Breaking news! Video accounts shut down the interactive barrage gameplay. What’s the reason?

Did you know that Video Account announced that it would limit interactive barrage gameplay? Why would a track that is currently popular and has great development potential be shut down? Let's take a look!

Sudden shutdown notice!

On the afternoon of October 30, the video account operator notified the guild in the official group that the platform will restrict the interactive gameplay of barrage, and will take measures to limit or even cut off the flow of barrage live broadcast rooms starting tomorrow.

Although it did not explicitly say that it would be closed permanently, industry insiders believed that this move was tantamount to shutting down and removing the product from the shelves.

For a while, the barrage manufacturers and guild anchors were discussing and panicking...

The interactive gameplay of bullet screen is now very popular and has attracted much attention. Why did the video account suddenly shut down? What happened?

1. How to shut down the barrage gameplay on the video account?

"In order to create a good live broadcast ecosystem, the platform will restrict the interactive gameplay of live broadcast barrage from November 1, 2023. For anchors who are still broadcasting related content, the platform will take measures such as limiting the flow and cutting off."

At 5:12 pm on October 30, the official WeChat Video Account Danmu sent such a notice in the WeChat group and then disbanded the official group.

This message is concise and the signal it sends is very clear: starting tomorrow, the platform will restrict interactive gameplay, which is almost equivalent to shutting it down; the anchor needs to change the live broadcast content, otherwise the live broadcast room is likely to be restricted or even cut off.

The news quickly went viral in the live streaming community of barrage gameplay.

On the same day, the video account barrage manufacturers who learned of the news began to notify anchors and guilds to switch platforms. The agent of a leading barrage gameplay also promised anchors and users: "As long as the guilds, anchors and players who have settled on the new platform contact us, we promise to transfer the data for anchors and players."

It is understood that the top products with interactive barrage gameplay in video accounts include "Enemy at the Gates", "Fat Ke Fights for Domination", "Kung Fu Craze", etc. These products are almost all operated on multiple platforms. Since the backend itself is in the hands of the manufacturers, it is not difficult to transfer user data.

However, at present, many interactive bullet screen products are operated by agents. Some manufacturers have separated the agency rights of the platforms, or the agents only operate a single platform, which makes it difficult to transfer data. Although data can be transferred, the choices are very limited...

Video number barrage anchors explained the situation to users in the live broadcast room. Some anchors directly posted their WeChat accounts to prepare for switching platforms; some anchors connected with users to discuss whether to change platforms or live broadcast content next...

But the players did not accept this solution. One top player clearly stated: "I don't want anything from the transfer. I won't play anymore."

Many top players of Enemy at the Gates are dissatisfied with the fact that they can only transfer data to a specific platform, saying that the traffic is not good, the atmosphere is not there, and the ecosystem and gameplay of different platforms are also different. "If I go to this platform, I will definitely not go there." Guilds are also in a dilemma.

"To be honest, we are the most passive. We cannot change the platform's policies, and it is difficult for us to influence the manufacturers' decisions. But we still have to explain to the anchors and find ways to take care of the players' emotions." said a guild president.

Based on discussions among many guild leaders, there are only two options if they want to continue: one is to adjust the live broadcast content and change it to entertainment or game live broadcast; the other is to choose to transfer the platform and transfer the anchors who are willing to migrate fans to the new platform to continue operating.

2. Why shut down the barrage gameplay?

Why did the video account suddenly shut down the interactive barrage gameplay? The news came suddenly, but in fact, Xinbochang was not surprised.

In mid-October, there were rumors that an industry insider who had contact with the person in charge of the video account live broadcast business revealed to Xinbochang that with the popularity of the video account barrage interactive gameplay, Zhang Xiaolong and other WeChat team executives noticed this sector, and they explicitly opposed this business internally.

According to industry insiders, the reason is that the interactive bullet screen gameplay product is not built within the WeChat ecosystem, but is connected to the video account through an external link opened by the platform. When users participate in the gameplay, they need to authorize the relevant information of their personal WeChat account, which the executive team believes poses a risk of user information leakage.

However, the news has not been officially confirmed. At that time, an industry insider said: "It is expected that there will be a formal official news notification of this matter at the end of November." But unexpectedly, the notification came earlier.

However, after the message was sent and the official group was disbanded, many industry insiders shared other opinions on why the video account removed the barrage interactive gameplay and whether it would be permanently removed.

First of all, the video account may be temporarily removed from the shelves in order to regulate the interactive gameplay of barrage.

As mentioned above, the current video account barrage gameplay does not have an independent backend like Douyin and Kuaishou, which requires entry review and unified management by the official, which is what the industry calls "wild travel". The video account may only be temporarily removed from the shelves, and an official platform may be built later for the purpose of standardized management.

Secondly, Video Account is relatively "Buddhist" when it comes to entertainment live streaming, and the revenue from the interactive barrage gameplay is not impressive, so it is not taken seriously.

"I didn't expect it to come so early." A senior industry insider said that the suppression of interactive barrage gameplay by Video Accounts was an inevitable result, but he did not expect it to come so early and so harsh.

“Video accounts themselves don’t pay much attention to entertainment live streaming, and the profits from barrage interaction are not as high as those from WeChat mini-program games, so they take a one-size-fits-all approach.” An industry insider analyzed that for WeChat, which is backed by Tencent, barrage interaction gameplay is an outlier and may become a high-growth channel for game development trials and distribution, so the platform wants to nip it in the bud.

3. Ice and Fire: Restriction and Exercising?

In short, a single stone stirs up a thousand waves. Video accounts are the first to challenge live broadcasts of interactive barrage gameplay. Video account manufacturers and players are not the only ones affected. After all , today is video account, what about tomorrow? Will other platforms follow suit? Is the track of interactive barrage gameplay still a good track? These questions have caused practitioners to think...

Since the popularity of the interactive barrage gameplay, industry insiders including manufacturers and guild leaders have discussed with Xinbochang how long the growth cycle of this gameplay will last. After all, from the perspective of the model, the interactive barrage gameplay does face many challenges at this stage.

First, from the perspective of supervision, the interactive gameplay of bullet screen is related to games, and there may be regulatory measures such as version numbers in the future. It is understood that some manufacturers have already made preparations for the rainy day. For example, relatively popular bullet screen games such as "Forest Party" and "Enemy at the Gates" have successively obtained version numbers.

Secondly, as the interactive gameplay of barrage continues to develop, it will inevitably be subject to more and more restrictions, and the platform will also avoid risks.

For example, not long ago, Douyin restricted the PK gameplay of the barrage interactive gameplay, and did not allow the live broadcast PK between anchors. This move must be at the expense of the scale of turnover, but in essence it is for the security of the platform and the long-term development of the barrage gameplay.

However, some platforms have poured cold water on the market and withdrawn, while others are quickly entering the market and focusing on barrage gameplay. Xinbochang learned that YY and Taobao Live have already launched barrage interactive gameplay, and platforms such as Douyu and Bilibili are also actively recruiting barrage anchors and guilds.

From the platform's perspective, the advantages of barrage interactive gameplay are still very obvious: the combination of live broadcast and games provides the anchor with very good interactive tools, and also gives users gaming experience and a strong sense of participation.

This track seems to be still on the cusp. However, the closure of video accounts may make players no longer blind when entering the market. And how long will the aftermath last? We have to wait and see.

Author: Aligu WeChat public account: New Broadcasting Field (ID: New_bc)