The mini-game market has been ignited by WeChat, and social platforms are flocking to it. How to divide the cake?

At the 2018 WeChat Open Class Pro, Zhang Xiaolong's opening method left a deep impression on people: playing the "Jump Jump" mini game on the big screen. A considerable part of Zhang Xiaolong's speech was also related to mini games and Jump Jump. It is obvious that WeChat is stepping up its promotion of slow-burning mini programs, and mini games that are easy to explode have become a good entry point. Mini games have also become an unintentional willow for WeChat, and are expected to become the next hot game category after terminal games, web games and mobile games. Mini games are likely to become an important way for WeChat to realize its value, and games are also Tencent's best way to make money. It can be said that mini games have the value of killing two birds with one stone for WeChat.

WeChat ignites the mini-game market

At the WeChat Open Class Pro, Sun Chunguang, product director of WeChat Games, announced relevant data on mini-games. In less than 20 days after its launch, the cumulative number of users of mini-games reached 310 million, and the DAU of "Jump Jump" exceeded 100 million. Mini-games do not require downloading, installation, or registration. Some mini-games can be played offline when the signal is poor. Currently, the game types are mainly lightweight, simple, and short-term, with a very low threshold. In addition, WeChat has a user base of up to 980 million monthly active users, so the explosion of mini-games is expected.

However, the more noteworthy data is that only 37% of the users of mini games are active game users, 41% are lost game users, and 22% are non-game users. In other words, mini games attract 63% of non-heavy game users, which reminds people of the "all-people game" scene when the vegetable stealing game was popular on social networks. It is precisely because of this that Sun Chunguang, director of WeChat Games, confidently stated that in the future, the user space of WeChat mini games can even reach WeChat's monthly active users of 980 million.

Jump Jump and mini games are not WeChat's first attempts. A few years ago, WeChat introduced the "shoot the plane" game in version 5.0 to promote the "WeChat Game Center". Shooting the plane was short-lived, and Jump Jump will not be popular for long. The difference is that WeChat mini games have reconstructed the game form based on the mini program platform, and combined with the open strategy and current player habits, mini games can become a normal game. Only 17 mini programs were launched in the first batch, but WeChat recently announced that it will be open to all game categories in the future, covering different game types and player groups. Few game developers should miss the huge gold mine of WeChat mini games.

Because mini-games are not a platform but a form of game, they are not exclusive to WeChat or Tencent. After the WeChat mini-game Jump Jump became a hit, many well-known apps have added mini-game functions to their applications. For example, Kuaishou launched an independent mini-game APP "Kuaishou Mini-Games", YY launched "Happy Fight", and Weibo-controlled social platform Youxin launched "Youwan" in its latest version, which focuses on two-player real-time PK mini-games. In addition, WeChat's brother product QQ Mobile also added the "Wanyiwan" mini-game entrance in early January, and launched the mini-game open platform before WeChat.

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Social platforms making games is not something that has only just begun. For example, Momo launched a game center a long time ago, allowing users to play games such as eliminating hexagons and playing table tennis. However, this game is different from other games. It requires users to download it from the App Store and then log in with Momo to compete with friends. The biggest feature of WeChat mini-games is that there are no longer independent apps. What you see is what you get, and you can play as soon as you open it. At the same time, it is integrated with the WeChat social ecosystem. The latest mini-game products launched by Kuaishou, YY, and Youxin also have similar forms.

Why have mini games become popular?

Many of WeChat's actions can set off a trend in the industry. For example, WeChat public accounts have set off the trend of "XX number", which has now become the standard of many content platforms. Even iQiyi, QQ Music, WiFi Master Key, and Xunlei have launched their own numbers. For example, after the WeChat mini program was launched, many applications also launched the mini program platform. Of course, we will find that major applications are not following the trend for the sake of following the trend, but because WeChat's choice is right and it is beneficial to follow suit. The same is true for mini games.

First, mini-games cater to users’ demands for fragmented games and are the trend in gaming.

Unlike PC games, which can be played for hours, mobile games tend to be fragmented. Especially today when users are overloaded with information, they prefer lightweight things and the pace of entertainment is accelerating. Previously, it took dozens of minutes to play "Honor of Kings". Recently, it launched a new mode "Five Armies Battle", which is limited to 8 minutes of battle. The map is also much smaller than the previous "King's Canyon". During this period, there is another very popular game, "Frog Travel". In addition to harvesting gold coins and placing food, players can't do much to operate the frog, which means that this is a game that does not consume time, reflecting users' preference for fragmented and lightweight games. Small games are very fragmented, such as Jump Jump, which takes a few minutes per game and can be played while waiting for the elevator.

When PC games were very popular, web games emerged in the WEB2.0 wave and were very popular for a time because they were more lightweight. However, mini games are more standardized than web games, especially mini games that are parasitic in super applications. They basically have a set of development standards and a more consistent experience, which is much better than web games.

Second, the key to the success of mini-games is social interaction, which in turn stimulates social interaction.

Data released by WeChat shows that the ratio of male to female users of mini-games is close to 1:1. Such a balanced user structure is rare in any game. It is precisely such a balanced gender ratio that gives mini-games a strong social attribute. On the one hand, if mini-games can be combined with social relationships, they can enrich the gameplay, enhance user motivation, and enhance player satisfaction. Just like WeChat mini-games, they are combined with friend rankings, group rankings, onlookers, challenges, etc., and more players are introduced through social interaction, which accelerates the outbreak process. On the other hand, some mini-games must have social relationships to play, such as real-life games such as mahjong and landlords. Tencent makes many games that are easy to play because Tencent has the most real social relationships. In fact, for Tencent, many games are already part of social interaction, and the same is true for mini-games. When you are face to face, take out your mobile phone, open WeChat, and search for landlords to play immediately.

Games and social networking have never been separated. It is precisely because of this that the second largest social platform Momo has previously explored many games. Of course, the scale of revenue is not worth mentioning in front of live broadcasting. YY and Kuaishou have always been committed to socialization to enhance user stickiness, so making small games also has this purpose. However, the small games of YY and Kuaishou are currently in the form of independent apps, which itself deviates from the concept of "what you see is what you get" of small games. At the same time, it also lacks the precipitation of social relationships, and everything has to start from scratch. Youxin is more competitive in this regard: Weibo, which is backed by it, is a social media with strong social attributes, and Youxin also has voice social networking. Therefore, it did not make an independent small game application, but added a small game function to the Youxin App, which already has 120 million registered users, allowing users to play a small game with strangers anytime and anywhere, and communicate through microphones in the middle. After the game, they can follow each other and chat and make friends with strangers. To put it bluntly, small games have become a tool for Youxin to enhance the social experience of users. This idea is somewhat similar to Momo.

Third, mini-games can form a monetization model and bring real money to the platform.

Games have always been a business that is very close to money. As expected by WeChat Games, the future monetization model of mini-games will mainly be advertising and virtual props. The former is mainly for high-activity, high-exposure, and high-duration game types, such as social, chess, elimination, and flight shooting; the latter is suitable for game types that target moderate and heavy game players, such as strategy, music and dance, tower defense, character development, and other mini-games. Youxin and Momo can combine mini-games with social networking and monetize through this, such as allowing users to send small gifts or props to their favorite goddesses.

Fourth, mini games can become the entry point for mini programs and eventually become an application platform.

An important goal of WeChat in developing mini-games is to promote the mini-program ecosystem - on the one hand, to cultivate users' usage habits for mini-programs, and on the other hand, to enhance the developer ecosystem of mini-programs. Platforms such as Inke, YY, and Kuaishou may not develop mini-programs in the short term, after all, they will not become all-powerful super apps. However, for super apps such as Alipay, Baidu, and Weibo, they have always had the ambition to become "all-powerful" applications. They all have or are about to launch lightweight application platforms similar to mini-programs. How to promote them? WeChat's idea of ​​using mini-games to promote mini-programs is also worth learning from.

How can a mini-game platform succeed?

Many platforms have XX numbers, but few have really succeeded. Many platforms have tried to do something similar to mini programs, but most of them ended in failure. Similarly, although a lot of platforms want to do mini games, it is not easy to succeed. Specifically, I think mini game platforms should start from the following perspectives to have a chance of success:

First, there must be sufficient user scale and stickiness, and social networking is indispensable.

The advantage of mini games is that they do not need to be installed, but users need a basic app to play mini games. Therefore, only platforms with a certain user scale can develop mini games. It is more difficult to succeed by developing mini games through a new independent app than by promoting an independent game application. At present, it seems that an app with hundreds of millions of users is the basic threshold for developing a mini game platform.

At the same time, the attributes of the application are also crucial. It is difficult for tool apps to succeed. A key reason is that tool apps lack stickiness. Whether it is information or games, the essence is to compete for user time, and users of tool apps leave after using them, and will not come back if there is no demand. Apps with social attributes are relatively easier to obtain user time because of social relationships that stick to users, so it is easier to promote game business. In this way, social platforms such as QQ, Weibo, and Momo have more opportunities to become small game platforms. QQ has already launched an open platform for small games. Weibo and WeChat have different social relationships that are more real. Social relationships are more open and interest-oriented, which can be well combined with games. It already had a game center before. At present, it has entered the market through the holding application Youxin and has imported traffic and other resources to Youxin.

Second, we must have the ability to continuously iterate to avoid being a flash in the pan.

There is no shortage of games that become popular overnight on the Internet, but many games, especially web games, are short-lived and no one cares about them after a few days of popularity. The main reason is that the game format is repetitive and users are easily fatigued. For any game to continue to attract users, it needs to be constantly iterated and introduce new gameplay and new elements, just like "Honor of Kings" or "World of Warcraft" have an ever-increasing number of maps. Mini games must also have the ability to iterate. In addition to working on conventional dimensions such as skins, characters, and maps, you can also work on the breadth and depth of social interaction, such as extending from two-player battles to four-player battles, or group games. Mini games can also be combined with AI technology to enhance the fun of games, use the dissemination characteristics of social networks, and explore game formats that users are more willing to share.

Third, it is necessary to integrate with the platform attributes rather than blindly follow WeChat.

It is impossible to succeed by directly copying the gameplay of WeChat. Different platforms have their own business characteristics. For example, live streaming platforms are good at video live streaming entertainment, so small games naturally need to be more integrated with video live streaming; Momo and Youxin are engaged in stranger social networking. How to combine games with stranger social networking to help users get to know strangers is also a good breakthrough. For example, in addition to the conventional classic small games such as connect the dots, elimination, and beast chess, Youxin has launched its own face-shaking pk game. After randomly matching users, both parties see each other through video and imitate the emoji emoticons that appear on the screen to PK. The system automatically scores through the expression algorithm added based on face recognition technology to enhance social interest.

In short, it is only a matter of time before WeChat mini games explode. The actions of major social platforms on mini games have just begun, and the entire mini game market is on the eve of an explosion. Who will successfully copy WeChat mini games has become a big suspense.