Do you still remember your gaming initiation?
Xiaofa made a blind guess and at least half of the people would guess the name 4399.
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This existence that once commanded a generation of young people in China has changed with the discontinuation of Flash updates, the discontinuation of various web games, the rise of mobile games, etc. . . Finally, it is equal to our lost childhood.
However, when Xiaofa thought it was time to “enjoy his old age”, he suddenly made a strong comeback.
This is the overseas revenue list of Chinese mobile games in March this year. It can be seen that there are three games that are not very familiar to everyone, overwhelming MiHoYo and Tencent and taking the three positions.
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Among the top three, the third one with a very strange name, “Legend of the Mushroom Brave”, is from the overseas publishing brand of 4399 – Joy Net Games.
I know what you want to complain about after seeing the name of this game.
But let’s stop here, because I want to say that this game made a whopping 100 million yuan in the first month it was launched.
To be honest, this game is actually very simple. It is just a placement game with the core of opening boxes, but opening boxes turns into rubbing magic lamps.
After turning on the magic lamp, a piece of equipment will appear randomly. You can choose to sell it to get gold coins, or use the equipment to increase your combat power.
Paired with other auxiliary game content, such as dungeons, homes, mining, etc. But it remains true to its roots. The core is the logic of unpacking equipment, upgrading data, and defeating monsters and completing levels.
Therefore, Xiaofa feels that in addition to the gameplay, the key to the success of Mushroom Warrior may be the work of announcing the game. . .
Let's put it this way, it's all about precision strikes.
Just from the publicity ambassadors they hired in Japan, we can get a glimpse of how insightful this former web game eldest brother is into human nature.
In addition, the advertisements it produces are also extremely distinctive.
For example, the following two are advertisements it placed in Japan and Taiwan, China. 4399 invited a bunch of Internet celebrity KOLs to shoot various “nervous” advertisements, with crazy brainwashing lyrics and tunes, and nonsensical mushroom costumes.
I took a screenshot without playing the sound, for everyone's benefit.
Otherwise, when you dream back at midnight, you will still think of “Gugu is a brave man~” Don't ask me how I know. .
In South Korea, they also invited Youtuber Luo Shanxu to shoot a whole series of funny advertisements to carry out continuous brainwashing bombing.
Such an offensive is so terrifying. Just search on X (Twitter) and you will see countless Korean netizens making complaints and going crazy.
In addition to various operating activities and welfare gifts on the platform, there is a huge[3000 free draws for downloading]on the cover, and various equipment and clothes are given away in baskets.
Classic gameplay + brainwashing marketing + welfare gifts, and finally came up with such a monster that killed everyone.
Anyway, after entering China’s Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan in November last year, Gu Yongzhi’s overseas estimated sales volume continued to remain at around 300 million in January and February this year. In March, it reached a global sales volume of 600 million.
As soon as you open the Korean application list, you will see a mushroom head, firmly sitting at the top of the free list.
Of course, in Japan, Taiwan, China and other places, it has not left the top 20 best-selling lists.
Such outstanding results quickly attracted everyone's attention.
Everyone suddenly discovered that, hey, 4399 seems to have something, and it is enlightening. Xiaofa also continued to dig deeper and found that 4399, a childhood memory of Chinese newcomers, has actually dominated Japanese and Korean mobile games for many years, and is a veteran in the overseas community. . .
However, 4399's journey has been full of ups and downs.
To be honest, 4399 didn’t wake up too late. In 2013, the market size of mobile games was basically equal to that of web games. It almost forcefully opened the eyes of the big brothers of web games and said: Look, times have changed.
At that time, 4399 rushed to launch the 4399 Game Box for mobile phones, hoping to be the game entrance for mobile games. It took three years to reach more than 8 million monthly active users, and the results can be said to be quite satisfactory.
After that, they also launched many mobile games of their own, including “Dream Westward Journey OL”, “Miracle God of War”, “Hero Shootout” and so on.
However, the somersault fell immediately.
According to game media 17173, 4399 started its business by piracy of classic games in the era of web games. As a result, in the era of mobile games, they continued to “pay tribute” to their peers and ran into trouble because 4399's mobile game “Hero Shootout” was suspected of plagiarizing “Overwatch”. . . They were sued by NetEase and Blizzard in 2017.
4399 also ultimately lost the lawsuit, removed the game, and paid millions in compensation.
On the other hand, although it has been promoting mobile games, the only ones that 4399 had some success in China in those years were traditional web games like “Seven Kills”, “Dark God of War”, and “Fighting Hunter”.
When people mention it, they can only think of the familiar 4399.com at the first time.
Generally speaking, this may be a story about a big boss’ transformation with mediocre results and gradually disappearing. But who would have thought that 4399 would shock Japan and South Korea with a wave of Chinese mobile games by going overseas.
In 2019, 4399 launched a game “Miracle Sword” in South Korea. Just like its name, it created an amazing miracle.
In the year of its launch, “Miracle Sword” entered the top 10 best-selling dual-end mobile games in South Korea, and has since become one of the benchmark products exported to South Korea.
During the following five years of operation, it continued to generate revenue for 4399. The turnover from 2020 to 2022 will be 1.11 billion yuan, 1.16 billion yuan, and 446 million yuan respectively.
Even in 2021, it won the first place in the overseas revenue list of Korean mobile games.
If you look at the game it stepped on, you will know what level “Miracle Sword” is.
The reason why “Sword of Miracles” was successful, Xiaofa felt that on the one hand, he chose the right subject matter. In South Korea, the birthplace of “Legend”, the popularity of this “Legend-like” game is definitely not low.
It also focuses on light krypton, casual idle, and vertical screen MMO, which is also well adapted to the lightweight characteristics of mobile games.
In addition, coupled with 4399's uncanny publicity capabilities, various spoof brainwashing plots, a large number of KOLs, and the endorsement of the famous singer Park Yongzhuo, the market has been opened up.
After that, 4399 also pursued the victory and continued to try various tracks such as SLG, two-dimensional cards, MMO, placement cards, etc., repeatedly tested the waters of Japan and South Korea, and even entered Southeast Asia.
Although not all of these games are popular all over the Internet, 4399's luck has always been good, because various small hits will appear every now and then.
For example, the game “Legend of the Secret World: Sacred Tree Ruins” has a revenue of 531 million in 2023.
“Civilization and Conquest”, which they launched last year, has received huge sales volume and has also torn a hole in the SLG market. With a turnover of 120 million in the first month, the results are already quite impressive.
However, it is said that the price behind it is not small. According to reports from Game Grape, investors estimate that the investment of “Civilization and Conquest” in the first few months will be higher than the running income. “The payback period is at least one year, and it’s considered good to be able to pay back within 18 months. ”
After “Civilization and Conquest”, at the beginning of this year, the hit “Legend of the Mushroom Warrior” mentioned earlier came again, allowing 4399 to continue to dominate the Japanese and Korean markets.
In the end, Xiaofa felt that the success of 4399, especially the “Legend of the Mushroom Warriors”, actually has a deeper meaning.
Because a new overseas model has been further verified, it is: the overseas expansion of domestic mini-program games. . .
If you look through the application lists in various regions in Asia, you will find a large number of small program games that are sold domestically and exported. For example, the synthetic watermelon from a few years ago has been popular overseas for a long time.
Japan paid application list
Including the tree-cutting game “Xundao Daqian” that attracted many people, Sanqi Interactive Entertainment also changed its name to “Little Demon Asks” and made it into an APP to go overseas. Since its launch last year, the revenue has been as high as tens of millions. 100 million.
This new model of “developing small program games – winning in the domestic market – turning them into apps and harvesting them overseas” has also become a new trend in the overseas game industry in the past half year.
Sometimes, feng shui really takes turns, because compared to traditional games, mini-program games are more difficult to develop, but more emphasis is placed on each player's purchasing ability. This is where the rule of 4399, the big brothers of web games, comes into play. District.
The web game giant next door, Sanqi Interactive Entertainment, has already made a comeback thanks to a large number of popular mini-programs and overseas games.
And after occupying our youth, 4399 may also become the childhood memories of this new generation of Japanese and Korean players.
Pictures and data sources:
Bit data
Bit by bit data: Old games are declining, and three new games have contributed nearly 700 million. How can the current 4399 rely on overseas nuggets?
4399 Prospectus
Something about mobile games: In South Korea, 4399’s “Sword of Miracles” beat Lilith’s “Awakening of Nations”!
Poisonous Eyes: The mobile game that makes Japanese and Korean players crazy about money and money actually comes from 4399?
Game Grape: After three years of sharpening a sword, can 4399 make waves in the SLG Red Sea?