SLG sees a revenue dark horse emerge, with Last War surpassing two products from miHoYo, making a strong statement!

SLG sees a revenue dark horse emerge, with Last War surpassing two products from miHoYo, making a strong statement!

It is said that fashion is a circle, where clothes that were considered outdated in the 90s can now become highly sought after. This notion applies to the gaming industry as well. A new SLG game, Last War, has surprisingly surpassed popular titles like "Wish God" and "Honkai: Star Rail," establishing itself as a new dark horse in the field of domestic SLG mobile games after the success of "Frigid Revelation." Last War has boldly claimed the top spot in the overseas revenue charts for February on Google Play's overseas mobile games, with estimated revenue exceeding $32 million. Considered an old category in games, SLG has always been known for its "hardcore" and slow-burning nature, with a primarily post-payment system and relatively long development and monetization cycles. Despite the dominance of titles like "Three Kingdoms: Strategic Version," "Ruled Right By The Coast," as well as overseas hits like "Frigid Revelation" and "Pocket Heroes," SLG games have historically held a smaller share of revenue in the overall market. Therefore, the emergence of a new hit product like Last War is genuinely remarkable. What magic does this game, published by First Fun, possess that draws players in?

01. Transformation of Heavy Games to Light, Not Just One, But Three

Currently, the market has validated the revenue effects of the two most popular hybrid commercial models: "Light games intensified" and "Medium-heavy games lightened." By complementing core gameplay with auxiliary gameplay elements, these models enhance the game's playability while balancing the intensity of gameplay, providing players with a more comfortable and rich gaming experience and increasing monetization avenues. Last War has adopted the "Medium-heavy games lightened" approach, creating a unique track for "SLG+casual" gameplay. With its theme of survival against zombies and a cute Q-style art direction, Last War has taken a completely new approach. Although the game features city building systems, game rankings, and player PVP elements, players need to engage in casual gameplay to unlock more game features such as map exploration, character development, and building upgrades. Players control troops through left and right movements to fend off zombie attacks in a casual gameplay style, gaining additional combat power upon successful defense, displayed with a red banner. Many players have expressed that their experience leans more towards the casual gameplay than the classic SLG elements. And that's not all! Last War also incorporates card gameplay, where character development is pivotal to progress in the game. Players can strategically position multiple heroes on the battlefield to resist the zombie hordes, each hero featuring unique skills, levels, equipment, health, and skins, allowing for customized placements just like in card games. Overall, with a focus on "territory expansion" map exploration, defending against zombie attacks, and integrating card development systems, Last War has successfully achieved the transformation of heavy games into a light-hearted experience, covering three distinct gameplay elements. Just like Three Seven Entertainment's innovative release "Puzzles & Survival," which combines "SLG+match-three" elements, Last War offers users a fresh and new gaming experience.

02. Cost-effective Material Acquisition and Installation Cost Control

According to extensive data, Last War was first launched on Android in August 2023, with modest acquisition efforts from August to November, escalating in November and peaking in February 2024. As player acquisition increased, so did downloads, in-game purchase revenue, surpassing that of "Wish God" and "Honkai: Star Rail" in February 2023. What does this indicate? It shows that Last War has excelled in its material and creative ideas. In terms of material and creative ideas, Last War has taken the concept of lightening games to the extreme, reducing the complexity of heavy SLG gameplay elements while adding ideas that showcase casual gameplay. With the original SLG audience being limited, the focus on "innovative casualization" maximizes appeal to a wider audience. By promoting materials focused on auxiliary gameplay elements, buying habits can be optimized, effectively reducing acquisition costs, allowing for low-cost user installation, and quickly scaling up user base in a short period. Despite the RPG genre traditionally dominating the revenue charts in recent years, with low-cost mobile games raking in millions monthly, the development of SLG games has been slow to break through, with few products garnering significant attention. However, products like Last War, standing out amongst the rest, bear testament to the success potential of SLG games. NetMarvel looks forward to a flourishing future for Chinese mobile games, with diverse genre offerings blooming in the market.