After Ant SLG became a global blockbuster, iQIYI made a "real war wolf" mobile game overse

Last year, an ant-themed SLG suddenly exploded overseas."The Ants: Underground Kingdom" released by Xinghe Interactive Entertainment not only has an overseas monthly income of over 100 million, but also becomes the fastest-growing new SLG drama going overseas in 2021, and thus won the GameLook Awards last year.Best Strategy Game Award.

In my impression, although animal themes are not uncommon, most of them are concentrated in leisure categories.For example, casual games such as "Happy Xiao Xiao Le" with Le Elements, or "Party Animals" with its demo fire in 2020, all incorporate or directly adopt animal elements.However, Xinghe Interactive Entertainment released a serious animal-themed game contrary to common sense.

This ant SLG not only has a high degree of innovation in the theme, but also boldly pursues a realistic style, that is, all kinds of ant vertical paintings use realistic appearances instead of cartoon designs.Therefore, long before the game was released, many colleagues were worried: Is it possible to use the relatively unpopular ant theme to enter SLG?

Fortunately, although ants are small, they bring considerable income.It is understood that the overseas turnover of "Little Ant Country" in the last 30 days is about 90 million yuan.At the same time, it ranked 24th among the TOP30 Chinese mobile games released by Sensor Tower in February, and it still maintained a steady growth.

Recently, another SLG with an animal theme started testing overseas.The difference is that the protagonist has changed from "Little Ant" to "Wolf Warrior".It is undoubtedly curious which team this "Wolf Game: The Wild Kingdom" (hereinafter referred to as "Wolf Game") came from.

Unexpectedly, according to GameLook investigation, this peculiar new game actually originated from iQiyiShare 80% of the studio - Novelty Interactive Entertainment.So, what kind of game is "Wolf Game"?

The Growth of the Wolf King, a SLG that incorporates RTS elements

Judging from the game PV, "Wolf Game" took about 30 secondsThe video, like a real documentary, intuitively shows how the wolves besieged and preyed on the elk drinking by the stream.From this point of view, the player in the game is not a human being who drives a pack of wolves, but a real "wolf" from the wild world, who needs to hunt and survive, and gradually become the ruler of the wilderness.

In terms of specific gameplay, there is not much information exposed so far.According to the official definition of the game: "Wolf Game" is an MMO+RTS mobile game.But GameLook believes that the game is actually closer to the concept of SLG.

From the internal test video, players need to play the role of Alpha of wolves, lead the troops to explore the map, build and defend the lair... All kinds of gameplay obviously have certain strategic combat and building elements.Obviously, it is more in line with the 4X definition of SLG in general cognition, that is, exploration (eXplore), expansion (eXpand), development (eXploit), and conquest (eXterminate).

What's more, in recent years, more and more SLG mobile games have already integrated RTS elements such as free marching and real-time strategy into the game.Similarly, in "Wolf Game", players can also march freely, or attack enemy units.

In addition, the game also incorporates the common world of RTS gamesFog setting, that is, players need to send their own units to break through the fog, promote the main plot, and at the same time open up and conquer more new areas, and obtain resource points distributed on the large map.

From the official website information, the alliance will also beOne of the core gameplays in the later stage of "Wolf Game".In other words, like most SLG gameplays, joining the alliance, jointly expanding the alliance territory, building alliance buildings, or PVP, GVG and other related gameplay will appear in the game, and this is exactly the "MMO" in the official descriptionelement.

Wolf version of "The Lion King", ingenious theme innovation

Compared with the gameplay, what makes players and even colleagues shine is still that it uses wolves as the core.The innovation of the theme.On this basis, "Wolf Game" is not simply an animal simulator.From GameLook's point of view, the plot of the game is more or less familiar, like a brand new "Prince's Revenge", which can be called the wolf version of "The Lion King".

As soon as you enter the game, the protagonist Alpha starts hunting with his father, the wolf king, and immediately brings the player into the real daily life of the wolves.But soon, another son of the Wolf King "Loki" appeared and led a group of hyenas to surround and attack them.

Not only the wolf king died to save the protagonist, but his tribe was also engulfed by the ruthless fire, and survived aloneThe Alpha was forced to wander in search of the truth.Also in the process, it got acquainted with other wolves and animals, learned to prey and form its own tribe, and found the truth in the battle with Loki's side, becoming the king of the wilderness.

What's interesting is that not only the general plot is similar to "The Lion King"Similarly, the traitor's face has a scar shape, and the settings such as cooperating with hyenas to kill the king are all very similar to the villain "Scar" in "The Lion King".Not only that, but Loki's name obviously comes from the famous cunning, treacherous god of lies and trickery "Loki" in Norse mythology.Especially in the globally recognized Marvel movies, Loki also tried to kill his father and brother many times.

The ingenuity of this design is that by incorporating the storyline and cultural elements familiar to global users, it is easier toLet most European and American players feel friendly, so as to achieve the purpose of attracting new players.Not to mention, for overseas users, choosing the theme of "wolf" is an ingenious innovation.

You should know that wolves were once the most widely distributed mammals on the earth, and they lived in forests, deserts, mountains, tundra, Siberian coniferous forests, grasslands and other areas.Currently, wolves are roughly divided into 16 extant subspecies and 2 recently extinct subspecies according to their anatomy, distribution, and migration habits of different wolves.More views are that there were about 50 subspecies in the past.

Obviously, the wolves are rich and diverse enough to fill the gaps in the subject matter.Not only that, wolves and dogs are both canid mammals, and dogs are domesticated from wolves.It’s just that unlike the friendly and cute “Xiugou”, wolves are more beastly and combative, and are more suitable for SLG gameplay, but it does not rule out the design of adding dogs later in the game.

However, it is precisely because the latter is known as "a good friend of mankind" that it is deeply loved by the public, Especially the favorite of European and American users.Choosing to use wolves of the same origin as the theme, the potential user base in the world is huge.Even in the promotion link, with the help of the purchase of creative materials related to wolves and dogs, it will undoubtedly attract the attention of European and American players who love dogs.

Taking a step back, ants won't be able to buy enough, let alone wolves.

Going overseas has entered a new stage, and mining differentiated themes has become the norm

In fact, as early as February this year, GameLook reported another release of iQiyi GamesAn MMO hit "Eternal Night Star God".The game has been firmly in the TOP 10 of the Taiwan server best-selling list for several months in a row, and has achieved a brilliant monthly turnover of over 10 million US dollars in the Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan markets, demonstrating its strong publishing strength.

Reviewing the distribution layout of iQiyi games, "Junxing Tianxia" launched from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan,"Burning Love", "Jian Yu Xiaoyao" released in Vietnam, and then "Song of the Cloud" agent in 2021... It is not difficult to find that it has always been steady and steady on the MMO track, and radiating the entire Asian market based on Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.The "upgrade route" that the company insists on.

But now, iQiyi Games has launched an unexpected "Wolf Warrior" mobile game, which directly jumps into the global market from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan with a global innovative theme SLG.Behind the bold innovation, it reflects the new direction of the current overseas manufacturers.

In fact, with the constant introversion of innovation in overseas markets in recent years, more and more differentiated themes have been discovered, and going overseas is becoming more and more novel.Taking SLG as an example, it has transformed from an all-encompassing civilization and survival game in the early days to more creative themes today.

For example, "The Age of Barbarism" with the ancient theme of Nibiru, "Underworld" with the theme of Youta Internet gangsters, "State of Survival" with the theme of FunPlus zombies, and "Medal of War" with the theme of World War II by Lilith, "Endless City War" with the level of Youzu's alien theme, etc.

Obviously, players are more accepting of innovative themes on the SLG track with the craziest involution.Especially under the premise of "Little Ant Country" sweeping overseas markets, the "Wolf Warrior" mobile game with a novel perspective and higher user acceptance undoubtedly has more market potential.Coupled with the increasingly mature overseas distribution of iQIYI games, which has further laid the foundation for the game's breakthrough, it is hard not to make people look forward to the performance of "Wolf Game" after testing and polishing.