In the event you’re on the lookout for methods to enhance participant retention in your cell recreation, internet hosting a collaboration occasion with a well known franchise as a part of your LiveOps may be the reply you’re on the lookout for. Not solely are collaboration occasions an effective way to interact gamers, however they’re additionally an effective way to spice up your recreation’s monetization by the addition of latest content material, similar to event-exclusive beauty objects and collectibles.
Greater than half of the highest 20% performing video games within the Japan iOS market make the most of promotional collaboration occasions to spice up their income and downloads. In-game collaborations are notably fashionable throughout midcore video games as publishers of those video games are likely to have established contacts they will accomplice with. For instance, collaboration occasions are utilized by greater than 70% of the highest 10% of highest-grossing video games within the China iOS market.
Relying on the kind of IP you wish to license, collaborations additionally present a possibility to clean up your narrative components and gameplay mechanics. For instance, PUBG Cell’s collaboration with the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion launched large Mechs into its battle royale map that will try and shoot down gamers, whereas Cookie Run Kingdom’s collaboration with the Ok-pop band BTS noticed the action-RPG gacha recreation including a rhythm recreation mode.
There’ll all the time be a spot out there for seasonal occasions and anniversary occasions, in fact, however there’s a rising pattern of cell video games now licensing IP from movie, TV, anime, celebrities, music, manga and even different video games and incorporating that IP into their anniversary and seasonal occasions. One such instance is Garena Free Hearth, which celebrated its fifth birthday with an in-game live performance that includes none apart from the prince of pop, Justin Bieber.
What makes a profitable in-game collaboration occasion?
Like all occasion, in-game collaborations take quite a lot of planning and there’s loads it’s worthwhile to contemplate earlier than you begin excited about how a possible partnership may be monetized and activated.
To start out with, it’s worthwhile to ensure that the IP you’re enthusiastic about licensing is an effective match in your recreation. Does it match your goal demographic? Will your present gamers discover it fascinating? How properly does the franchise – if it’s a movie or TV present, for instance – lend itself to your gameplay mechanics? Does it present a possibility to do one thing totally different or considerably increase what you’re already doing? What sort of beauty objects may this partnership introduce into the sport and would they fit your recreation’s world?
All of those questions have to be thought-about early on as they’ll provide help to discover the very best companions to collaborate with. You also needs to take into consideration the timing of your collaboration and if there are any upcoming occasions or releases which you could faucet into as a part of your launch. In the event you’re planning on collaborating with a TV or anime franchise, this may contain the launch of a brand new season, movie or TV sequence, such because the cell recreation Vikingard collaborating with the TV present Vikings to advertise the launch of its spin-off sequence, Vikings Valhalla.
The most effective in-game collaboration occasions are sometimes mutually helpful. For cell recreation builders, collaboration occasions are a possibility to interact lapsed gamers, improve retention charges, add new content material and increase monetization. The IP you’re partnering with has a possibility to achieve your whole gamers with their manufacturers and align their model with gaming – a sector that increasingly corporations are enthusiastic about.
To determine what makes a model collaboration profitable, let’s take a look at some current examples of in-game collaboration occasions in cell video games.
Simulation RPG Vikingard collaborates with TV present, Vikings
Developed by Netease, Vikingard is an off-the-cuff simulation RPG set within the Viking period. In addition to embarking on an epic Viking voyage and all kinds of fights, gamers are likely to a kingdom by rising crops and upgrading buildings with building and administration sim mechanics. Netease is definitely no stranger to in-game collaborations and capitalized on the joy across the launch of Vikings: Valhalla by internet hosting a collaboration with the TV sequence, Vikings.
This collaboration pushed Vikingard right into a US top-200 grossing spot whereas resulting in a 25% improve in downloads. Largely thought-about successful, the in-game collaboration launched a wide range of crossover occasions and a number of other essential characters from the TV sequence, together with Ragnar and Lagertha. A brand new Vikings-themed Battle Cross was additionally launched with distinctive mechanics, because it included three reward tracks moderately than the standard two.
New characters might be unlocked in two methods. Gamers may both full crossover occasions to earn character tokens which may then be used to unlock them, or the characters might be bought instantly by IAP bundles. This resulted in a pleasant mixture of monetization components and likewise non-monetized content material as gamers had been in a position to achieve most of the rewards from the collaboration without cost if they only put sufficient time into the sport.
The collaboration was an incredible match for each side, and we had been impressed with how detailed the character fashions had been, with lots of them trying identical to their actual actors. Some of the spectacular outcomes of this collaboration is that the sport has managed to maintain constant day by day revenues for the reason that occasion, which means that new gamers are participating with the sport, re-engaged gamers are beginning to spend once more, or a mixture of each.
One Piece Treasure Cruise (ONE PIECE トレジャークルーズ) + different cell video games collaborate with One Piece Movie Crimson
Right here’s an uncommon one: a collaboration with the manga sequence One Piece to advertise the newest film, One Piece Movie Crimson, didn’t contain only one recreation, however six! The collaboration concerned two One Piece video games – One Piece Treasure Cruise and One Piece Bounty Rush – in addition to Monster Strike, Knives Out, Puzzle & Dragons, and Granblue Fantasy.
One Piece is likely one of the most profitable manga/anime manufacturers of the twentieth century. The movie made the equal of $100 million after 46 days after its launch and is the highest-grossing film of 2022 in Japan thus far.
What’s fascinating right here is that the film didn’t collaborate with another video games besides the six talked about above. Which means video games from One Piece’s writer Leap Journal, similar to Jumputi Heroes, had been disregarded of the marketing campaign.
Joint development was enabled throughout all of the video games within the collaboration apart from Knives Out and One Piece Bounty Rush. Gamers accomplished collaboration-related missions and dungeons of their respective video games, so when a specific amount of duties had been accomplished throughout the occasion in One Piece Treasure Cruise, gamers may earn useful rewards in Monster Strike and vice versa.
In the entire collaborations that includes joint development, characters from One Piece had been naturally launched as new time-limited characters, quests and particular phases. That is spectacular, given that each one the video games concerned with the collaboration fluctuate in fashion and gameplay. For instance, Granblue Fantasy is an RPG with heavy social ements, whereas Puzzle & Dragons is a Match3 puzzle recreation.
Because of the success of the One Piece movie, the entire video games concerned with the collaboration benefited from new downloads and elevated income. You’ll be able to see the large influence this had on Puzzle & Dragons above, inflicting an 800% improve in income on iOS. In the event you’re enthusiastic about studying extra about this collaboration, it’s mentioned in larger element within the GameRefinery August Market Highlights.
Cell Legends Bang Bang’s collaboration with Kung Fu Panda
Collaborating with an enormous model is not any assure of success, as Cell Legends Bang Bang’s collaboration with the animated martial arts comedy movie, Kung Fu Panda, proves. Cell Legends Bang Bang has collaborated with varied manufacturers through the years for in-game occasions together with, Star Wars, Transformers, and Howdy Kitty, however its collaboration with Kung Fu Panda didn’t carry out wherever close to as properly.
Whereas there’s no sure method of telling why Kung Fu Panda didn’t get gamers excited, we will examine it to its final two promotional collaborations: Howdy Kitty and the second Transformers collaboration.
Each of those collaborations had been extremely profitable in producing income and new downloads because of the method limited-time gachas with unique collaboration skins had been included into the sport’s monetization technique.
It’s price noting that the newest Kung Fu Panda movie was in 2016, and whereas there’s a brand new movie coming in 2024, it’s nonetheless a reasonably dormant franchise for probably the most half. The collaboration skins weren’t as thrilling as Howdy Kitty or Transformers which can clarify why they didn’t convert into gross sales. For instance, the principle Kung Fu Panda pores and skin was for a hero that’s already a panda, so it doesn’t actually add something totally different to that character’s look.
Within the Kung Fu Panda movies, Lord Shen is a peacock, however the Lord Shen pores and skin for the Ling hero is only a themed peacock outfit, which gamers had been disenchanted with based on YouTube feedback for the announcement. The one pores and skin that dramatically modified the looks of a personality was Basic Kai’s pores and skin for the Bang Bang character Thamuz, however Basic Kai isn’t a serious character within the movies, so there’s much less of an incentive to buy the pores and skin.
There have been main variations between the three limited-time gachas used throughout all three collaborations. First, the Howdy Kitty and Transformers skins price 225 gems for one gacha pull and 2250 gems for ten pulls compared to Kung Fu Panda’s 100 gems for one pull and 1000 gems for ten pulls.
The Howdy Kitty and Transformers gacha swimming pools had totally different mechanics and likewise seemed extra interesting and interesting. The Howdy Kitty gacha was closely themed with placing seize machine visuals with a piggy financial institution system, bingo bonus mechanics on each ten pulls, 4 Howdy Kitty skins, and plenty of others from the sport. Cell Legends Bang Bang’s extremely profitable auto-chess mode additionally had its personal restricted time gacha for separate autochess skins.
Examine that to the moderately bland Kung Fu Panda gacha display screen, which solely had three collaboration skins and no different particular skins from the sport. General, this implies there was much less of an incentive for gamers to interact with the Kung Fu Panda collaboration because the rewards didn’t justify a number of gacha pulls.
Lastly, the particular/collab limited-time pores and skin collectibles album was moved to a distinct location within the recreation’s menu. This made it far more troublesome to search out, particularly because the gacha web page for the Kung Fu Panda collaboration was lacking the direct hyperlink to the collectible album, one thing that was current within the Howdy Kitty and former Transformers collaboration.
Collectible albums are an incredible engagement mechanic as they provide gamers a way of reward for taking part in gachas as they’re in a position to look again on the prizes they’ve gained. On this case, the poor visibility for Kung Fu Panda’s collectible album meant that some gamers might need missed it and subsequently wouldn’t have been incentivized to interact with the limited-time gacha as typically.
PUBG Cell’s collaboration with Neon Genesis Evangelion
What occurs when one of many cell market’s most profitable battle royale video games companions with one of many greatest names in anime? Not solely was PUBG Cell’s collaboration with Neon Genesis Evangelion an incredible success when it comes to the income and downloads it generated for the sport, however it’s additionally a incredible instance of how you can introduce new content material and put a flowery twist on present gameplay mechanics.
Parts and enemies from the anime had been applied into the principle battle royale mode for PUBG: Cell. For instance, a large sixth Angel mech was roaming across the map and would shoot any gamers in sight, including a novel twist to the everyday battle royale gameplay fashion that gamers are acquainted with. The map was additionally up to date with landmarks from the anime, which gamers needed to discover to finish PUBG Cell’s Cycle Recollections (collectibles album).
So, how was all of this monetized? F2P gamers had an opportunity to earn themed rewards from the anime by merely taking part in the first gameplay mode, which rewarded exploration factors that might be used within the collaboration facet occasion. These factors unlocked prize milestones and gamers had the possibility to unlock themed character skins from the anime. Visually, the skins had been very spectacular and featured varied designs from the anime.
A lot of the themed skins had been short-term and would robotically be faraway from gamers’ inventories on the finish of the collaboration, however gamers may flip these into everlasting skins by buying them. Gamers with extra exploration factors may spend them in a gacha draw as soon as the entire reward occasions’ milestones had been reached. The gachas featured extra distinctive skins from Neon Genesis Evangelion, which incentivized gamers to maintain taking part in the first gameplay mode to unlock further factors.
Alongside the modifications to the first gameplay mode in PUBG: Cell, the collaboration additionally launched two minor facet occasions which adopted the identical development components: play matches and full problem milestones for themed rewards. The huge quantity of collectible cosmetics provided right here may clarify why the sport loved such a excessive income spike.
So, how was all of this monetized? F2P gamers had an opportunity to earn themed rewards from the anime by merely taking part in the first gameplay mode, which rewarded exploration factors that might be used within the collaboration facet occasion. These factors unlocked prize milestones and gamers had the possibility to unlock themed character skins from the anime. Visually, the skins had been very spectacular and featured varied designs from the anime.
A lot of the themed skins had been short-term and would robotically be faraway from gamers’ inventories on the finish of the collaboration, however gamers may flip these into everlasting skins by buying them. Gamers with extra exploration factors may spend them in a gacha draw as soon as the entire reward occasions’ milestones had been reached. The gachas featured extra distinctive skins from Neon Genesis Evangelion, which incentivized gamers to maintain taking part in the first gameplay mode to unlock further factors.
Alongside the modifications to the first gameplay mode in PUBG: Cell, the collaboration additionally launched two minor facet occasions which adopted the identical development components: play matches and full problem milestones for themed rewards. The huge quantity of collectible cosmetics provided right here may clarify why the sport loved such a excessive income spike.
Cookie Run: Kingdom collaborates with BTS
Cookie Run: Kingdom lessons itself as an ‘RPG and city-builder hybrid,’ which implies it has loads of choices for introducing new gameplay components and monetization options. It’s closely targeted on gacha mechanics because of the collectible nature of the sport, the place gamers acquire cookies (characters) utilizing the sport’s gacha mechanics to enter into battles and earn rewards.
Beginning in October this 12 months, the sport collaborated with the Korean boy band, BTS, for a large collaboration going down over 100 days! Along with Cookie Run Kingdom’s auto-battle RPG core gameplay, the collaboration launched a brand new recreation mode combining rhythm recreation components with a three-lane infinite runner. Seeing two distinct recreation modes mixed on this method was a formidable spotlight of the occasion, particularly because the give attention to rhythm/infinite runner gameplay would alternate based on the background music (such because the gameplay switching when the music strikes into the refrain).
There are efficiency phases for every BTS music featured (Dynamite, Butter, MIC Drop, Permission to Dance, Mikrokosmos, But To Come,) with the songs taking part in excessive of the rhythm recreation and infinite runner part. To incentivize repeated performs, every music had its personal set of achievements to clear and gamers that managed to finish them can be rewarded with a particular title utilizing lyrics from that music.
The collaboration additionally launched the seven members of BTS into the sport as characters. Every member had skins based mostly on their look in music movies and Cookie Run advertising and marketing movies, the place BTS members had been requested to design and draw their very own Cookie Run Kingdoms. This resulted in a large collection of 94 decors to gather. Characters, skins and decors might be unlocked by a themed BTS gacha that required a particular occasion forex, obtainable by occasion duties, playable phases and likewise by IAP presents.
One other layer of monetization was added into the collaboration by a particular haunt space for the BTS characters. This was a novel space with the looks of a flowery truck that might be stylized by new decors unlocked through the BTS gacha.
Particular themed duties had been additionally added to Cookie Run Kingdom, which rewarded gamers with occasion forex. Gamers may additionally buy a particular BTS-themed Battle Cross and there have been loads of limited-time IAP presents to select from, too. Lastly, to incentivize new downloads for the sport, Cookie Run Kingdom has invested quite a lot of time into selling the marketing campaign throughout social media and different codecs whereas a day by day login bonus inspired repeated performs.
Along with BTS promo movies, the Riddle Kingdom a part of the collaboration tasked gamers with fixing emoji puzzles on social media to earn clues that might be written into the sport as a part of a code to unlock premium forex and occasion gacha forex. Gamers may additionally win a collaborative Cookie Run Kingdom and BTS artbook as a prize in actual life.
Are you curious about including promotional collaborations to your cell recreation?
Along with the 5 examples above, you could find detailed breakdowns of in-game collaboration occasions for 1000’s of video games throughout totally different genres and markets on the GameRefinery platform. Simply seek for the sport you’re enthusiastic about studying extra about and use the ‘Replace Historical past’ tab to browse new options which were added into the sport as a part of promotional collaboration occasions.
Much like what we’ve achieved above, by correlating these updates with spikes in income and downloads, you possibly can work out which collaborations have been successful with gamers and others that haven’t been as profitable. Use these learnings to form the way you introduce promotional collaboration occasions into your recreation sooner or later!
