Text: Isaac & Thomas's Skull

In Tencent's misunderstood life, there are many rumors that often make me feel incredible. One of the most classic is that people question every year how long Tencent's longest batch of products can last forever.

But truth be told, these rumors are often 108,000 miles from reality. Let's take CrossFire (CF), which is easily overlooked, as an example. Just recently, Grape Jun had a chat with Xu Guang, general manager of Tencent Interactive Entertainment K1 Cooperation Department, and he also said that he is at least confident that CF will be the first in the shooting category in China.

Without further ado, let's take a look at the past two yearsSome data on CF:

CF is no one playing? ——A few days ago, at the Fireline Carnival held in Xi'an, CF just announced a piece of information: the monthly active users of CF IP series products have exceeded 40 million.

CF isn't making money? ——According to gamma statistics, the cumulative value created by CF terminal games exceeds 80 billion yuan; The CF mobile game was launched in 2015, and until this year, it can still stay in the top 10 of the best-selling list of games, and even rush to the top 1 of the overall list.

Is CF out of appeal? - Not to mention last year's free fire unicorn event, the highest number of concurrent online users of CF terminal games exceeded 4.17 million; In CF's Douyin live streaming debut last week, they also broke through 150 million yuan in sales in four hours, setting a record ...... for bringing goods in the game circle(Both data are based on third-party website monitoring data).

Offline, the vibe is also intuitive. Just like at the carnival scene, when the official gives out blockbuster benefits and the audience builds momentum for the team they support, the earth-shattering shouts often make me ...... shock

But at the same time,CF may be too low-key again.

Herein lies the problem: most people are familiar with CF too early, but tend to prefer to focus on new masterpieces, so it's easy to hearsay and ignore the continued success of old products. But if you look closely, you will find that CF's journey may hide the secret of Tencent's creation of Evergreen, and even the epitome of the company's strategy over the years.

The 16-year process can be roughly summarized into the following four steps:

Step 1: "Latecomer's Flanking Strategy".

The outside world will always emphasize the power of Tencent's platform, but in fact, Tencent's strategy of focusing on vertical categories in the early years is the key to creating a variety of popular products.

According to the "Tencent Biography", in 2006, Ren Yuxin, the helmsman of Tencent's game business, wrote on the blackboard a series of categories such as gunfights, racing, fighting, flying shooting, music and dance, and concluded: "These are the mountains that Tencent Games wants to conquer". Later, this style of play, which bypassed the most popular MMO category and focused on casual competition, was called the "latecomer's side-attack strategy".

In those years, the Chinese marketFPS is in the development stage, and the gameplay of most products revolves around the mainstream blasting/team competition mode.

WhileCF has noticed the changes in FPS players - they need more different experiences in addition to offense and defense, and guns. So less than a year after it was launched, they quickly introduced the popular biochemical mode, seized the opportunity, and ushered in an explosive growth of more than 30% of the number of users.

Step 2: "Evolution of Core Gameplay + Basic Quality".

After the biochemical model,CF continued to optimize the core gameplay and gradually improved the gameplay experience in more than half a year. Since then, a variety of new props, maps, and a variety of gameplay variants, the Savior Mode, have ushered in a new wave of popularity in the biochemical mode.

With such an experience,CF continues to overhaul the two core gameplay of Biohazard and Explosives, creating a lot of variants. For example, the explosion bounty mode of the CF terminal game, the large map biochemical escort gameplay of the CF mobile game, and so on. Including the 30 life mode that was launched later, it also ushered in the second spring of the game.

At the same time, Xu Guang also mentioned that after the success of the biochemical model in 2009, CF quietly set their "platform strategy" - to do". a platform that carries a variety of ways to play", this concept has been adhered to until now.

Because of this strategy, they became one of the most daring teams to try new ways to play and new technologies, and soon launched a variety of games such asNew ways to play PVE, roguelike, etc. The various maps in the challenge mode in the early years, and the Oriental Mystery City in recent years, have become classic content in the game. In 2017, when CF Mobile launched the battle royale mode, the number of users even doubled.

At the carnival, new four-way fierce battle gameplay and maps were also announced

On the other hand, CFHD, which was launched in 2021 and has higher technical strength and image quality, represents CF's exploration of high quality.

As for why they decided to take this path so early, Xu Guang mentionedCF's challenge at that stage wasn't to break the circle again – it was already one of the hottest FPS. So what they have to do is to choose the trend that best represents the future, so that users have a reason to choose you among many products.

Step 3: "Gameplay + Content Driven".

Technology and gameplay are only part of the upgrade of R&D capabilities, narrative and content production capabilitiesIP construction is also the focus of breakthroughs.

In-game,The narrative of CF has gone through a long iterative process - from the map to the characters, to the entire gameplay and version of the storyline, gradually refined; Outside of the game, Xu Guang felt that they might have just tried some derivative content with an exploratory attitude at the beginning.

LaterA micro-horror-themed version of the CF mobile game

But the previous industry may have been hard to think ofCF, an old IP, has made very successful film and television works. For example, the e-sports web drama "Crossfire" starring Lu Han and Wu Lei won nearly 2 billion views in 2020, and also broke the stereotype that "the online drama must be a bad movie".

In many other areas,CF has also launched a large number of IP works, such as the comic "Gun Girl", the animation "CrossFire: Ghost Project", the online article "CrossFire: The Legend of the Sniper God" and so on.

In the process,CF IP is also gradually becoming more and more perfect. It's not so serious, it's often joyful, light, and at the same time hot-blooded and cool. A variety of impressions are combined and gradually imprinted in the hearts of a generation.

Step 4: "Rejuvenation + Down-to-earth".

Whether it is R&D and design, brand tonality or publicity methods, Tencent has also had a clear tendency in recent years: it is gradually approaching young people, and more and more teams are facing players with a low profile.

And in this regard,CF is an old-timer. They hold big and small meet-and-greets every year to communicate with players at a high frequency. The player and the planner are passionately on the line, and the latter is sweaty when asked, which is the norm in communication. But it is precisely with these collisions that they can often find the next direction.

Here I would like to say one more thing: after attending a meeting,I was very impressed with CF players. They are not particularly emotional, and tend to point out the most poignant questions ...... with a calm faceWhat does this mean? I think it's because they've gotten used to this way of communicating and see the team as their own.

Players and planners "sniper in the door"

These elements are missing any pointThere is a high probability that CF will not be as evergreen as it is today. And they may also be hidden behind many of Tencent's evergreen games, common principles and concepts.

Of course, I guess there will still be people who say that the so-called evergreen game is not just because of good luck and seized the historical dividends of different periods? With such a high starting point, there is not much pressure at this stage, right?

Regarding these questions, we also asked Xu Guang further. He has some opinions about the future of evergreen games and CF that are different from the mainstream view.

Tencent Interactive EntertainmentXu Guang, General Manager of K1 Cooperation Department

01

It's evergreen and difficult,

Or is it difficult to launch a new hit?

Grape Jun: Many people may feel that there is no need to think about too many things in the CF stage, and they can "lie down". What is your own state of mind?

Xu Guang: We will still feel the impact of new games, and we will also see that if the new content and version are not good enough, many people will stop playing. This puts a lot of pressure on us, and we can say that we are still in a relatively tight state and are very busy every month.

But we're busy. Because we are a large-scale game, under this volume, if we can increase the user scale by 10%, it will be a very big gain.

Grape Jun: In the new stage of the industry, countless old products are vying to be evergreen games. Why do you think this is the case? How do you face this fierce competition?

Xu Guang: There has been a lot of discussion on this topic throughout the year.

The growth rate of the entire game industry is slowing down, but the pursuit of quality by gamers is getting higher and higher, which means that the development cycle of new products will be longer than before, and evergreen products and IP series with a stable user base will be especially important. The continuous growth of the top DAU games has become an important pillar in the Chinese game industry and even the global game industry, which is why we want to continue to focus on CF.

I believe that the industry can also feel that evergreen games are not something that can be made in a short period of time, and they are inseparable from the excellent development team, the accumulation of IP fans, and the continuous accumulation in the categories they are good at. In this context, Evergreen was naturally raised to a very high strategic level.

The key to facing the competition is whether we can find a suitable position in the market so that we can withstand the impact of new games. Once you've found your location, you'll need to be consistently focused on it, listening to your users and surprising your players.

Grape Jun: In your opinion, is it more difficult to successfully run an evergreen game for many years, or is it more difficult to launch a new hit?

Xu Guang: In fact, the former includes the latter, because evergreen is not the evergreen of a product, but the evergreen of IP. This means that we must use a variety of products and IP construction to create evergreen IP.

As for which is harder...... We do both of these things, and it's very difficult. As I said earlier, after ignoring the real needs of the player for a while, the downhill road appears; If you don't find the right position, you may be hit by competing products.

Grape: When a game becomes an "evergreen" game, is it probably because it's done right? What are the requirements?

Xu Guang: First, we should not reduce our investment in action. You can't just want to eat the old book, keep staring at the profit margin, and cut the budget a little bit every year, so that you can only do 5 things a year;

Second, we must serve old users well. This requires communicating with the user and fully understanding the user. If we don't know what they like, trying it risks turning into a blind toss.

One of the core points of Evergreen is that there are a group of users who have always recognized you. Not recognized today, not recognized tomorrow; It's not just a major version updated every year and only recognized once, because users don't just play once or twice a year.

The third is the spiritual and cultural resonance at the IP level, which establishes emotional bonds through deeply rooted stories, characters and content, so that everyone is more willing to invest and turn from users to fans.

02

IP Construction: Not only hot,

But also feelings and faith

Grape Jun: Many games talk about IP construction, in your opinion, what exactly does IP construction mean?

Xu Guang: IP is a big topic, and our consideration is the IP system on the one hand, and the construction of IP-related culture on the other.

In terms of IP system, we officially announced the launch of the "Fireline RUSH" plan this year, which is not only a summary and refinement of our past business practices, but also contains our confirmation and expectations for the value of CF IP in the future:

Facing the society, we actively assume more responsibilities and create positive social resonance; User-oriented, always user-centric, so that every CFer can find the same frequency resonance heartbeat experience.

"Responsible IP" (cultural inheritance, public welfare for good, etc.)

"User-centered" (experience upgrade, user service, etc.)

"Strong" (Zeitgeist, IP Culture, etc.)

"Heart-beating Heartbeat Experience" (Multi-terminal sequel, UGC World, etc.)

The construction of IP culture is more about the youthful expression of the IP core and the diversified content layout.

Speaking of youth, there may be some stereotypes about the age group of CF players, but from the actual data, our young users aged 19-25 account for the highest proportion of products at all ends.

And we have been making national tide content, precisely because the needs of our users are changing. The new generation of user groups has stronger cultural self-confidence and more like the national tide culture, so in addition to the gameplay innovation of the product, we also continue to do content innovation, including the integration of the national tide culture, so that the IP can maintain its long-term vitality.

In addition to games, we have done successful online dramas, as well as pan-entertainment content such as film and television, music, etc. But if there is anything that our IP lacks most now, it may be an IP world that makes everyone feel convincing and immersed. There needs to be a clearer story and more recognizable characters, all of which need more IP content to carry.

IP construction is difficult, but important. In the future, we will launch a number of products, supplemented by continuous cultural content, to form a truly recognized and far-reaching CF world in a few years.

Grape: Do you have any evaluation criteria or milestones in this regard?

Xu Guang: If anyone really did it, it might be "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" - but how many years has it been? This requires a very long period of precipitation and continuous investment.

I hope that one day CF will be able to make everyone feel that there are many elements here, but it feels like a very harmonious and harmonious world that everyone can remember. To do this, it is not so difficult for us to design the framework of the IP system, but there is a lot to be done at the implementation level - for example, to develop several games, form a larger product matrix, and do a lot of IP construction content......

Grape: How do you know where the boundaries of this content are?

Xu Guang: First, we don't preset boundaries, but we have a core principle – step by step. This means that we don't rush things at the beginning and pat our heads when we come up;

Second, on this basis, we must adhere to the bottom line of competition. No matter what you do, you must ensure that the core competitive gameplay is not affected, and we have been insisting on polishing the professional competitive gameplay and feel in the past. On the basis of competitiveness, we will try more to entertain and enlarge the scale of gameplay;

Thirdly, I believe that we have the means to expand the borders again. For example, the Chinese-style horror and suspense micro-movie "Mystery City Shock" filmed by Louis Koo and Lin Gengxin was invited this time, which is trying to make more players like this IP through new content.

Grape Jun: What specific indicators may be reflected in the greatest value of the construction of world view and content?

Xu Guang: If you want to talk about specific indicators, the first is popularity. The user's attention and discussion of the content are very important;

Second, the reputation derived from the heat. Reputation comes first from the game, but also from our IP construction. When people see good content, they will feel that we are doing things with our hearts. At the same time, reputation brings precipitation of feelings and confidence;

Third, direct performance. The number of new users and activity can only be added and converted on the basis of popularity and reputation, otherwise IP construction may be invalid.

Grape Jun: Participating in the carnival in Xi'an this time, we noticed that CF is trying more national tide cooperation, including the linkage of the terracotta warriors and horses. At first glance, the tonality of Guochao and shooting games is not very consistent, is this also part of IP construction?

Xu Guang: The modern nature of shooting games is relatively strong, but CF is not a serious military theme, but more like a diversified cultural carrier.

So starting with CF mobile games, we have been doing national fashion for four or five years. At first, it was to make weapons - such as AK Huaxia Legend, and later found that the recognition of users was even higher than we thought, and core users and young users obviously liked it very much. That's why we continue to increase the weight, gradually transitioning to the map, characters and story content, and then to the theme of this year's carnival, so that players can feel the brilliance of the national tide, and even later will develop in the direction of "provincial tide".

Grape Jun: Tide saving?

Xu Guang: Because Chinese culture is vast and profound, each province has its own characteristics and symbols, which may be our cultural treasures.

For example, the last time we were in Chengdu, we landed a large-scale event with the theme of giant pandas. Although it is not a national trend in the traditional sense, it also represents a unique Chinese culture and distinctive regional characteristics.

Moreover, we hope that the operation of e-sports events and content will not be high-level, nationally unified, and overly centralized, but can be popularized to more provinces and cities to show the diversity of regional culture.

Just like our 100-city league, as the first mass e-sports event held in China, today it is still the largest e-sports league in the country with the largest number of players, helping countless FPS players realize their e-sports dreams. In the future, we can decentralize content construction more.

03

force UGC,

New products are available on both mobile and PC terminals

Grape Jun: At the product level, what are the possible directions of CF's future investment?

Xu Guang: Like CF mobile games, it has gone very far in the past two years on the national tide and the big map, including a variety of trendy gameplay such as big map challenges and big map biochemistry, and will make more and more flexible new attempts in the future;

UGC is an important factor in maintaining the interest of the game, and UGC can not only help increase content, but also help build a more active user community and allow more people to participate.

On the CFHD side, we have found that competitiveness is not the core of high-quality graphics, so we will also do more ways to play in the future.

Grape Jun: Many games are trying UGC, what is the difference between UGC made by CF?

Xu Guang: We found that a small number of particularly powerful creators will not necessarily be of great help to the entire ecosystem. So on the one hand, we will cooperate with professionals to create new ways to play; On the other hand, it is also necessary to optimize the ease of use of the editor as much as possible, so that civilian players can try it out.

CF is originally a game with diversified gameplay, team competition, biochemistry, PvE, annihilation...... There are so many ways for developers to create gameplay, and our maps aren't as big as chickens, which helps lower the barrier to entry.

We've focused on updating our support for biochemistry and are also launching a new creator support program, and we hope to see significant progress in the next six months to a year.

Grape Jun: In terms of product matrix, what are your new product plans?

Xu Guang: Now there is a very high-quality CF sequel in the pipeline, which also contains our classic IP characters, but they will continue to overcome challenges and perform special missions in a new world.

Its core combat gameplay has a certain amount of exploration and large map games. R&D is still in its early stages, and there is a lot of uncertainty. But the core goal is to create a very strong sense of substitution and realistic feeling for everyone, so that you can see a different CF at a glance.

On the PC side, we're also working on a competitive game that will be a new way to play, but it's still very early in development.

Grape Jun: Do you think it is really necessary for a big IP to launch a sequel? Many people will think that this is a "left-handed to right-handed" behavior.

Xu Guang: This kind of problem does exist in online games, but it is also related to the stage. After the development of technology, there will be new opportunities for game graphics, support for development pipelines, and even AI, large maps, etc., so the sequel is an opportunity to pursue the most advanced form.

From a longer-term perspective, CF will still iterate on existing products and meet the needs of different players with sequels, while maintaining the uniqueness of a single product.

04

Future: Based on China, to the world,

Become a super IP

Grape Jun: A question about the shooting category. Now that there are a lot of small hits, do you think they have a chance to get bigger?

Xu Guang: There are opportunities, but there are two challenges.

The first challenge is user distribution. If most of the users have been playing another game, and this game is also very powerful, it will be difficult. AFTER ALL, THE DEMOGRAPHIC DIVIDEND IS GETTING LESS AND LESS, AND SHOOTERS AROUND THE WORLD ARE PLAYING ALL KINDS OF POWERFUL GAAS GAMES.

The second challenge is the difficulty and threshold. The really big hits either go to the breadth and anyone can play them; Either go deep and be super competitive. In general, many sub-categories will take longer to evolve.

Grape Jun: Some shooter game producers believe that in the future, this category will give birth to a super giant, or even a shooting metaverse. Do you think CF has a chance to launch such a product?

Xu Guang: It's hard to judge, because in different regions, IP and product forms are still too different.

The most powerful shooting game in the West may still be selling copies, let alone influencing the world with an IP; CF, on the other hand, is based on the Chinese market, and at the same time hopes that future products can go to the world - we want to give it a try, but we won't talk too much.

Grape Jun: If you want to talk about the total income in the past, what is the ranking of CF IP in the global shooting IP?

Xu Guang: It's very difficult to say, it should be in the top three in the world, but it's not the most important thing, what really matters is the users. This time we also announced 40 million MAUs, and you can see that our users are growing all the time.

Grape Jun: If income is not so important, what is the next stage of CF's goals?

Xu Guang: It's not that income is not important, but that we only pursue a reasonable income. It makes no sense to desperately dig into revenue, only to drive away users and shorten your future vitality. I often tell my team that sometimes when the income is high, we have to remind ourselves that what I am doing is right or not, whether it is good or not.

Therefore, the most important thing is to serve users well and at the same time expand the IP matrix. We are confident that we will be the No. 1 in the shooting category in China and make a breakthrough overseas. CF has been developing for 16 years, it has a huge user base, rich and diverse products, and will always adhere to the long-term IP construction, in the future, we hope that CFIP will bring more surprises and emotional resonance to the majority of players.

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