Kotaku
Steve at PlayNoEvil is, I think, as interested in the Chinese MMORPG Zhengtu Online as I am: the game is breaking (or re-writing) a lot of MMORPG rules and currently ruling the domestic MMORPG roost in China. While nosing around PNE, I discovered that — on the heels of the announcement that Zhengtu hit over 2.1 million peak concurrent users — China Daily took a look inside Giant Interactive (developer/operator of Zhengtu) and its tracksuit-wearing CEO. Of particular interest are their marketing strategies:
[CEO Shi Yuzhu] chose the second- and third-tier cities as the battlefield. "Most gaming firms focus on major cities, but in fact second- and third-tier cities are a gold mine," he says. "If you want to post posters in the Internet cafes in big cities, you will be charged (by the owners). But in smaller cities, it can be free and you receive a warm welcome from the owners."In large cities consumers tend to play more games at home, while Internet cafes are the preferred sites for most in smaller cities and rural areas.
Shi now has a 2,500-strong marketing team, which regularly checks whether ZT Online's posters are posted on the walls of the Internet cafes across the country and sell prepaid cards to players to enable them to gain points required to play games. That is quite different from other companies' practices of promoting games mainly in cyberspace.
And how is Giant Interactive trying to attract more women to their stable of games?
He is also hiring a number of attractive female players to play in Internet cafes. "We are giving them virtual golden coins worth 6,000 yuan per year, which are equal to 500 yuan in the real world, to encourage them to play and stay in the games," he says.His ultimate goal is to make the game more fun and lure more male players, especially first time gamers.
"In fact in China's cyberspace many male players are very willing to pay the bills for their female counterparts", he says.
It's an interesting look at a very interesting company. Time will tell if Giant can keep this momentum going.
Breaking the rules [China Daily via PlayNoEvil]
Comments
"'In fact in China's cyberspace many male players are very willing to pay the bills for their female counterparts', he says."
...I don't know what to say. That's hilariously awesome. Sort of like picking up a girl at an arcade by paying for her credits in House of the Dead or something.
This game is a blight on the MMORPG market. Even more so than Runescape.
@man_in_gauze: That's normal even in the western world I'd say
as facinating as this is, i feel as a gamer and probably an american, that this is a terrible kind of game. I've seen first hand the inequity caused by real money buying/selling in final fantasy xi. although squareenix has finally mitigated the worst of it, it has made a lasting impression on me and the games community. Especially since ffxi is such a community oriented mmo, (partying with others was originally a near nessecity to level up), seeing the haves and have nots of real life transferred into my online escape was very disheartening. let's hope this doesn't catch on in japan and the west.
It's only a matter of time.
I unfortunately have an addictive personality, and I became addicted to a certain 'free to play' MMO where players have to buy cash shop to upgrade items. The crazy part is the success rate goes down to 2% at the highest levels and each chance to upgrade costs a dollar. In the end people can spend hundreds of dollars getting maxed equips.
Getting owned by some smack talking 14 year old with daddy's credit card when you put in dozens of hours leveling and earning your stuff with in-game cash is a crappy feeling and not one I want to go through again, so I stay well away from MMOs now.
This is highly innovative, start taking notes everyone!
@Aethyr:
Speak not the name!
@Abriael:
Really? For what? I have trouble thinking of any form of game you can "buy" a round of, besides arcade ones.
@mightyg: MMOs have never been a fair playing field. Whoever has more time to play will always make more progress. Some players are more adept at exploiting the in-game economy through buying and selling.
Oh, great. Thanks, Kotaku, for introducing me to a game that I may never get to play.
@YotaruVegeta: Thanks, Kotaku, for introducing me to a game that I never want to play. Ever. You saved my life.
If you've been keeping up with the worldwide MMO market you know about the juggernaut/Scourge-style plague known as Zhengtu. If we could only get Jack Thompson pointed at this bad boy, we'd nuke two cuckoos with one rocket. The game is addictive in the bad way, not the 'fuuuuck, it's 4 AM and I work in 3 hours but we're still 2 hours out on this raid!' bad but the 'well, I can spare another $3 (never mind the first $997) on a treasure chest and maybe get a good item!' kind of way. It's Vegas in a box without the possibility of a tasty cash payout, a license for the owner to print money the likes of which WoW would shoot themselves in the collective nutsack for, and a SICKENINGLY bad game because of it. It is the virtual representation of the Chinese will to money and power no matter the cost to everything and everyone else, and as soon as it tsunamis its way up onto our shores we're all going to feel the acid burn.
About the "girl" angle. This is no different than having "Free - No Cover Charge for Ladies" Night during the week at any bar in America.
Attract the ladies to the bar, you attract the guys who will pay for themselves and the ladies.
Only difference is this in China and it's an MMO.
Brilliant!
Just an interesting aside but as an Aussie who's been in China for around a year now, felt I should point out the "girls in the game" thing seems to be a huge deal over here, probably more than it even sounds.
Pretty much all of the younger guys I know who I've seen playing MMOs do it ENTIRELY for the hope of picking up girls there and despite being very much hardcore MMO people (Playing the ridiculous 50,60, even 80 hour weeks you hear WOW players doing) will pretty regularly jump ship from everything from an RPG to an online Mario Kart rip, to a DDR clone, based entirely on 'where all the girls are these days'.
The only real exception seems to be Warcraft, there are people who really play it as in the US/AU, but anything domestic and it seems to be a big factor.
Savvy business though it may be, it's still pretty amusing to see them come right out and admit it like that though!
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