Breaking through the bottleneck of RPG global marketing: methods and strategies to open a 200 billion market

Recently, Gamma Data and TikTok for Business jointly released the "2023 RPG Game Global Marketing White Paper". The report conducted in-depth research on multiple markets around the world, selected 13 key regions including the United States, Japan, South Korea, Germany, the United Kingdom, Vietnam, and Saudi Arabia as research objects, and collected a total of 10,519 survey feedback from global game users to gain better insights. The demand conditions of users in different regions have helped more game companies find market breakthroughs and empowered the long-term growth of RPG games.

Report research shows:

l The global RPG market size is expected to reach 207.98 billion yuan in 2023, but the category share has declined for four consecutive years

l Open world RPG revenue share Over 10%, the proportion of idle RPGs has increased for four consecutive years, and the proportion of MMORPGs has dropped rapidly to 18.2%

l About 40% of RPG users believe that out-of-game platforms can provide more added value

l 78.9% of RPG users care about localization

l 89.3% of RPG users watch short videos every day

l Over 60% of RPG users prefer two-dimensional culture

l Two-thirds of the companies surveyed are facing customer acquisition cost pressure

This article only uses some data and cases from the "2023 RPG Game Global Marketing White Paper". To obtain the report, please go to the TikTok for Business official website to download.

Global market development status of RPG games

The global RPG market size is expected to reach 207.98 billion yuan in 2023, but the category sales ratio has declined for four consecutive years

According to Gamma data, The global RPG game market size will reach 207.98 billion yuan in 2023.

Among the global top mobile games in 2023, RPG products accounted for 32.0%, making it the largest mobile game category in the world.

However, the current global sales share of the RPG category continues to decline, with a cumulative decrease of 9 percentage points compared to 2019, and the bottleneck of the category market has emerged.

Intensified category competition: changes in user needs and reduced user increments

The bottleneck of the RPG category is mainly reflected in the strong competition within the track caused by two factors sex. On the one hand, changes in user demand have put the RPG category market under pressure from product structure transformation; on the other hand, the difficulty of user acquisition has increased, and the entire industry has shifted to stock competition.

Changes in user needs

1. Behind the rise of open world RPG is the user’s demand for innovative gameplay

Most open world RPGs can interact with the environment, conduct open exploration, and provide Players have a higher degree of freedom, while other types are mostly linear play.

2. The proportion of idle RPGs has increased for four consecutive years. Behind this is the user’s demand for “game load reduction”

Idle RPGs allow users to operate with less , improve combat effectiveness with less login, thereby reducing the burden. Typical game elements such as offline income, automatic combat, etc. allow players to use more fragmented time to play.

3. The rapid decline of classic MMORPG revenue is due to users’ fatigue with the “heavy-weighted” game

Classic MMORPG focuses on combat power competition, and Paying more and participating in more activities are the core sources of improving combat power, which in turn places higher demands on users' payment capabilities and online time.

The difficulty of user acquisition has increased

With the rapid expansion of the mobile game market, the number of users has decreased significantly, and competition between products has shifted to existing users; at the same time, RPG users are more likely to lose, and it is more difficult for users to return due to reasons such as the difficulty of catching up in terms of combat power.

Five major elements help RPG games cope with changes in demand

Based on the current market conditions, innovative gameplay, regional themes, localized style, global IP, These five elements of two-dimensional culture may help break through bottlenecks.

The pattern of subdivided gameplay has not yet been determined. Exploring more emerging sub-games has become the key

Currently, there are still many "RPG" subdivided categories that meet user needs that have not yet been developed. Among the emerging categories that already have head games, user demand for elimination, shooting, tower defense, and roguelike RPGs is still relatively low.

Cultural themes have become the key to shaping the characteristics of RPG products. Regional theme innovation may become a breakthrough factor

Cultural themes are the core element in shaping characteristics, but global user theme preferences vary greatly. It is necessary to focus on grasping the characteristics of regional user preferences, or rely on unconventional innovative themes to break the situation.

Half of the companies focus on localization of painting style, which is in line with visual preferences and helps to create product highlights

There are great differences in painting style and flow in different regions, which is in line with Regionally preferred painting styles are more helpful in attracting users’ attention. At the same time, on the one hand, you can improve your competitiveness through image quality, and on the other hand, you can also look for relatively niche painting styles to open up breakthroughs.

There is a lot of room for IP-enabled product performance to leverage

IP-adapted games always account for more than half of the market share, which can enhance sales performance, and global IP can be developed Larger space.

The second dimension has always been present in RPG products and still has development potential today

The second dimension culture is very popular and is the focus and innovative culture that has always been the focus and innovation culture of the rapid development of RPG elements and will have long-term development potential in the future.

In addition to the above five elements, there are other opportunities that need to be focused on.

Pay attention to the marketing potential of game content, use out-of-game platforms to find incremental space, strengthen localization layout and long-term operations, and pay attention to the potential of short video platforms

Strengthen the potential of game content promotion and distribution, use games Digging out more customer acquisition space

First of all, the advantages of native game content can be fully exploited. Users are more likely to be attracted by native game content to download games, and more opportunities can be tapped with the help of more native content.

At the same time, it is necessary to pay attention to the trends of experts and positions. Enterprises can approach from more angles to acquire new users and maintain retained users.

Create an out-of-game platform with the help of content, experts, position management, etc., and amplify the effects of each link in the game, allowing more players to discover, retain, and return to the game , and are more willing to pay for games.

Localization is difficult, and companies need to understand local user preferences

In-depth localization is also an important opportunity. Users have a high demand for localization, and they are more concerned about the game having a world view, art, culture, etc. that fit the market characteristics. At the same time, game companies going overseas said that the current difficulty in going overseas is reflected in the lack of insight into global user preferences and judgment of prospects.

Therefore, it is necessary to gain insight into the characteristics of users in different markets around the world, conduct research and development and acquire customers in a way that is more in line with local users’ gaming habits, and find a suitable platform to tap user value and find potential users of the category.

Focus on the long-term operation of the game, focusing on the improvement of long-term LTV

The retention time of RPG users is positively related to the payment level, and the payment level of long-term users is usually higher High, acquiring more long-term users can obtain higher game revenue and relieve profit pressure. Therefore, corresponding measures must be taken to maintain long-term operation of users and stimulate more paying behavior from users.

The short video platform helps RPG products gain more marketing growth

The potential of short videos in content marketing, long-term operations and other aspects can be continuously explored. At the same time, Short video platforms have higher user preferences and stronger stickiness, so they have become the most commonly used advertising form for RPG products at this stage.

From the perspective of short video conversion rate, among the top 20% of RPG ads by CVR at this stage, videos of 31 to 60 seconds account for the highest proportion, reaching 48%. Among the current mainstream platforms, short videos of 31 to 60 seconds on TikTok account for 43.6%, which is significantly higher than other platforms. The proportion of short videos of 31 to 60 seconds on the platform also reflects users’ preference for long and short videos. acceptance and preference, and choosing a platform with higher user acceptance will help RPG gain more marketing growth.

The short video platform has a high degree of matching with RPG product marketing, and more potential can be further explored in the future.

Insights on the development key points of RPG's global important markets

In order to further explore the development opportunities of RPG, it is necessary to conduct in-depth insights into the key points of the overall development of RPG.

Insight 1: RPG users prefer two-dimensional culture, and game communities help marketing break through the circle

Judging from the development status of RPG markets in various countries, the number of two-dimensional game users is large, with more than 60% of RPGs Game users prefer two-dimensional culture, and 70% of RPG mobile game users have played two-dimensional games.

User survey results show that 32.25% of RPG two-dimensional users will learn about new games through game forums or communities. Marketing on platforms with a higher concentration of two-dimensional users will achieve better results.

And 60% of the users of the TikTok platform have a preference for the second dimension, and the proportion of users who like the two-dimensional culture is even higher, which is very suitable for the two-dimensional RPG marketing.

At the same time, RPG two-dimensional users pay more attention to game-related content and are more willing to share. This is why many two-dimensional games can continue to gain popularity in communities with high user gatherings. The key to customers.

Insight 2: RPG users have significant preference for IP, have strong payment ability and are more active

RPG users have high IP preference, and global IP is helping marketing The advantage in terms of harvest is even more significant. In addition, IP can attract more big R users. Research shows that 81.9% of big R users have played mobile games adapted from IP.

Among RPG players, IP users tend to be more active on platforms outside the game, spending a long time paying attention to game content, and also through interactive challenges, live broadcasts, and talent Get game information.

But it should be noted that in the marketing process, you need to find a platform like TikTok with a high concentration of IP users and rich IP content.

Insight Three: Storytelling and character development rank among the top two RPG user preferences

Various game experiences Among them, plot stories and character development rank among the top 2 preferences of RPG users, and their preference is much higher than that of non-RPG users. Therefore, these two elements are the key to RPG product marketing. It is necessary to find suitable content scenes that can expand the influence of characters and plot stories.

Insight 4: Pay attention to the integration and innovation of gameplay, which will help expand the user group

Through the integration of gameplay, we can continue to expand new user groups, and some games even use the This has attracted circle users from other categories. In addition, "light gameplay" is also the long-term development focus of RPG products. Shooting, casual puzzles, and puzzle solving can all be combined with RPG to derive light gameplay.

Marketing on platforms with a higher preference for light gameplay can improve customer acquisition efficiency. We found that: on TikTok, users have a higher preference for light gameplay. It is obvious that TikTok users prefer integrated gameplay with casual attributes, and are more willing to relax and have fun in the game.

Insight 5: Polish the content to ease the pressure of customer acquisition, and leverage the content ecology to do RPG marketing

Live material has strong expressiveness and is widely recognized, so it is necessary to find the right fit The user survey data of the delivery platform

shows that RPG users around the world generally have a positive attitude towards real-person materials. Authenticity and fun, as the core elements of real-person advertising, are also recognized by more than half of the users. In terms of customer acquisition, real-person materials have key advantages such as better interpretation of RPG game highlights, stronger content performance, and faster iteration speed.

The habits and tonality of users on each platform will greatly affect the delivery effect, so it is necessary to find a suitable delivery platform. Among the mainstream platforms, TikTok has significant advantages in real-person material advertising, with a 20% placement ratio that is much higher than other advertising media platforms. It is favored by RPG game companies. At the same time, in many important market segments around the world, RPG real-person creative The proportion is also higher than the average of all media platforms.

The reputation of experts drives RPG games to break through the circle and expand the influence of games with the help of diverse content

The content of experts is influenced by RPG User love has become the key to attracting users to download games, return games, and participate in activities in many markets. It also has a deeper impact on strengthening localization and users' access to game information. If the platform can provide multiple levels of talent resources, it will better help the game expand its influence.

And TikTok has formed a unique methodology, using localized content styles and cross-border elements to create circle-breaking content.

Daren live broadcast provides new opportunities to break through the circle and capture traffic to form a positive cycle

Live broadcast is an important form of building a game content ecosystem, and ultimately forms Sustainable expansion of the ecosystem, and RPG users have a stronger willingness to live broadcast and watch, and it is more suitable for games to use live broadcast to expand their ecological influence.

#On TikTok, you can achieve a positive circulation of traffic through live broadcasts by experts.

The position carries the diverse needs of users, the long-term value of the fan-operated energy storage community

Research shows that the position has important value for RPG products, especially when expanding operations It plays a significant role in attracting long-term users. TikTok RPG users discuss games with their friends in the community and have a higher willingness to return through activities. Building and operating a position on TikTok will achieve better results in maintaining user retention and strengthening return.

Native content combined with advertising traffic to reduce costs and increase efficiency at the customer acquisition level

Enterprises are still continuing to explore ways to combine native content with advertising traffic. Now, Heating native content on TikTok in stages and combining native traffic with commercial traffic is a powerful model to achieve cost reduction and efficiency improvement.

RPG Global Important Market Insights

Paying attention to more localized market conditions and user preferences is the key to laying out the RPG market, so the report also analyzes 13 global markets Research and analysis have been conducted on key regions. The United States, Japan, and South Korea markets are selected as case studies. For more information, please refer to the full version.

United States

Characteristics of the U.S. RPG mobile game market

1. Difficult to leverage top games

The U.S. RPG mobile game market size is expected to reach 24.93% in 2023 One hundred million U.S. dollars. As of September 2023, RPG product sales accounted for 11.4% of the top 100 mobile games. Compared with other markets, the typical feature of the US RPG market is that a few games have achieved high sales, and it is difficult for more RPG games to enter the market.

2. Other terminals have a greater squeeze on mobile games

In the U.S. game market, stand-alone machines, consoles, and customers PC games also have a large audience. For RPG games, they have certain disadvantages compared to other game devices in terms of operating feel.

3. The overall payment level of RPG users is not high

Compared with the overall RPG users, the overall payment level of American users is not outstanding.

4. Users’ long-term retention intention is lower

U.S. RPG game users have a lower willingness to stay in the game for a long time. Some short- and medium-term RPG products have Better commercial results may be achieved.

5. Low interest in the core gameplay of RPG

American RPG users have low interest in the core gameplay involved in RPG, so in the United States, they need to rely on innovative gameplay to gain customers.

Development opportunities in the US RPG mobile game market

1. Users have a significant preference for science fiction, urban, punk and other themes

Science Fiction It is a long-term favorite theme of American users. On the basis of science fiction themes, companies also need to pay attention to subdivided themes such as doomsday, space, mechas, and zombies.

2. There are more market opportunities for light gameplay

In recent years, among the top 100 products in the US mobile game market, the proportion of light gameplay has always been About 30%.

3. Opportunities for elimination RPG

Elimination RPG combines the leisure nature of elimination and the growth system of RPG, while satisfying the leisure needs and Develop needs.

How elimination RPG mobile games use TikTok to gain customers in the United States

Advertisements for elimination RPGs in the U.S. market usually tend to show actual combat effects and themed sitcoms, etc. element. For example, through sitcoms and voice-overs, the plot is unfolded from a first-person perspective, and immersive content stimulates users' interest in the game or characters; in addition, through the combination of strategy tutorials and challenging content, the game is shown to be easy to use but also deep. The features not only allow inexperienced players to play with confidence, but also stimulate the desire of high-end players to challenge.

##Japan

Japanese RPG mobile game market characteristics

1. The mobile RPG market is high in scale, but it is beginning to decline

The Japanese RPG mobile game market is expected to reach US$7.88 billion in 2023. Due to the early development of the Japanese RPG category, it has now entered a stable stage from rapid growth. At the same time, Japanese users have the characteristics of high loyalty and preference for familiar gameplay. It is difficult to develop the market based on new games and emerging categories.

2. Users have low social preference

Japanese users prefer to play alone, partly because they want to reduce interpersonal pressure and are more willing to choose games that support solo play game.

3. High requirements for painting style

User preferences are highly concentrated in animation, and Japan, as the main producer of animation culture, has a high level of animation style production It is relatively high and needs to continuously improve quality to meet user requirements.

4. Prefer the second dimension, but the competition is fierce

The second dimension in the Japanese market has the characteristics of high market share and deep user awareness. For the latter It is difficult to compete in the game.

Japanese RPG mobile game market development opportunities

1. Leverage IP linkage

Japanese RPG users have a significant preference for IP. More than 60% of them have played IP-adapted mobile games, and more than half prefer Japanese comic IPs. Leveraging Japanese local IPs will significantly drive market development.

2. There are potential opportunities for love-themed RPGs

31.4% of Japanese users are interested in love-themes, and women have a more obvious preference for love-themes.

3. Casual RPG, idle RPG, or new opportunities to save

"Fragmented experience" is more preferred by Japanese users, while casual RPG, Idle RPG is a category that combines "fragmented" experience with low game time requirements, so there are more opportunities.

4. Card RPG has long-term market opportunities

Among the existing RPG mobile game users in Japan, card RPG accounts for the highest proportion, mainly It is preferred by users due to its weak operability and core fun. Card RPGs often use multi-character extraction as the core of the gameplay, which is consistent with Japanese users’ interest in character collection and mission unlocking.

How to gain customers for mobile card RPG games in Japan

Japanese card RPG game advertisements tend to highlight character drawings , modeling, card drawing mechanism, IP and theme song and other elements. In terms of advertising content, the theme song is used to create memory points and combined with vertical painting display to attract players who value the audio-visual experience; or the original IP content is restored through game materials to attract the interest of fans.

##South Korea

Korean RPG mobile game market characteristics

1. The market size is large, but the decline is large

In 2023, the size of South Korea's RPG mobile game market is expected to reach US$3.15 billion, which has shown an overall downward trend in recent years. As the main category of MMORPG, due to factors such as the solidification of game experience and high payment, some users have been lost.

2. Most of the old IP products are old IP products, and the overall market tends to solidify

The current Korean RPG products are mostly IP games, and the old IP products are client-side Games are the main focus, accounting for 76.5%, which is not attractive to young users.

3. Users have higher requirements for the numerical system

Combat values, payment values, and development values ​​are the core fun that users pursue, and the game needs to be refined Polish the values.

4. The proportion of two-dimensional games has been declining for many years.

About 60% of Korean users pay attention to two-dimensional games, but the sales volume of South Korea’s top two-dimensional games The proportion of sales has been declining for many years.

Korea RPG mobile game market development opportunities

1. The per capita payment level of RPG users is high

The per capita payment level of Korean RPG users is at the forefront, which means that the product has greater commercial value and needs to focus on the design of the payment system.

2. There are opportunities for classic ARPGs and shooting RPGs

Currently, shooting RPGs and ARPGs have less revenue, but they have high user preferences, so It is expected to gain more market share.

3. Fantasy-themed MMORPG becomes a key opportunity

The classic MMORPG in the Korean market faces “high user preferences and emphasis on familiar IPs, but they also It is easy to give up the game due to fixed gameplay and payment pressure." However, this category itself has an absolute advantage.

For companies that intend to enter the Korean market through classic MMORPG, they can still enter the market through fantasy themes that are familiar to users.

How to gain customers for fantasy MMORPG mobile games in South Korea

Advertisements for fantasy-themed RPG games in the Korean market usually tend to emphasize character design, weapons and equipment, and actual combat effects, and celebrity endorsements and other elements. The advertising content mainly uses high-precision modeling or CG battle videos to highlight the strong technical strength of the game in a fantasy setting; or it uses local celebrity endorsements to reduce players' resistance to advertising; or it highlights trendy attributes and emphasizes the latest Features such as technology, latest equipment, specific groups of people, etc.

Market Overview by Region

RPG Marketing Trend Insights

Understand the development trends of RPG marketing It is also crucial and helps RPG companies to have a more targeted layout.

Signal infrastructure helps improve delivery efficiency, and high-quality signal data is the key to improving results

RPG users generally do not use a single social media platform, and their touch point behavior is relatively complex. However, the current mainstream MMP Last Click attribution model is actually difficult to evaluate the true value of each platform.

In recent years, companies have paid more and more attention to the quality of data signals. However, it has always been a pain point for companies to make detailed assessments of the actual effects of purchases on each platform.

On TikTok, TikTok for Business’ self-attribution platform (SAN) can be used to help advertisers better understand TikTok’s actual contribution to performance conversion. SAN self-attribution can provide advertisers with more delivery optimization signals, help advertisers accurately identify TikTok conversion data, tap high-value users, and improve advertising effectiveness.

High-value users have become the key to RPG marketing, using Shenzhen transfer products to increase reach rates

Compared with non-RPG users, RPG users’ payment level and frequency are higher, so more efficient methods are needed to accurately mine high-value users.

However, it is often more difficult to mine high-value users, so they need to be better marked and reached, and TikTok for Business Self-attribution platforms (SAN) will help companies find high-value users.

The combination of product and effect expands the marketing effect, and brand activities activate users’ willingness to spread

##Judging from user trends, users are highly receptive to brand activities. Brand marketing methods such as expert content and creative stickers have received widespread attention and love from RPG users. They have a high audience base and are expected to increase user conversions.

Long-term operation throughout the life cycle is a key area that overseas companies generally pay attention to

From the C-side, users are paying more attention to game products. More than 20% of users will pay attention to each customer acquisition stage, and the relevance of customer acquisition in different life cycles is gradually increasing. From the perspective of the business side, the enterprise side has generally adopted a long-term strategy, and full life cycle operations, as the breaking point of overseas business, will be the focus of future manufacturers' efforts.

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