Hyper-casual games a hit with Chinese gamers

The popularity of hyper-casual games has been rapidly growing over the past few years and the players of such games have not been hesitating to spend on in-app purchases, according to Christopher Farm, CEO of data provider Tenjin.

Farm was speaking at a hyper-casual game seminar held by advertising platform Mintegral and marketing media Morketing on Aug 1. Hyper-casual games refer to those that have simple mechanics and offer instant gameplay.

Dai Bin, the Greater China head of data analytics provider App Appie, points out that China is one of the world's largest markets for hyper-casual games. However, there is room for growth as the number of monthly active users in China still pales in comparison to the United States.

Having identified the potential of this gaming segment in China, French hyper-casual game company Voodoo, which is well-known for its games like Crowd City and Paper.io, made its debut at this year's China Digital Entertainment Expo and Conference, or China Joy. The company first entered the Chinese market in 2017.

According to the company, its games were downloaded 771 million times within a year of its inception. By the end of April, the company has made up to 40 of its games available to players in China.

Kenjy Vanitou, user acquisition and monetization manager at Voodoo, notes that the company has been frequently rolling out updates to make their games more challenging as Chinese gamers prefer to play those that have a high degree of difficulty. Doing so also allows Voodoo to retain users amid intense competition in the hyper-casual segment.

Morketing CEO Zeng Qiao says hyper-casual games have become popular because they often have innovative and engaging content and are easy to play. Furthermore, many people today only have pockets of time to spend on gaming, making hyper-casual options more attractive than those that require more commitment.

One of the main concerns that players have with such games, however, is that advertisements often pop up and disrupt the gaming experience.

Jiang Shenyou, a financial analyst in Shanghai, says he usually spends 90 seconds on such a game but an advertisement could take up as long as 30 seconds, which is annoying. He adds that though he is willing to pay for the game to be rid of such ads, some games don't offer such an option.

shijing@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Global 08/09/2019 page14)