How Super Evil Megacorp plans to conquer Asia
Last week we lifted the lid on Vainglory, a spanking new MOBA for iOS devices that headlined Apple’s iPhone event. Though we covered how the game would play, details on how Super Evil Megacorp plans to tackle Asia were missing. We spoke to the company to find out what its plans are for Asia.
Asia is half the market
It’s no surprise that MOBAs are extremely popular in Asia. This is something Super Evil Megacorp is well aware of. The company has been testing the game extensively in Asian markets to polish and improve based on feedback from players in the region. The end result is not only a better game but promising early feedback as well. But how crucial is Asia? According to Super Evil Megacorp, roughly half of the MOBA genre’s players are Asian, making it a very important region for the company.
(See: Here’s what you need to know about Vainglory, the MOBA showcased at Apple’s iPhone event)
What about China?
Having said that, the company is unclear about its launch plans for countries like China. Given the insane popularity of the MOBA genre in the country and its huge population, China is an ideal candidate for a Vainglory launch, when compared to other Asian countries. Nonetheless how and when to enter the Middle Kingdom is still up in the air.
Our expansion plans are still very humble and we’re aware of how challenging it has been for western companies to be successful in China, Japan, and South Korea. It’s definitely something we want to do, but how and when is still open.
The marketing plan: build a great game
A lot of mobile game marketing today is performance based. This means any efforts made are done to obtain new users as quick as possible, it’s one of the reasons why ad service providers like Inmobi are popular with mobile game developers. In spite of being on the same platform as Candy Crush Saga and Subway Surfers, the company plans to focus marketing spending in other areas:
Although we are a game on mobile devices, we are a core game and our marketing isn’t based on heavy performance based user acquisition. Instead,our marketing relies heavily on delivering a great game that players hopefully find worthy their time and are willing to recommend to friends.
Keeping that in mind, the company has partnered with MOBAFire, the largest MOBA-focused website community in the world. The site has 12 million monthly users. This partnership not only results in an ample user base for Vainglory but brings credibility to what the company is trying to do. Furthermore, MOBAFire also created the wiki site for the game as well.
It’s a smart move to team up with a community of this size and focus as it allows for not only quality feedback, but a mass of gamers for which less would have to be spent on marketing a game and more on actually making a good one.
All about the money
When we first wrote about Vainglory we were unaware of how the game would monetize barring the lack of limited games-per-day mechanics other free-to-play games use that might interfere with your gaming. The company further clarified this.
Vainglory is free to download and endlessly free to play. We will not restrict your gameplay with timers, pay-gates or other mechanics that impede your ability to play. To fund further game development, we instead offer you the option to pay to customize your gameplay faster than just earning your way there by playing. For example, instead of just playing to earn currency in the game, you can buy it to permanently unlock new heroes or other upcoming customizations. We are core gamers ourselves and we treat our players the way we would like to be treated ourselves.
Given how fickle the intended target audience is towards microtransactions, and even more so in Asia, it’s a step in the right direction. Progression via playing or simply paying for unlocks, if executed correctly, could make for a robust game. It will be interesting to see how the company manages to maintain gameplay balance down the line.
(See: Report: 92% of Chinese mobile games lose money)
Network friendly and bringing the LAN party back
Another point of concern is how Super Evil Megacorp would tackle latency issues that are rife in parts of Asia. Countries with a sizeable number of MOBA players such as India and the Philippines have notoriously poor connectivity. However the company is confident that the game runs most smoothly over wifi and LTE but is also perfectly playable over 4G and 3G. It claims that Vainglory is also optimized to use minimal network bandwidth, so it is playable even on slower connections. Nonetheless, the company wants to position the game as a LAN party staple rather than something dependent on bandwidth constraints.
MOBAs are extremely fun when played together with friends in the same room and that’s one of reasons the tablet is such a great platform for Vainglory. Our most golden memories from playing games are from dragging our gaming rigs to a friend’s house, and afters hours of setting things up, playing together for tens of hours. The tablet is an optimal device for LAN parties and that’s one of the reasons that Vainglory is special – it’s really like a reinvention of the LAN party.
Android’s absence?
In spite Asia being an important market, the company is ignoring Android for now. No surprise given that every game showcased at an Apple event has remained exclusive. From a commercial standpoint however, it means losing out on a chunk of would-be players thanks to the prohibitive cost of iOS devices in most Asian markets, all of which have a heavy MOBA playing population. But that might change.
We announced our global roll-out to start in October. That will be exclusively on iOS. We are totally focused on the player experience, and today iOS devices are the best devices to play Vainglory, and of course the most compelling visual experience will be on Metal devices. That said, our E.V.I.L. engine has been built for multiple platform so other devices are not of out of the question, but for right now, we’re focusing on iOS.
It would be interesting to see how Vainglory fares when it launches in Asia next month. Will it be everything core MOBA fans have hoped for on portable devices or yet another pretender to the throne? Regardless of the outcome, one thing is for certain, it’s good time to be a MOBA fan.
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The post How Super Evil Megacorp plans to conquer Asia appeared first on Games in Asia.
The post How Super Evil Megacorp plans to conquer Asia appeared first on Games in Asia.
