Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan are regarded as the first stop for Chinese games to go overseas. Among them, Taiwan is the region with the largest market size and number of players among the three, and the Taiwan market is the most valued. However, there is no such thing as Taiwan game companies in the Taiwan game market now.
According to the 2017 global game market forecast report released by Newzoo, the size of the Taiwan game market will reach a US$1.029 billion (contract 6.7 billion yuan). In the Asia-Pacific region, it is the fifth largest gaming market after mainland China, Japan, South Korea and Australia. From the perspective of market size, the Taiwan market is not small, but most of it has not fallen into the pockets of local companies. If you ask which game company in Taiwan is currently developing better, the answer may be, "There are Rea games, and... it seems to be gone."
In the 1990s, Taiwanese game products occupied an important position in the hearts of mainland players, and even the memories of a generation, such as "Xuanyuan Sword", "The Legend of Sword and Fairy", "The Monopoly", "The Legend of Jin Yong", and "The Legend of the Three Kingdoms", all show the vitality of the Taiwan game market. And today, the Taiwan market is constantly being squeezed by foreign games. The encounters between the Fairy Sword Series and the Xuanyuan Sword Series can illustrate many difficulties of Taiwan game companies. The impression that Daewoo now gives people is basically relying on living a life of old capital - constantly authorizing TV series, PC games, web games, mobile games, etc. to maintain it to this day. In addition, game companies such as Hantang Company and Weijing Technology may have transformed or been submerged in the wave of change.
R&D companies are weak and must rely on a large number of foreign products to support them. However, although there are many mainland games released in Taiwan, considering the high similarity between the Taiwan market and the mainland market, most mainland games choose to publish themselves or be agents of non-mainland subsidiaries. A Taiwanese gamer with more than 20 years of industry experience told mobile games that in September, only one of the Taiwanese iOS Google Play manufacturers revenue list was a real Taiwanese company, most of which were subsidiaries of mainland game companies.
September Taiwan iOSGoogle Play Manufacturer Revenue List
If two years ago, overseas games could only take away about 60% of the market share of the Taiwan market, then by 2017, the market share that was eroded had reached 90% - of which more than 80% were taken away by mainland manufacturers, and 10% were in the hands of European, American, Japanese and Korean manufacturers, and Taiwan game companies had less than 10% of the share.
By observing the App Store and Google Play in the Taiwan market, it was found that almost all games are "foreign" products. So what are the products that dominate the Taiwanese game market now? The mobile game has selected the five most distinctive products for specific analysis.
1. " Tower of Gods and Demons " has stood at the forefront of the best-selling list for four years and is not inferior
Publisher: Hong Kong Madhead 2
Online time: January 2013
"Tower of Gods and Demons" is a gem-elimination casual mobile game developed by Hong Kong game manufacturer Madhead, and its gameplay is similar to "The Mysterious City of Zhilong". Since its launch in Taiwan in early 2013, "Tower of Gods and Demons" has been at the forefront of Taiwan's App Store best-selling list, and has remained on the top 10 of Taiwan's App Store best-selling list from 2013 to 2015. It can be regarded as an "evergreen tree" in the Taiwan game market. In August 2016, the ranking of "Tower of Gods and Demons" fell out of the top 50 best-selling list. When everyone thought it had reached a period of decline, it began to gradually recover. Judging from the current situation, the road to "Tower of Gods and Demons" is still a long way.
2.MOBA mobile game " Legend duel " is popular in Taiwan
Publisher: Singapore Garena Online
Online time: October 2016
" Honor of Kings " trend not only swept mainland China, but also shined in the Taiwan market. The name of the Taiwanese version of "Honor of Kings" was changed to "Legendary Showdown", which may be the best mobile game localized. Compared with "Honor of Kings" in mainland China, "Legendary Showdown" has been modified and optimized in terms of UI and modeling. The UI is simpler and more refined in modeling, making it more in line with the aesthetic and equipment characteristics of Taiwanese players.As a MOBA mobile game, Garena Online has launched urban competitive competitions and professional leagues in Taiwan for the competitive and confrontational elements of "Legendary Showdown", attracting a large number of players through e-sports activities, and is often ranked in the top 5 best-selling list of Taiwan App Store.
3. "My World" version + MMORPG, " The Story of the Gods " Taiwan soared into the sky
Publisher: Zhiyou Fangcun
Online time: September 2017
Zhiyou Fangcun "The Story of the Gods" is a common MMORPG game type in the Taiwanese market, but it has made "high freedom" innovations in gameplay. The scene construction of "The Legend of the Gods" incorporates pixel style, which enhances the game's spatial sense and three-dimensional effect, and has the feeling of "Minecraft" version of MMO. Through the "cubes" in the game scene, players can go to various locations in the game, breaking the regular MMO game experience and presenting a free world full of fun in exploration. Innovations like
have also received good responses in Taiwan. After the public beta in Taiwan, "The Legend of the Gods" successfully topped the App Store and Google Play free lists, and ranked 3 in the free list for more than a week in the Google Play list. Judging from the current momentum, the ranking is quite stable. The best-selling list in the double list is also continuing to climb, and both have entered the top 15.
时代官网网站 was able to achieve such good results when he first entered the Taiwan market. First, he was quite familiar with the local market in Taiwan and chose the right product; second, he was well versed in the issuance method and prepared a market budget of NT$100 million (over 20 million) for vigorous publicity. During the launch of "The Legend of the Gods", the Double Tenth Festival in Taiwan was encountered. It launched publicity through social media, internet celebrity communication, game forums and other channels, and successfully made "The Legend of the Gods" top the double 10th Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays for the Double Tenth Festival.
4. " Kingdom Era ", Taiwan's most popular SLG mobile game
Publisher: IGG
Online Time: March 2016
IGG's "Kingdom Era" As an SLG mobile game, it has achieved good results not only in the European and American markets, but also in Taiwan. Since its launch in Taiwan in early 2016, the App Store best-selling ranking has steadily increased, and it has remained in the TOP 20 for more than a year after its launch. The Taiwan market is quite inclusive to foreign products, and as a globally-accepted product, it is naturally not difficult to win Taiwan.
5. " Pig is Coming " has caused a social fever and maintained the TOP of Taiwan mobile games for more than half a year
online time: May 2016
Publisher: Vanggame
"Pig is Coming Linux" was launched on the Taiwan App Store last year. This game is definitely a phenomenon-level product in Taiwan. At that time, under the siege of a number of MMO masterpieces, the top 5 mobile game revenue in Taiwan was still maintained for more than half a year. According to Google Play, the download volume had exceeded one million (between 1 million and 5 million), and the number of comments was 225,000! You should know that there are only 10 million gamers in Taiwan. Mengdan Interactive, the developer of this game, has a background in the Tencent QQ team. In terms of social understanding, it is more in-depth than that of ordinary mobile game publishers. "Pokemon Go" was launched during the period, but "The Pig is Coming" has a social popularity in Taiwan.
Conclusion:
In the Taiwan mobile game market in 2017, the influx of mainland games will continue to squeeze the living space of Taiwanese local game companies. Since last year, major manufacturers such as Tencent, NetEase and Shiyou Fangcun have also made Taiwan a key breakthrough in the market. I believe that more rookies will emerge in the Taiwan market in the future, and there is a greater possibility that Taiwanese game companies will continue to sink.
