Foreword: This article is a series of articles in Game Daily [Conversation with Producers]. If you are interested in this column and would like to share your game production process, please contact us. Fierce competition in the two-dimensional category has become a consensus in t

Preface: This article is a series of articles in Game Daily [Dialogue with Producer]. If you are interested in this column and would like to share your game production process, please contact us.

It is a consensus in the current gaming industry that competition in the 2D category is fierce. As more and more leading manufacturers enter the 2D track, the Matthew effect becomes more and more prominent. How mid-range manufacturers can break through in such an environment has become a This is an issue that the industry needs to think about together. Against such a background, some manufacturers have chosen to find new ways to gain advantages through differentiated competition. This is a typical case of its product "High-Tech Hands-on Group" owned by Optical Flow Beauty.

"High-Tech Figure Group" was officially launched in 2020. As a two-dimensional mobile game with figures as the theme, based on the scarcity of the theme and user needs, it quickly became the focus of heated discussions in the industry at the time after its launch. At the end of 2021, Xinguang Liumei, the research and development company behind "High-Tech Figure Group", received 100 million yuan in financing. The investors include Sequoia China, Shanghai Huandian , Hangzhou Bobo, and Game Trigger.

It has been nearly 2 years since the launch of "High-Performance Figure Group". In the past time, a large number of excellent products have emerged again in the entire two-dimensional field. However, as of now, there is still only this kind of figure-themed product on the market. payment. Relying on its differentiated advantages to gain a foothold in the fiercely competitive two-dimensional category, what measures has "Highly Skilled Hands Group" taken in this process? What are their plans for the future? Game Daily had a chat with Chen Yu, the founder of Xinguang Liumei. The specific interview content is summarized as follows:

Q: Thank you for accepting the interview. First of all, please give a brief introduction.

Chen Yu: Hello everyone, I am Chen Yu, the founder of Xinguang Liumei and the person in charge of Reflective Fox Studio. Before establishing Xinguang Liumei, I had always paid close attention to the Internet and entertainment sectors, especially having invested in the game field for many years. Therefore, I accumulated rich experience in investment and operation of the game and cultural industries. In addition, I have a deep understanding of ACG culture and I have always maintained a very high interest in game development, and I have been a heavy gamer for more than 20 years, so I officially started my business in 2016 and established Xinguang Liumei. At the same time, I began to be responsible for the research and development of "High-powered Figure Group" Reflective Fox Studio.

Q: How did you originally come up with the idea of ​​making a game with a figurine theme like "High-Performance Figure Group"?

Chen Yu: The inspiration for the figure first came from the team. There are many fans of figures and blind boxes in our team. During a brainstorming session when we were looking for product differentiation, we suddenly discovered that the blind box was being dismantled. The fun of collecting uncertain surprises is based on the same design idea as the card drawing of card games, which opened up a new direction of thinking. We began to discuss in detail the possibility of making a 3D card mobile game with a figurine theme.

Although there were some problems to be solved and foreseeable challenges at the implementation level at that time, the particularity of the subject matter itself and the highly stylized visual experience still met our requirements for differentiation. As the development progressed, various Problems were constantly raised and solved, and the entire development team became determined that the subject matter of figures is what we want to do.

Screenshots from the game "High-Tech Group"

Q: What technical and game content implementation difficulties have you encountered during the game development process? How are they solved?

Chen Yu: There are still many problems encountered in the early stage of the development of . Let’s take the most core problem as an example. Although our team has accumulated a certain degree of experience in the 3D PBR art process, how to make players recognize the appearance in the game? The 3D image is a figure. How to create a static figure with a dynamic character? Become our first priority.

We looked for inspiration from the characters of some high-quality 3D games, but when we tried it, we found that conventional details processing methods, such as smoother processing of hair, and realistic processing of parts of clothes such as silk and cloth materials, would actually weaken the effect. We are looking for the best feeling of the figure. For this reason, we have highly customized the development of the figure's material and rendering technology, combined with the actual display scenes in the game, and conducted multiple comparison tests to constantly balance the static pose shaping of the figure and the plot. , the demand for dynamic performance in battle finally achieved the "figure" presentation effect in the game that everyone sees now.

The game character presentation effect of "High-Tech Figure Group"

Q: What achievements has been made since "High-Tech Figure Group" was launched? Did such results meet the psychological expectations within the team?

Chen Yu: Overall, is quite in line with our expectations. "High-tech Hands-on Group" has now been launched in key regional markets around the world and in multiple small language regional markets. It has won multiple regional apple And Google application store ranked first in the free list and top 5 in the best-selling list, and received unanimous praise from players and media in multiple regions. These results are also an affirmation of the team's previous full investment.

has also grown rapidly through the preparation, distribution and operation of "High-Tech Hands-on Team" in different regions. In more than a year, it has accumulated valuable long-term operation experience and has also established relationships with players in various regions. Through communication, many of our previous designs were affirmed through positive feedback, which not only gave us a full sense of satisfaction, but also further strengthened our concepts and confidence in R&D and design, making our planning and layout ideas for sustainable product development gradually clear. .

Q: What is the main user group targeted by "High-Tech Hands-on Group"? What aspects will the product focus on to meet their needs?

Chen Yu: The main user group of "High-Tech Figure Group" is players who have a strong demand for high-quality placed cards, accept or like Japanese two-dimensional aesthetics, and have a certain familiarity with the figure theme. The overall preference is The pan-2D user group is the result of repeated thinking during our project establishment stage.

Of course, 2D users with different concentrations can realize their own preferences on our products. For example, for core two-dimensional users, we provide them with core-oriented experiences and content through game quality and story connotation; while for general two-dimensional users, we provide casual gameplay experience and more interest-related content.

With the extension of the product operation cycle, pan-2D users are currently our main long-term users, especially those who like easy placement and card development. This also verifies our inference at the beginning of the project.

Q: Since the game was launched, what has been the iteration of internal content and the pace of promotion?

Chen Yu: Since the establishment of the project, Reflection Fox’s internal development rhythm has been very tight. In terms of the product itself, we have always followed a research and development strategy of horizontal content production and vertical digging into quality. On the one hand, we will efficiently develop and produce high-certainty content and functions that are easy to verify, and on the other hand, we will continue to dig deeper and iterate on the feel and core experience of the game.

In response to the needs of users in different regions, we work closely with various publishers to adjust the release rhythm of the version according to the rhythm needs of different regional markets. At the same time, we actively integrate into local culture. For example, when the traditional Chinese version was launched, we cooperated with regional publishers to link up with well-known local baseball teams, and achieved relatively good results.

Q: Compared with traditional two-dimensional mobile games, what do you think is the core advantage and competitiveness of "High-Tech Figure Group"?

Chen Yu: The biggest advantage of "High-Tech Figure Group" lies in the many characteristics brought by its subject matter. For example, the style range of figures in real life is relatively wide, so we can not stick to a certain historical period or The inclusiveness of a certain style and figure opens up our creative space, and at the same time provides us with greater possibilities for linkage with other IP works to a certain extent. The core competitiveness of

is mainly reflected in the presentation of figures in the game and the shaping of the maintenance experience of figures. Through the combination of 3D PBR realistic rendering technology and classic Japanese two-dimensional design, the "High-Performance Figure Group" is formed. 》The unique overall style has also been recognized by the public in the market.

Q: Currently, more and more manufacturers are entering the two-dimensional and trendy entertainment industry. What do you think of this phenomenon?

Chen Yu: The two are actually related to a certain extent. Needless to say, the popularity of the two-dimensional track is not to mention. The user’s own attributes of second creation and meme-making increase the possibility of the brand breaking out of the circle. With the z era With the rise of , I believe that competition in the two-dimensional field will become more intense in the future.

Fashionable figures can be seen as an extension of the consumption of two-dimensional content. As we predicted when we established the project, in recent years, as the number of users of two-dimensional games has increased year by year, the market size of fashionable figures has also continued to expand. At present, The two can also be said to be complementary to each other. In fact, the game characters we create are also a main force in the trendy game market to some extent, so we will not be surprised that more and more game manufacturers are entering the trendy game track.

Q: What do you think is the core of maintaining long-term operation of such a product?

Chen Yu: This can be divided into two parts to talk about separately: First, at the product level, we need to continue to provide interesting game content for a long time, and continuously upgrade the player experience, and provide more gameplay based on player needs and feedback. experience and gaming features. Recently, the figure group has been trying to add many new gameplays and activities, and is constantly adjusting to adapt to the ever-changing needs of players.

In addition, the greater foundation for long-term operations is players. Listening to the voices of players, paying attention to the maintenance of the player community, super-quality content output and conveying the core product concepts can effectively build the concept of "home", thus deepening players' understanding of the game. The bond and expectation of products. In the player community of "High-Tech Figure Group", we have effectively established an official image of "Chaihu". If you have a problem, go to Chaihu, report to Chaihu, and complain to Chaihu. We use this "role" to collect information Got a lot of positive and effective advice and information.

"Chai Hu", the official virtual image of "High-Skilled Figure Group"

Q: What are the follow-up plans for the "High-Skilled Figure Group" game? What is the current focus of the entire team?

Chen Yu: "High-Tech Figure Group" is about to celebrate its second anniversary. On the basis of continuously enriching and improving the existing game content, and in line with the entire worldview structure, we will add some new content and gameplay, such as Some time ago, we launched a new "Tide Play" system, and the gameplay of this system is currently being continuously improved.

At the same time, in addition to some traditional IP linkage gameplay, we are also trying to let players truly participate in the design of the game. We have recently launched some figures designed by players, which are also very popular. At the same time, as a globally distributed product, the team has always attached great importance to the dissemination of excellent Chinese traditional culture, and hopes to have the opportunity to pass on the charm of traditional art to more players through the game platform.

Q: How is the development of "High-Tech Figure Group" in the field of physical fashion IP? What role can games play in this regard?

Chen Yu: It seems that our subject matter is really deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. I seem to be asked this question every time. Of course, at the beginning of the project, after confirming this theme, we had the idea and attempt to produce physical fashion toys. At the beginning of the launch of different regions, in addition to the production of some basic peripherals, we also tried to combine several popular figures and fashion toys. Carry out physical operations, but due to the epidemic, it has not formed its own physical fashion IP.

We are currently continuously polishing and optimizing the in-game figure settings, world view and other details, and constantly improving the IP structure of the figure group. We are also waiting for a suitable opportunity, so that when we launch physical fashion games, we will not be separated individuals. Rather, it is a series of products that are continuously and sustainably operated.

A physical figure based on the characters of "High-powered Figure Group"

Q: What is the current size of the "High-powered Figure Group" project team? When the team recruits personnel, what aspects do they look for in candidates?

Chen Yu: Regarding the hand-made group, we still maintain the size of a medium-sized team. This is the conclusion of our multi-faceted evaluation. We believe in the ability and strength of the team members. Of course, we are working on some new development projects at the same time, and all positions are in desperate need of talent.

For applicants, in addition to ability, commonality is also a point we look for. Of course, ability will have different standards according to different positions. But in general, we hope that the colleagues we can work with in the future will be ambitious but mature creators. While maintaining the desire and pursuit of creation, they should also maintain awe of creation and design, and at the same time, they should have strong The ability of self-iteration, through accumulation in creation, constantly improves one's own abilities and cognition.

Currently, in addition to product research and development, Xinguang Liumei is building its own distribution team. Self-research and development are also within our planning scope, and we also need excellent distribution and operation talents. It is important to note that we have now established project research and development teams in Hangzhou and Beijing, so students with ideas can actively contact us.

Q: In the current environment, what do you think are the biggest difficulties in game development and operation?

Chen Yu: First, the scarcity of high-quality talents. In recent years, the domestic game market has developed rapidly, and product quality has improved rapidly, which has put forward higher requirements for talent quality and ability in various R&D positions. However, after all, the R&D and creation of high-quality content requires time accumulation, so before some entire industries In areas where accumulation is relatively scarce, there is an obvious problem of talent shortage.

At the same time, with the globalization of the current game market, it is also determined that the needs of players with different cultural attributes in different regions should be taken into account at the beginning of the product project. While making its own cultural characteristics, it can be compatible with players from different countries and regions. Therefore, developers need to invest more energy in defining the world view of the game and conceiving the balance between the core game experience and auxiliary content. When a product decides to target the global market at the beginning of the project, it places higher demands on the R&D team, and there will also be greater challenges in the selection of game themes and core experiences.

is aimed at the domestic market, and the version number is also a factor that all development teams must consider. With the recent resumption of issuance of version numbers, I believe that as long as the content quality is good and the time and rhythm of plate number application are planned in advance, this challenge can be solved.

Q: If a young person wants to enter the game industry, or if an employee from a large company wants to start a business and make games, what advice would you give him?

Chen Yu: I believe that most students who have these ideas are full of love for the game itself, which in my opinion is a very important prerequisite.If you are a person who loves games and has rich game experience, then the main advice I can give is that I hope everyone can play games with a long-term mentality and expectations.

Content creation is a very challenging thing. Games are regarded as the "ninth art". It is a content type that integrates cutting-edge results in many fields such as science, technology, art, sociology, psychology, etc. It is very important to creators and developers. Very high demands will be made.

Therefore, everyone should be highly in awe of the difficulty of content creation and be prepared to continuously accumulate experience and improve creativity in development and creation year after year. It is more difficult than most people imagine to make a well-received and popular game, so you must not be eager for quick success. You should participate in this industry with the determination and awareness to be willing to make games for a lifetime. This is what I personally give to those who are interested in making games. Core advice for newcomers to the industry or practitioners who have ideas for starting a business.

Conclusion: In today's involution of the two-dimensional game track, using differentiated advantages to acquire users is already a market-proven path. But how to determine the differentiation of products, perhaps we should focus more on the details of daily life. "High-Skilled Figure Group" can use the figure theme to suddenly emerge, so will there be new games with the same high competitiveness in the future? It's worth looking forward to.