'It is essential to gain a background in the (Chinese market's) culture and people.' – Juan LiClick To Tweet
The Chinese mobile market been growing fast and is continuing that growth at an incredible rate. In her session during Casual Connect Asia, Introduction to the Chinese Gaming Culture: Why Your Game Will Not Work, Juan Li, Project Manager for Portal2China explained how game developers can be ready for the Chinese market. Traditions run deep in China and represent a challenge for any outsider due to both the uniqueness and the complexity of these traditions. One thing to keep in mind is that, “Gifting is so important. It is a part of the culture. Exchanging a gift is a way to maintain the friendship.” Without tools and knowledge such as this, one cannot succeed in the Chinese market.
The CEO of Animoca Brands, Robby Yung treated the audience at Casual Connect Asia with powerful and essential tips in negotiating your commercial arrangements, project management and marketing & distribution. In his talk, Working with Brands in Mobile Games, Robby focused on how we can leverage existing brands to create new games. A big example of this are the celebrity games such as Kim Kardashian: Hollywood game by Glu Mobile Inc. Robby pointed out one reason these are successful is that, “All of these brands have social media followers, they have youtube channels where people are watching existing video content based on those brands and they also often get selected for featuring on the app stores because these are brands that are globally recognized and loved.” Being discovered is a huge part of the battle. Robby calls it a partnership between the brand and the app developer [which is] a lot about discovery and user acquisition”.
“Even if you have a mature and polished product, it is pretty vital to consider how to bring it to each market,” reiterated Stephen Lee, Executive Director of Business Development for 6waves. He further stressed that Asia cannot be considered one market. What works for one region, may not work for another. As the world’s largest mobile market, Asia remains a mystery to many developers overseas. 6waves has been able to propel their latest mobile game, Age of Three Kingdoms, to the top of the charts in Hong Kong. During his talk at Casual Connect Europe, Stephen shared local insights and characteristics of mobile markets in Asia that any developer interested in the region should consider.
