B-sports is booming, how can brands seize the popularity?

With the rise of erotic games, more and more brands are choosing to collaborate with erotic games. However, any unexpected behavior will cause dissatisfaction among players. Let’s take a look at how brands should face up to the emotions of players and seize the wave of popularity brought by erotic games.

In recent years, the collaboration between various brands and games has become a golden combination in cross-border collaborations. However, if we look at the categories in detail, otome games seem to have become one of the popular choices for brands.

According to Weibo hot search data, the joint event between Heytea and the otome game "Light and Night Romance" received 200 million readings and 70,000 discussions, which shows its popularity.

HEYTEA Light Night collaboration popularity

Why are otome games so popular? How can brands seize this wave of popularity? Let TOP give a brief analysis~

01 How strong is the money-making power of B-sports?

Otome, whose full name is otome (おとめ, originally meaning unmarried young women) game, is a love simulation game targeting female groups.

Players can conquer multiple characters through the plot in the game, and the target of the conquest is usually a male character. O-games not only have exquisite "cards" to bring visual stimulation, but also are popular among players with their high sense of interaction in gameplay and emotional love.

It originated in Japan and is one of the most popular subcultures. It has also formed a unique subculture in China when it entered the country.

At present, "Love and Producer" produced by Paper Games, "Love and Night" produced by Tencent, "Traveler in Time and Space" produced by NetEase and "Undetermined Case Book" produced by miHoYo are known as the four major B-games in China.

Among them, "Love and Producer" was launched the earliest and achieved good results in terms of high popularity as soon as it was launched. According to data, its revenue exceeded 300 million in the second month of its launch in 2017, making it a veteran among domestic B-games at that time.

After many years, the popularity of B-level games remains unabated and is getting more and more intense. At the beginning of this year, several domestic B-level games took turns to dominate the hot searches, and were also jokingly called "The Decisive Battle at the Top of National B-level Games" by netizens.

At the beginning of the year, B-class cruises were trending on the search

A few days ago, the erotic game "Codename Kite" secretly became a hot topic due to an article in Nanfang Window. Although the reason was the discussion about the scale of the game, it is not difficult to see that the popularity of the erotic game cannot be underestimated.

Codename Kite Hot Search

This year, "Love and Deep Space" launched by Paper Games, the production company of "Love and Producer", combined "3D+ACT (action game)" for the first time, and achieved over 10 million downloads to top the global interactive narrative mobile game best-selling list, and the revenue in the first week of service exceeded 150 million, which once again proved the strong money-making power of O-game in the female-oriented game market.

Let's look at two more sets of data: A report released by Niko Partners, a gaming data analysis agency, shows that the number of female gamers in Asia is growing at an annual rate of 11%, and their contribution accounts for about 23.5% of the total revenue of the Asian gaming market. QuestMobile data shows that over the past year, the proportion of female groups in the mobile Internet has continued to increase to 49.5%. Players of erotic games are like stacking buffs. It can be said that if brands seize the popularity of erotic games, they are seizing the potential of female players.

02 Even a well-thought-out collaboration can fail

As a money-making powerhouse in the female-oriented gaming market, Otomo has also become the first choice for collaborations with many brands. The "Light and Night Romance" mentioned at the beginning of the article is a good example.

In this year's joint event, Heytea chose White Valentine's Day, a holiday related to love, to launch the event and invited game players to a romantic date.

In the joint event between HEYTEA and GLOWNIGHT, not only limited-edition packaged drinks were launched, but consumers who purchased the drinks could also receive exquisite peripherals such as joint character cards and joint wedding certificates.

HEYTEA Light Night Collaborative Peripheral Products (Part 1)

It is worth noting that the usage of these peripherals perfectly fits the daily habits of gamers. For example, transparent cards are usually used to take photos and check in when going out to play, and joint wedding certificates link the two-dimensional and three-dimensional worlds. The heart-touching peripheral designs have also triggered a frenzy of purchases among players.

Heytea's joint activities are also being fully launched online and offline: online, players who check in on social media such as Weibo, Douyin, and Xiaohongshu have the opportunity to win exquisite peripherals; offline, Heytea has also set up [7 customized theme stores] and [321 human-shaped stand check-in stores] to meet the check-in needs of producer enthusiasts.

However, there was an unexpected incident in this collaboration. After gaining enough popularity, Heytea attempted to reap the benefits again with the second wave of joint packages, but it did not expect that its obvious intention to sell peripheral products caused widespread dissatisfaction among consumers.

Heytea's second wave of collaboration received poor reviews

The marketing approach of listening to advice but not completely obeying it made players feel that they were not being treated with care, and the goodwill accumulated in the first wave of collaboration was also eroded.

From the perspective of brand collaboration, we must not only consider the cost-effectiveness that consumers value, but also pay attention to the real feelings of the players.

Looking at the joint activities of the four major domestic B-games, it can be said that they are spread across all categories. According to the official Weibo, TOP Jun found that in terms of the number of joint brands among the four major domestic B-games, "Love and Producer" ranks first, with about 30 partners in joint activities since 2019. The number of joint partners of "Light and Night Love", which was launched later, is about 20, which is also an excellent performance.

Byou’s co-branded brands include but are not limited to beauty brands, sports brands, catering brands, bank card designs, and even scenic spots, etc.

According to the number and content of consumer feedback, the popularity of gift boxes is far less than that of free card faces, online packages, etc. The popularity is considerable and brands can seize it, but how to make a good joint venture still requires more thought.

03 The correct way to absorb the heat of B-game

Brands choose otome games as co-branded objects, which must be based on their user portraits and their own consumer insights. So why do co-branded activities cause consumer dissatisfaction or fail to gain the expected popularity when the two are highly compatible?

TOP believes that if you want to truly absorb the popularity of B-games, you must first figure out why players love this game.

B-game players are not "addicted to online games" as the cliché says, but they truly use game characters as spiritual anchors and the game itself as their spiritual home.

The emotions of the players in the game are "cultivated". The characters continue to evolve in the plot, and the players also share the responsibilities of the plot with the characters. What they can experience in the game is not only a love story, but also their own growth and the reshaping of their worldview.

Therefore, brands must first face up to the emotions of players. Game characters are not only characters, but also growth partners for consumers. The emotional value they provide to players is also one of the keys. The purpose of co-branding is not only to increase product sales, but also to accumulate user assets of the co-branding.

From the perspective of gameplay, players pursue immersion and playability in the game, and this can often be extended from the two-dimensional to the three-dimensional, that is, from online to offline.

In this regard, many brands have adopted the method of theme stores to attract many players to check in, which is a good way of communication. There are also many scenic spots in China that choose Yiyou as a co-branded partner, which can absorb a wave of free publicity from young consumers.

In addition, after all, otome games are also a kind of two-dimensional culture. The design of peripherals must not only meet the application scenarios of players (such as taking photos and checking in while playing, taking photos of peripherals and food before dining, etc.), but also take into account aesthetics and settings (for example, many players like otome games because of the exquisite card designs).

In short, most erotic game players can find their own balance between virtuality and reality, and when brands collaborate with erotic games, they must also strike a balance between interests and reputation, and not destroy the popularity of erotic games.

Author: TOP Jun; Source public account: TopMarketing (ID: TMarketing)