'Marvel: Contest of Champions' is a free-to-play mobile iOS game that's earned more than $100 million in the West. American mobile game company Kabam saw an opportunity with this game to be adapted for the Chinese market and successfully self-published the title, 'Man Wei Ge Dou: Guan Jun Zhi Zheng,' which quickly rose to the top spot on the Chinese iOS app store.
Rather than simply making changes to the language of the game, Kabam was challenged with revising the game for the tastes of Chinese gamers. The Chinese-specific version of the game was modeled after the popularity of "pay to win" games and pays attention to the fact that most Asian gamers choose to play with characters based on skill, rather than popularity, as in the West. These are just a few of the modifications that were made to the infrastructure of the game.
Since regulatory permissions are harder to come by in China, this has created a void and a high demand for quality entertainment.
Combative Superhero Games
'Marvel: Contest of Champions' is a Top iOS Mobile Game in China
Trend Themes
1. Popular Chinese Mobile Games - Companies can adapt their Western games with the right modifications to appeal to the tastes of Chinese gamers.
2. Pay-to-win Gaming - Developers can model their games after the popularity of pay-to-win games to attract Asian gamers who value skill over popularity.
3. Asian Gaming Preferences - By taking note of the differences in Asian gamers' tastes for games, developers can create more tailored gaming experiences to gain traction in this market.
Industry Implications
1. Mobile Gaming - Companies can develop, restructure and self-publish Western mobile games into Chinese markets with the right modifications to attract a wider and more devoted audience.
2. Entertainment - Adjusting Western entertainment to tailor to the tastes of Asian consumers can fill in the void created by more regulated local entertainment sources.
3. Regulatory Permissions - China's heavily regulated entertainment industry opens up an opportunity for developers and companies that can adapt self-published Western games to the local market and fill the regulatory void.