On July 26th, the GAME ON Game Industry Overseas Summit was co-hosted by PubMatic, Unity, and Tencent Cloud, with Shengguang Group as a partner. Share a global vision and move forward with dreams.
Focusing on the new trend of games going overseas and radiating the global hot & high-potential markets, the event featured two major sessions: keynote speeches and roundtable discussions, including Sally Nguyen, CCO of GZONE JSC, Reko Hu, Commercial Head of Unity Grow China, Lashanne Phang, Vice President of Global Mobile Business of PubMatic, Paulo Trezentos, CEO of Aptoide Founder&, and Tencent Cloud Zhou Niudong, a regional solution expert in East China, and Tayfun Ceylan, CEO of Dijipin, were the guest speakers to share their ways to deal with overseas challenges from multiple aspects such as marketing, law, advertising, marketing, and venture capital.
In the roundtable discussion session, the event was fortunate to invite three guests with rich experience in the field of game going overseas: Luo Ji, General Manager of the International Marketing Business Group of Shengguang Group, Lin Bin, Head of Overseas Business of Hand Alliance Network, and Xu Yufei, Business VP of Tianyou Network. The guests had an in-depth discussion on topics such as the hot trends of mini games going overseas in 2024, the increase in purchase volume and ROI, the direction of innovation, and the growth of monetization.
Next, let's review the wonderful dry goods content of the day!
How can Chinese games go overseas to Viet Nam in compliance?
GZONE JSC CCO Sally Nguyen
Understanding Viet Nam's laws and regulations is key to entering its gaming market. Viet Nam requires all games to apply for a "Viet Nam version number", which is a basic condition to ensure the security of game content, data protection and user information. The government is very strict about overseas games, and games without a version number cannot be listed, and violators may even face bans. For example, in 2024, some games promoted on Steam will be banned by the Viet Nam Copyright Office due to lack of edition numbers. Viet Nam's game version numbers are divided into four categories, with the G1 level being the most heavily regulated, suitable for games that require strict supervision; G2, G3, and G4 are suitable for single-player games with fewer interaction restrictions. The application process includes game localization, translation and adaptation to comply with Viet Nam culture and regulations, as well as preparation of documents such as authorization letters and legalization certificates. Once submitted, the game will be reviewed by the Ministry of Communications, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Culture, and the Competition Research Group, which usually takes 30 to 45 days. After review, it may need to be modified, and games that have already been released may need to be removed from the shelves for reiteration. In addition, the Viet Nam government also requires game servers to be located in the territory to strengthen supervision and protect user data.
Viet Nam is a key player in the Southeast Asian mobile gaming market, with a population of nearly 100 million and more than 50 million mobile game players. In 2023, Viet Nam will perform prominently in the global gaming market, with 4.2 billion app downloads and the world's leading mobile game growth rate, which is expected to remain at 7.4% from 2023 to 2025. MMORPGs and card games are particularly popular in Viet Nam, bringing high revenue to publishers. In the second half of 2023, the Viet Nam market surged to 80 million downloads, up 52% year-on-year, driven by new popular games. Total market revenue grew by 13% in 2023 and is expected to continue to grow in 2024, with MMRBG products performing best. With Viet Nam's strong economic growth, GDP is expected to grow by 5.66% in the first quarter of 2024. As a high value-added digital industry, the gaming industry is expected to reach an annual revenue of US$1 billion to US$2 billion, which is expected to drive a number of Viet Nam companies to go public. Viet Nam's abundant technology and human resources bode well for more high-quality game products to meet the needs of players.
Viet Nam players tend to use localized third-party payment methods such as point cards, bank transfers, ATMMC cards, and e-wallets, which account for 50% to 80% of total payments. Third-party payments are not only convenient for players, but also reduce the risk of high refund rates, as these platforms usually don't process refunds. At the same time, third-party payments can also provide timely solutions when players encounter problems.
To successfully publish a game in the Viet Nam market, it is essential to strictly comply with local laws and regulations and establish a close cooperative relationship with local publishing companies.
The 2024 platform data outlook will help the full-link growth of games going overseas
Unity Grow 中国区商务负责人 Reko Hu
Unity recently hosted the Unite 2024 conference in Shanghai, attracting a large number of developers. Games made through Unity have been downloaded more than 3.7 billion times a month, and Unity invested more than $1 billion in R&D last year. Today, we'll focus on Unity's growth business, including Unity's growth loop, 2024 platform data preview, and the new upgrade of Unity's LevelPlay platform.
The closed-loop growth is a complete link for products from user growth to monetization, and then to feed back growth through refined operations. Developers can reach user growth through ad networks such as Unity Ads, ironSource Ads, Tapjoy Offerwall, and monetize through the Unity LevelPlay mediation platform. After commercialization, developers need to optimize the product lifecycle by using tools such as A/B tests, user grouping, real-time data reports, and finally increase LTV and re-launch.
The data shows that while the percentage of paying users is stable, less than 1% of monthly active users worldwide are paying users, and most repayments occur within 30 days of the first purchase. As a result, in-app users are important but difficult to obtain. Reko also discussed the two main types of in-game ad monetization: user-triggered, which provides user choice and rewards, and system-triggered, which are controlled by developers and can impact the user experience. These trends and strategies will help developers monetize their ads and grow users more effectively.
The Unity LevelPlay platform is committed to creating industry-leading solutions through stronger monetization efficiency and intelligent user growth. This year's latest upgrades include direct access to the LevelPlay mediation platform from the Unity Editor, making it easier for developers to consider advertising strategies during the game development phase; Through continuous upgrading and optimization of machine learning, the platform provides more refined buying and delivery functions. In addition, LevelPlay has integrated a data backend so that developers can see at a glance the overall operation of ad networks such as ironSource Ads and Unity Ads. The platform also introduced Multiple Ad Units, new features for custom ad placements and waterfalls to maximize monetization revenue. The interface has also been updated to become more intuitive.
Seek diversified growth to ensure the safety of advertising
Vice President of Global Mobility at PubMatic
Lashanne Phang
In recent years, brand advertisers have increasingly favored efficient and high-converting mobile media, and most advertisers in APAC have adjusted their mobile advertising strategies, especially in Singapore and Korea. This year, half of advertisers in APAC expect to increase their budgets for in-app advertising. Programmatic buying is also growing in popularity in APAC, especially for brand advertisers. Through partners such as PubMatic, developers can access global brand budgets and optimize advertising strategies.
The key to winning brand advertising is to create an environment that ensures ad security and protects brand reputation. PubMatic has made significant investments in global products and teams to provide a secure and transparent marketplace with a particular focus on mobile and integrated video services.
Brand advertisers have specific requirements for placement, including impressions, brand safety, and viewability. They tend to use standard tools such as the Open Measured SDK to measure visibility, as well as avoid IVT (invalid traffic) and ensure the accuracy of contextual signals, which can help make programmatic buying more efficient.
Working with partners such as Confiant, PubMatic has established a real-time framework scanning architecture to ensure creative security, protect the user experience, and prevent malvertising. In addition, the PubMatic platform gives developers control over the variety and content of their ads, as well as quality control through an internal framework.
The main difference between brand advertising and performance advertising is the user experience and ad experience. Brand advertising is more focused on brand storytelling and audience experience, while performance advertising is more geared towards direct conversions. PubMatic encourages developers and advertisers to leverage its platform and tools to capitalize on brand advertising opportunities, broaden revenue streams, and optimize advertising strategies.
Unlocking new opportunities: How the Digital Markets Act can benefit Chinese developers in Europe
Aptoide Founder&CEO Paulo Trezentos
Aptoide is an app store with 350 million active users that has expanded to web, Android, and IOS since its first release in 2009. With the European Union's passage of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which aims to break the monopoly of tech giants, third-party app stores such as Aptoide will benefit from a more level playing field.
The European Commission is particularly concerned about the monopoly of app stores, requiring Apple to open up the platform, adjust the fee structure and improve the installation process. This opens up new opportunities for app stores such as Aptoide, which can better attract more developers and users by offering a fairer revenue share and improving the user experience.
With the release of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in Europe, the IOS ecosystem in markets such as Japan, India, United Kingdom, and United States is also expected to open up third-party app stores, which will usher in new market opportunities for developers in these regions. Third-party app store pioneers like Aptoide offer a way to break down monopolies, and new revenue distributions and channel diversification bring fairer revenue and wider user reach for developers. By building brands and partnerships, such as with NTAT and carriers, new markets can be explored. Developers should remain agile and take advantage of the opportunities presented by market changes. The Aptoide China team will also provide support to help developers seize the opportunity to expand their user base and revenue in overseas markets.
The game grows and advances, allowing the game to plug in AI wings
Tencent Cloud East China Regional Solution Expert Zhou Niudong
Large AI models have revolutionized the gaming world, and they have greatly enhanced the experience and realism of games. As technology has evolved, we've seen everything from massive online battles in the internet age, to immersive experiences in VR and AR games, and 4K and 60 fps as standard for many games. Then with the advent of the metaverse era, the open world has increasingly become an experience that everyone is chasing. I believe that the AI model will definitely bring some changes to the game experience in this regard.
Tencent Cloud's customer "Hyperparameters" is a startup company focusing on the field of AI, dedicated to developing AI NPCs with life characteristics. They believe that AI is not only a technology or a solution, but also a representative of the next generation of life. "Hyperparameters" brings a new experience to games and virtual and real scenes through AI NPCs, and its AI NPCs have three significant characteristics: long-term memory, reasoning ability, and role-playing ability.
Last year, "hyperparameters" successfully created a "live" Chang'an City, by placing hundreds of AI NPCs in the background of the ancient Chang'an City, and observing their unique life trajectories and social content. The use of this AI NPC brings a realistic and anthropomorphic interaction to the game, improving the player's flow experience, which may increase the retention rate and play time of the game.
Over the past year, Tencent Cloud has explored the integration of AI and the gaming industry, and has provided standardized services including AI translation, AI copywriting, AI image generation and 3D model generation, and AI NPCs.
Tencent is using large-scale AI technology to optimize the analysis of public opinion during the launch of the game, and solve challenges including emoji recognition, multilingual sentiment classification, and game-specific topic recognition. Through this technology, Tencent is able to automatically process invalid content, classify sentiment, and generate public opinion reports. In addition, Tencent Cloud provides full-life cycle solutions for the game industry, supports the development of games going overseas and mini games, and has advantages in Southeast Asia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and other places. In addition, it plans to cooperate with WeChat to launch an efficiency improvement plan for Mini Games, including service efficiency improvement and data monitoring, and provide special incentives for high-quality Mini Games to promote the growth of more high-quality games.
The importance of the Turkey gaming market and investment opportunities
Dijipin CEO Tayfun Ceylan
Dijipin is a leading digital sales platform that offers e-codes for games and apps, membership packages, and gift cards to meet user needs with a fast and reliable service. Since our inception in 2021, we have partnered with several app stores and game companies to support the gaming ecosystem with innovative solutions.
Dijipin provides users with a user-friendly interface that allows them to easily select, purchase, and apply the desired gaming products. We have established distribution partnerships with well-known companies such as Tencent and 4399 to provide safe and reliable transaction services without charging commissions. In Turkey, Dijipin offers a variety of payment methods, including bank cards and cash, and we offer a 24-hour service to ensure that users can enjoy our services anytime, anywhere.
Turkey and the Middle East and North Africa region are promising markets for game developers, with rapid mobile internet development, a large number of smartphone users, a young population and high disposable income. Dijipin is committed to providing localization services to help game developers overcome language barriers, achieve localized translation and style adaptation, improve user experience, and boost sales.
Roundtable Theme: Game Growth Doers
In 2024, mini games will become a hot outlet for going overseas, how do you view this trend?
Luo Ji: The trend of mini games going overseas is continuing to accelerate, and it is expected that more mini game products will enter the international market in the second half of the year. At present, the competition of medium and hardcore game products is becoming more and more fierce, resulting in the overall market supply also tends to be dominated by small games. The R&D cost of Mini Games is relatively low, and the purchase cost is relatively cheap, which provides game developers with more room for trial and error. The advantage of low cost makes it easier for Mini Games to break through the existing market and meet the needs of young users, and it is also more in line with the current trend of going overseas.
Lin Bin: The popularity of the domestic mini game market and the success of phenomenal products such as mushroom warriors go overseas indicate that more mini games will open up the international market in the future. We are also following the trend, and Geometry Kingdom's overseas is the hand alliance publishing, which not only brings a positive impact on the game industry, but also provides more opportunities for publishers. The focus of funds and capital has provided financial support for creative small and medium-sized R&D teams, and the R&D cost and cycle of mini games have been greatly reduced, which has stimulated the enthusiasm of more teams for project establishment and created conditions for us to discover excellent products.
Although Mini Games will face competition with PC games in overseas markets, their lightweight features and gameplay that conforms to market trends provide them with a competitive advantage in overseas markets. In particular, those products that are "light on the outside and heavy on the inside", that is, heavy games with a deep core under the lightweight appearance, are expected to achieve greater success in overseas markets, meeting the needs of users for fast-paced and fragmented entertainment, while providing a deep gaming experience.
Xu Yufei: The boom and maturity of the domestic mini game market, as well as the good data performance, indicate the inevitability of its overseas development. At present, the overseas market of mini games has entered a new stage, and despite the fierce competition, compared with conventional heavy game projects, the overseas market of mini games is still in a relatively blue ocean stage, with greater development space and potential. As more and more medium and large manufacturers enter this field, the market competition will undoubtedly become more intense, but this will also further promote the innovation and development of the mini game industry.
Buying volume is the core part of the mini game, how to improve the "multiple and multiplier" of ROI recovery?
Luo Ji: Judging from the summary of the data of the mini game products that we have served in recent years, the LTV of mini games is lower than that of medium and heavy games, the requirements for front-end delivery and purchase are higher, and the control of customer acquisition costs is also more stringent. Therefore, the key is to start from the packaging of the product, and the R&D team needs to conduct in-depth style testing in the early stage to find the explosion points that attract users: the art style also needs to be more mild to meet the needs of users for the mini game experience, so that there is an opportunity to acquire users at a lower cost, so that the "multiplier and multiplier" of ROI recovery can also be greatly improved.
Lin Bin: The product multiplier and multiplier mainly depend on the quality of the game itself and the strength of the R&D team. Once the product is released, the potential for multiples and multipliers is roughly determined, but these metrics can be further optimized through careful version development and numerical adjustments. To improve ROI, publishers need to attract high-quality users at a lower cost through marketing and creative materials on the front end, and at the same time enhance user stickiness and extend the life cycle through the continuous output of community content, the maintenance of user activity, and the care of VIP users on the back end. Together, these strategies work on LTV and CPI to drive continued ROI growth.
Xu Yufei: The core of the mini game market is to attract players and control the unit price of the front-end. Mini games usually rely on the huge user base and instant conversion capabilities of large platforms such as WeChat and Douyin, and take advantage of the ecological environment of these platforms to quickly attract pan-user groups with a light, casual style and themes that combine pop culture elements. Overseas, through the localization design of game content, the publisher is close to the preferences of users in different regions, enhances user acceptance and dissemination, and reduces user acquisition costs as much as possible at the front end. In the case that the product itself has been roughly determined, the distribution should do a good job of precision marketing, localized operation strategies and content liked by local users, so as to enhance the acceptance and willingness of players to pay, so as to effectively improve ROI.
What is the direction of Mini Game integration and innovation in the future? How to achieve more stable monetization growth?
Luo Ji: In the early days, mini games were all based on advertising monetization, but as the market heats up, the proportion of in-app purchases for successful products is gradually increasing to cope with the increasingly expensive CPI costs. The front-end gameplay is mainly based on hang-up + meat pigeon or tower defense, and the back-end combines the commercialization model of the previous cards. Going forward, Mini Games can try more innovative gameplay on the front-end to achieve a lighter and highly playable gaming experience; The backend deepens cards, RPG elements, and numerical systems to improve game depth and player stickiness. Such a combination of front-end and back-end strategies can not only increase the commercial potential of the game, but also enhance the ability to adapt to rising costs, ensuring stable monetization growth in a highly competitive market.
Lin Bin: Medium-core games enhance their attractiveness through lightweight and innovative themes and integrated gameplay, while product design focuses on adaptability to the global market, especially art and themes, to broaden market potential. Our products are mainly based on in-app purchases, but are also moderately integrated into ad monetization to hedge against rising costs and increase the value of free users. During the promotion period, this strategy can be effective in increasing revenue. In addition, the R&D team continues to release new content to maintain the vitality of the game, while the publisher strengthens the back-end user retention by maintaining the continuous output of VIP users and community content, ensuring the long-term success and ROI growth of the product.
Xu Yufei: The innovation of mini-games usually focuses on core gameplay such as opening boxes, mowing the grass with meat pigeons, and simulated management, and often integrates these elements into the framework of idle RPGs, such as "Gun at Zombies" provides a novel experience by simplifying tower defense and roguelike elements. The key to innovation is differentiation, engaging players and quickly immersing. Achieving stable monetization growth requires a focus on localization, which can turn pan-users into game users by catering to the preferences of local players. In the domestic market, increase engagement by attracting users who don't play games often or are unwilling to pay, and acquiring in-game resources through ad viewing. Publishers need to find a balance between in-app purchases and ad monetization, and serve targeted users and pan-users well to achieve broad market acceptance and stable revenue growth.
The guests shared their experiences and views, and expressed optimism about the growth and opportunities of Mini Games going overseas in the future. The GAMEON! Game Industry Overseas Summit has been successfully concluded, and 600 game industry elites have gathered, let us look forward to the next gathering, when we will share more knowledge, experience, and love for the game world.