Category analysis of overseas SLG mobile games: annual revenue of US $3.8 billion, with a negative g

Compared with most game categories, the SLG field is very unique. Whether it is the overseas revenue list or the overseas mobile game revenue list, they all occupy a considerable proportion.The characteristic of SLG mobile games is that they are very dependent on the core system, but the progress of the game does not require the participation of the core gameplay (growth mainly depends on stacking resources).This kind of game is very difficult to do well, but its return on investment is very high, and it is easy to bring huge business opportunities. The best case at present is "Kingdom Age" under IGG.

In the European and American markets, SLG is still the second largest category after Match 3, and these twoWhether it is the core user group or the data such as DAU, LTV, ARPPU and CPI, there are huge differences in the gameplay.Recently, foreign media analyzed and predicted the category of strategic mobile games. The article stated that the revenue of SLG mobile games in 2018 reached 3.8 billion US dollars, and the head position has a relatively high acceptance of new gameplay, new themes and new manufacturers.The following is the content compiled by Gamelook:

2018 mobile game category revenue compared with 2017 increase and decrease

The monthly turnover of the top three publishers is nearly 100 million US dollars: MZ has suffered setbacks, and Chinese manufacturers have become the successors of the SLG category

In 2017, they will be the thirdAfter the release of the first SLG mobile game "Final Fantasy 15: The New Empire", the revenue decline of the two head games "Game of War" and "Thunder World" previously released led to the setback of Machine Zone. Interestingly, the three games of MZThe publishers all have different names, which may mean that the negative impact of the publisher's name is higher than the positive impact (Gamelook note, it may also be done by different teams).

2017-2019 top 5 SLG mobile game revenue trends

Subsequently, Chinese manufacturers FunPlus and IGG took over the leading position in the SLG mobile game field. While MZ suffered setbacks, the SLG market also opened a window of opportunity for more new publishers.IGG's "Kingdom Mobile" earned more than $300 million in 2017, rising to €350 million in 2018.Although the core gameplay is somewhat similar to MZ's games, "Kingdom Era" adds more functions and increases the overall complexity of the SLG mobile game. In addition to the construction and upgrading gameplay, it adds a copy gameplay that is more similar to RPG gamesIn other words, "Era of Kingdoms" is one of the first games to add core gameplay to SLG, bringing new user groups to this originally very niche category.

Thanks to strong marketing capabilities and game features, "Kingdom Mobile" has more than $100 million in annual revenue than the second place in this category, and you can see it in almost all distribution channelsIt is at the top of the revenue list, and its competitors are all manufacturers based in the European and American markets, and most of their revenue comes from the United States.

Although IGG won the SLG head position through "Kingdom Era", in terms of overall income, FunPlus is the highest. This company has launched 4 SLG mobile phones in a row for more than two yearsTour, and most of them have a good performance.

In January 2019, the total revenue of the three SLG companies exceeded 88 million US dollars

InBased on the success of recent products, FunPlus has mastered the online operation and purchase strategy of SLG mobile games, and quickly launched multiple products through different themes. From the income of the following figure, at least two of these four games are alreadyBig hits (King of Avalon and Age of Guns), one product failed (Dino Wars), and another product was very promising (Z Day), in terms of core gameplay, these four games are very close, but all usedifferent topics, so this is likely to limit the cost of buying volume.

Revenue comparison of FunPlus four SLG mobile games in December 2018

Actually, although the image quality is not the core, the game theme and art style are very important to the success of SLG mobile games. After all, when the functions of all products are roughly similar, marketing ability becomes a more important factor.When it comes to marketing capabilities, it is inevitable to come into contact with IP.

The masterpiece IP is very important for SLG, it can improve the efficiency of buying volume and reduce the cost of buying volume.Game: Conquest), which brought in $120 million in revenue with less than 10 million installs.Another IP game, Scopely's "Star Trek: Commander", also has a good income. This exploration-focused SLG mobile game has only 3 million downloads in 2 months, but it has brought in 14 million US dollars.income.

Game of Thrones: Conquest and Star Trek: Fleet Commander revenue in January 2019Contrast

Different from other mobile game categories, the SLG category has a high acceptance of new products, new gameplay, new themes and new publishers, mainly because the DAU of these top products is actually not high, the best performers are only a few hundred thousand people.Since the core user base of each SLG mobile game is very small, you are not competing for users with top companies in the category, but need to focus on the functions and marketing strategies of the game itself.

To put it more simply, the SLG mobile game category mainly consists of two successful strategies: either focus on a small number of flagship games, and promote it to become a top product through continuous high-volume investment and world-class operational services, IGG is a good case; the second way is to create a blockbuster first, and then promote it to different target user groups by changing the skin, and achieve a higher return on investment through lower purchase costs. FunPlusThe latter is adopted.

MZ used the above two methods in the first two mobile games, but after the release of the third game, he put all the purchase budget into the new work.

Comparison of top SLG mobile game revenue in January 2019

Prediction for 2019:

SLG games will follow the development of new works such as "Kingdom Age" (RPG gameplay), "Star Trek" (focus on exploration) and "Awakening of Nations" (UX experience)Success will continue to improve in terms of gameplay, art style, and user experience.

Publishers will continue to look for new themes to increase product marketing capabilities;

More IP will become the target of SLG publishers, especially for middle-aged men aged 30-45Attractive IP;

The global revenue scale of the SLG category will continue to grow with the emergence of more IP and more casual themes.

The building and fighting category dominated by Supercell

The difference from SLG games is that Supercell is very good at building and fighting games. "Clash of Clans"It can be said to be a legendary product in the mobile game industry. Its success has led to the entry of a large number of similar products, such as IGG's "Castle Clash", Space Ape's "Samurai Siege", Disney's "Star Wars Commander" and Nexon's"DomiNations" and so on, and then there are some products that have innovated this category, such as "War Dragon" by Pocket Gems and "Sword and Homeland" by Lilith Games.

Comparison of revenue from construction and combat games in January 2019

But fromFrom an overall point of view, Supercell's "Clash of Clans" and another theme "Boom Beach" accounted for 85% of the total revenue of this category, and the products that were subsequently considered successful games, such as "DomiNations", had a total revenue of 85%.The income is even less than one-fifth of that of Boom Beach.

In this category, Kixeye is one of the most unfortunate publishers. In the era of web games, the company defined the category of construction and combat in the era of Facebook games, but it encountered dissatisfaction when it came to the mobile game platform."Backyard Monster", "VEGA Conflict" and "War Commander" are all very successful games on the Facebook platform, but they failed to recover after being made into mobile games.

Prediction for 2019:

Supercell will continue to be the king of this category, "Clash of Clans" and "Boom Beach" will continue to grow with new contentThe company's overall revenue is declining, so it makes sense to devote more resources to older games.

Games that integrate SLG gameplay into construction and combat categories, such as "Sword and Homeland", will continue to occupy a considerable market size. The addition of SLG or RPG gameplay is expected to improve the entire category of products.

Real-time card battles: no success except for Supercell

Like "Clash of Clans", Supercell also occupies a leading role in the real-time card battle mobile game categoryDominance, since its release in 2016, the explosive success of "Royal War" has attracted the attention of many peers, and a large number of similar products have entered the market, such as Nexon's "Titanfall: Raid (Titanfall Assault)", Netmarble's "Star Wars": The Force Arena (Star Wars Force Arena) and Ubisoft's "South Park: Phone Destroyer (South Park Phone Destroyer) and so on.

Revenue comparison of real-time battle card mobile games

Although these games have all receivedThere are many recommended positions, but in the end their income is still far from that of "Royal War". The latest entry is "Command and Conquer: Rivals" under EA. Considering the development history of this category in recent years, it is alsoIt is difficult to reach the income level of Supercell.Of course, this is not to say that the quality of other games is poor. On the contrary, the competitors of "Royal War" are not actually from the same category, but "Fortnite" of tactical competition.

Prediction for 2019:

Supercell's "Royal Clash" will continue to be the top of the category, although its revenue will gradually decline with the life cycledepartment products.

When this article was written, the release date of "Command and Conquer" was less than a month, but it can be boldly predicted that although the game itself is doing well, it still cannot avoid the failure of previous challengersdestiny.