RPG game more, the game plot and more customized game functions will make the product more suitable for the European and American markets.difference in design.