Ever since the announcement of HarmonyOS NEXT, game developers have been talking about it from time to time.
It doesn't take any other reason to make this special thing in itself: for more than a decade, we have understood "mobile" as iOS and Android; And now, HarmonyOS has broken the bipolar pattern of mobile operating systems, and the terminal ecological field has ushered in a three-legged situation of iOS, Android and HarmonyOS, I am afraid that for some game teams, the arrival of this change is somewhat fast and unreal.
As a new ecosystem, the development trend of Hongmeng can be described as soaring. According to Huawei, there are now about 900 million devices in the HarmonyOS ecosystem, and according to the latest data released by Counterpoint Research, Huawei's HarmonyOS market share in China has risen to 17%, surpassing iOS to become the second largest operating system in China. There is no reason for any manufacturer to ignore such a large plate, and now the question is to see who is faster.
For HarmonyOS, the construction of an ecosystem requires the participation of every developer. In order to attract more developers, Huawei has continued to improve its native HarmonyOS developer solutions since the second half of last year, and has successively released the HarmonyOS ecosystem partner incentive program, such as the "Bright Star Plan" with an investment of 7 billion yuan and the "Harmony Plan" with an investment of 10 billion yuan in three years, to provide HarmonyOS application developers with resources such as technical support, marketing, and business cooperation.
At the past 2024 ChinaJoy, I found that there are really many manufacturers who respond to ecological construction with practical actions: in the HarmonyOS native game booth, there are already more than 30 game manufacturers including NetEase Games and Perfect World Games, and more than 40 games are open for trial, such as "Light · Encounter", "Zhuxian 2", "Three Kingdoms · Strategic Edition...... And one of the most topical may be NetEase's new product "Naraka: Bladepoint Mobile Game".
Looking at it this way, whether it is the attention of Hongmeng itself or the blessing of many star products, the Hongmeng original game booth has become one of the highlights of this year's ChinaJoy.
Some people may say that most of these products have been launched on other platforms, what is new about "HarmonyOS Native"? In fact, "HarmonyOS Native" is not just a concept, although the games are still those games, but based on the original HarmonyOS, they have made in-depth hardware and system level optimization, bringing a different game experience from other mobile platforms.
01 "Native Game" in the Truest Sense
What's the difference? The most intuitive difference is that these games are smoother and more refined.
In the era of high-quality games, the audio and picture specifications of games are getting higher and higher, and the design and gameplay are becoming more and more complex, such as the current hot "open world" theme games, which have higher and higher requirements for mobile phone hardware, coupled with the increasing pursuit of smoother game experience by players, which has given birth to the emergence and development of more e-sports mobile phones or game phones on the market. However, these phones are generally based on Android, which implements high-performance CPUs and GPUs, optimized network connectivity, and audio processing at both the hardware and software levels.
In contrast, HarmonyOS is a new system that allows for joint in-depth optimization of operating systems and applications, which means that "native games" are system-level in-depth optimization of games, and for game developers, there is more room for optimization, and games can show greater potential. According to reports, the performance of the whole machine of native HarmonyOS is 30% higher than that of HarmonyOS 4.
Specific to the game, the original HarmonyOS version of "Zhuxian 2" applies new cloud rendering and other technologies, using cloud-side computing power to provide high-end lighting computing for the device side, supporting real-time rendering of more than 1 billion rays per second, so that players can also experience PC-level ray tracing image quality on the mobile terminal, which is equivalent to an extra high-end independent graphics card in the mobile phone.
In addition, the game is also connected to the SmartPerf performance tuning tool of Petal Game Developer Service, which is tested through FPS data collection and scene screenshot function tools, and quickly locates the frame drop problem and the corresponding scene in the game, and optimizes it in a targeted manner.
With ray tracing, smooth operation, and no frame drops, all three at the same time, I'm sure everyone can see the meaning.
Another example is "Peak Speed". As a self-developed racing game by NetEase Games, its high-quality visual experience and realistic operation are one of its selling points, but at the same time, this will lead to a large number of scenes that need to be preloaded when the game is launched, triggering GPU compilation and consuming a lot of time. To put it simply, as the quality of the game becomes higher and higher, the reading link of each launch of the game is becoming longer and longer, and the long startup time will inevitably "dissuade" players who are impatient like this.
For this type of game, Huawei provides a shader cloud compilation service, which deploys the GPU compiler in the cloud, compiles shader resources in advance, and allows players to directly obtain them from the cloud side when they start it, greatly improving the speed of the first loading of game scenes. The most direct effect is that the startup speed of "Peak Speed" can be increased by almost 50%, which also effectively improves the retention rate of users to a certain extent.
In addition, with the continuous development of the HarmonyOS system, Huawei Game Center also provides developers with a number of open capabilities such as superframe and adaptive steady-state rendering based on AI technology, and works with developers to optimize game performance, so that games can achieve higher image quality and smoother operation in a lower power environment.
You must know that the current application of AI technology in the game industry is more in the field of content production such as automatic graphics generation, AI digital human or NPC, while the HarmonyOS is based on system-level AI capabilities, opening up related technologies and services to game developers and applying them to game research and development, which is a completely different, but full of value direction, which not only improves the efficiency of game research and development, but also promotes the breakthrough of key self-developed technologies of games to a certain extent.
Back to the topic, after experiencing the gameplay process of these HarmonyOS native games, I finally experienced the "triple-A mobile game" experience that manufacturers are pursuing. The so-called "3A mobile game" experience should actually be said to be the "3A feeling" of mobile games, with a grand world view, exquisite design and a silky smooth experience.
In the past two years, multi-terminal games have become more and more popular. Many people believe that one of the reasons for this trend is that "mobile phones are not enough to maximize the quality of games". Mobile games are limited by the mobile phone itself, and it seems impossible to move towards 3A. However, the emergence of the native HarmonyOS makes us feel that it is not impossible for the "3A experience" to be realized on mobile phones.
So, the changes that the native HarmonyOS brings to the game experience just reflect the "3A sense" of mobile games more? As I experienced, I discovered that smoothness and sophistication may be just some of the changes that HarmonyOS has brought to these games. There's more to what they can bring.
02 HarmonyOS original game, not referred to as "mobile game"
In the mobile game products, in addition to the "3A faction" represented by overloaded games, there are also many products that are originally intended to meet the game needs of players in mobile scenes or fragmented time, hoping to bring players a better pure mobile game experience, such as casual games such as fruit cutting that were all the rage back then, SLG games such as Three Kingdoms Kill, they are basically designed for the mobile phone itself, and they are not so "eating" configuration.
For this type of product, what can HarmonyOS do?
The first is native intelligence.
For example, playing "Three Kingdoms · Strategic Edition" on the original Hongmeng, even if the player does not open the game client, when a new general is recruited in the game, or the city is attacked, Hongmeng's AI assistant Xiaoyi can also remind the player as soon as possible.
According to the data, the game revisit rate of players with reminders reached 97%, and the average active time per person also increased by 5.8 minutes. First of all, it is impressive, which can bring certain operational efficiency to the game; In addition to the data, this actually brings an upgrade to the player experience as well. Players don't need to keep the game open all the time to know the progress of the game, which on the one hand improves the player's win rate, and on the other hand, it can also reduce the "anxiety" of heavy players.
In a word, based on the system-level AI capabilities of native Hongmeng, the leisure category is more casual, and the strategic category is also more strategic.
But what surprises me more about the innovative direction of HarmonyOS for the game experience is the "Internet of Everything".
Nowadays, whether it is a former hardcore game player or a new generation of core players who have grown up with mobile games, it seems that many people hope that domestic games can "go out of the mobile phone". In addition to the previously mentioned reasons for phone performance, another problem is that the phone screen is too small, making it difficult to trigger an immersive experience.
At the same time, as gaming has become a casual way for more and more people, the small screen has also become a core pain point. More pan-user gamers want mobile games to promote social interaction, however, the result of a "mobile game party" is often only for everyone to bow their heads and play their own games. How to share the joy of the game is an urgent problem to be solved.
Based on the gene of Hongmeng's "Internet of Everything", it solves this flaw from a new angle - we need to emphasize that Hongmeng is defined as a full-scene intelligent operating system, and it is not a system that can only run on mobile phones and makes people stare at small screens to "rub glass", but a pan-terminal operating system.
This also means that HarmonyOS native games not only have the ability to bring an immersive experience, but also explore game scenarios that many people have never imagined.
For example, "Blue Wings: Chaos Effect". This roguelite action game can be played on a mobile phone at the same time, and seamlessly connected to the smart screen in the living room, or the car screen in the smart cockpit for operation. Imagine you're playing a game of meat pigeons with your phone as a handle at home, and suddenly you get a message that you need to go out as soon as possible - and this one may be the perfect buff you've ever collected.
You don't need to worry at all, the game is smoothly transferred from the living room screen to your mobile phone, and after getting in the car, it can also be transferred to the big screen of the car machine, and there is even a sound and light environment full of atmosphere, and you finally complete the boss battle in this environment, not only is there no time wasted, but even the experience has become better.
Not only that,Based on the distributed technology of the continuous upgrade of the native HarmonyOS,When players play games with smart screens,The mobile phone can not only act as a computing power center,Realize the transportation of large-scale games,It can also be used as a touch screen handle to control the game,The actual experience is that the system will choose the optimal computing power to ensure the smooth operation of the game,We don't have to worry about the experience of the game in the process of seamless circulation,Or after the transfer to other devices。
The Internet of Everything is not just the interconnection between screens. For example, "Landing on the Beach3D", this game can not only be operated on mobile phones, but also developed Huawei's exclusive game peripheral solutions and interfaces - it can directly cooperate with the remote control and Lingxi pointing characteristics of the smart screen, allowing users to point to the operation more refined, and the experience is more realistic.
According to the booth staff, this gun-type peripheral is deeply adapted to the aiming, shooting and other operations of FPS games, and timely interactive feedback such as recoil through the vibration motor; The smart pointing function of HUAWEI Smart Screen can also help players aim and get a more immersive experience.
The last one that can achieve a similar game experience is the Nintendo Switch, which is a professional game console in itself. And Huawei seems to be exploring more HarmonyOS full-scene gameplay, such as the cross-terminal collaborative interactive gameplay of "Happy Fishing Master", where players can swing fishing in the air as long as they bring their watches and wave their hands while sitting on the sofa. It's all "Air Force" anyway, and I'd rather choose a more comfortable experience than being exposed to the sun in the wild.
On the other hand, these distributed technologies and full-scene features of HarmonyOS also break the barriers between games and terminals, and between terminals, allowing developers to explore more ways to interact with games, so that players can unlock more game scenes and gameplay.
At this point, I'm sure you'll also realize that HarmonyOS deserves attention, not just because of their market size. The more I experience offline, the more I feel that with Huawei's technical foundation, HarmonyOS is really not just the "third pole of mobile".
And these HarmonyOS native games experienced this time are not just simple "mobile games". HarmonyOS has one foot in the original game has stepped out of the definition of mobile games, and if you want to give it a name, I think it may be more appropriate to call it an "all-scene game".
03 HarmonyOS has become the next must-have
Through this wave of inventory just now, we can say that from the perspective of actual game developers, putting HarmonyOS on the shelves is almost a must:
First of all, as a full-scene ecosystem, there are definitely many more ways for developers to acquire users than ordinary mobile phones. Nowadays, when the game industry enters the stock market, every additional channel to reach new users will give it an additional opportunity. What's more, this is still a Huawei user with a "high value" label by default in the industry.
In addition, Hongmeng's various technical assistance not only makes it easier to improve the quality of products, but also provides developers with more room to play and attract the attention of more different types of players.
At present, the HarmonyOS ecosystem has 900 million ecological devices, and the HarmonyOS native application has entered a full-scale sprint stage. Combined with their current online and offline tens of billions of full-scene publicity and distribution resources, cutting in this time period is almost the best opportunity for developers to enter the game.
In fact, there are many manufacturers, whether they are head manufacturers or middle-waist developers, they have already aimed at this "cake": at the HDC 2024 game service forum, nearly 100 head game manufacturers such as NetEase Games, Happy Elements, and Sanqi Mutual Entertainment have already announced that they have completed the development of Hongmeng's original games. As of July 2024, thousands of games have completed the development of HarmonyOS native games, and the commercialization process of HarmonyOS native games has been fully accelerated.
This situation reminds me of the process of Android being born 14 years ago, which pushed the game to a high speed. We may expect that HarmonyOS will also become the next big force in the industry.
In the future, HarmonyOS native games may no longer be simply adapted to HarmonyOS, and may even be based on various technical characteristics of HarmonyOS, the first or even exclusive products developed will be refracted to multiple platforms such as mobile phones and PCs like today's console games, forming their own influence.
In the long run, it is foreseeable that with the continuous development and maturity of Hongmeng, it may not only put the game scene in the era of the Internet of Everything more clearly in front of our eyes, but also bring the mobile Internet ecology into an important new stage.