This interview was posted on the Blue Star Forum, and it almost went viral!
A large number of players flocked to the interview and left comments:
[Master Ming, a folk expert, hahahahahahahahahaha]
[Holy crap, I'm speechless. This book on swine fever has absolutely no self-awareness! I initially thought he was simply malicious, but now I realize he's simply stupid.]
[Blue Star is a master among the common people, so what are you? A wild donkey by the roadside?]
They even laughed at me.
The reason why players have such a negative impression of Tingxi Studio is because the monetization system of "Empire Grip" was too distasteful, and their new game "Beastmaster" followed the same path.
Since being acquired by Cruise Capital, Zhu Wenshu has faced immense revenue pressure for every game it has produced.
Cruise lines are generous, approving hundreds of millions in funding, but there has to be a corresponding return on that!
The passing grade for "Beast Horde Vanguard" is to be in the top 10 of the paid charts and have monthly revenue exceeding 500 million.
This was the result of "Against the Heavens," the first game by Tulongbaodao. At that time, Tulongbaodao was still an unknown small studio, so Cruise Capital felt that this request was reasonable.
Zhu Wenshu also felt that this level should be easy to reach.
He had just graduated when he suddenly had the inspiration for "Empire Grip" and made it with the financial support of his parents.
Somehow, the game received a high rating from the A-League, which made it popular and profitable.
Zhu Wenshu always considered himself a genius because that idea was just something he came up with by chance, and he didn't seem to put much effort into it.
The current "Beastmaster" is his masterpiece, which took him much more effort than "Empire's Grip," so there's no reason why it should be worse than the previous one.
His target was to be number one on the paid charts!
However, the player retention rate of "Beast Horde Vanguard" was a slap in the face for Zhu Wenshu.
—43% one-day retention rate!
— 7-day retention rate: 12%!
More than half of the players left immediately after experiencing the game on the first day; it was a very superficial experience, and they didn't really get into it.
No matter how much traffic a new game generates through advertising spending, it will ultimately have to withstand the test of players.
The total number of players and total online time are certainly important, as they can reflect how popular a game is at present;
However, the one-day and seven-day retention rates and player payment rates reflect the game's future success.
Take "Empire Grip" from back then, for example. Its data showed an 81% one-day retention rate and a 34% seven-day retention rate, which were standard A-level data.
Bluestar's new work, "Soul of Mortals," is also a role-playing and action-adventure game.
Its one-day retention rate is 89%, which at first glance is still within the data standard of A-level games.
But that's because its initial difficulty is too overwhelming! Some players, after being brutally defeated by Sisyphus as soon as they start playing, realize they can't play this game and give up decisively.
However, almost all the remaining players who played the game were full of praise for it.
—The seven-day retention rate of "The Soul of Mortals" reached an astonishing 72%.
If this report hadn't been compiled by the authoritative platform IPP, no one in the industry would have believed such terrifying data—numbers that designers wouldn't even dare to dream of.
For example, if ten players download the game, five of them are drawn by the name of Blue Star Studio, three happen to see the game's publisher's advertisement, one is recommended by a friend or found it on a social networking site, and the remaining one just randomly comes to browse.
All ten of them were immediately drawn to the game after entering it, except for one person who felt it wasn't right for them.
Seven days have passed, and only two people have left. The remaining seven can be confirmed to be deeply addicted.
This game can hardly be called a game! No wonder players are complaining: "Does every game from Earth contain poppy shells?!"
In that case, Soul of Mortals is practically "conclusively guilty." It's already this difficult, yet it still manages to keep players hooked while they're being tortured. It must have been loaded with tons of addictive substances.
In comparison, "Beastmaster" has a 7-day retention rate of 12%, which drops it directly to the C- tier.
No matter how much they try to embellish this data, Tingxi Studio wouldn't dare to release it.
Anyone with a discerning eye can see that this is a "tasteless but not worth abandoning" game; only a few players who are genuinely bored will be able to play it.
80% of the games on the market are mediocre, with no highlights whatsoever. No matter how much they are recommended, they will eventually fade into obscurity within a few months.
Chapter 76 Imitating Dong Shi
The monetization system of "Beast Horde Vanguard" is also inspired by the Dragon Slayer Sword.
Because of immense revenue pressure, many elements in their online store system are disruptive to the overall balance.
In other words, it forces players to buy these items, otherwise they won't have a normal gaming experience.
Unfortunately, the attempt to draw a tiger ended up resembling a dog!
The normal gameplay experience of "Beast Horde Vanguard" is only at the level of a B-grade revenue game.
Adding this online store further demoted it to a C- level.
The "Heaven-Defying Technique" of the Dragon-Slaying Saber is already at the A-level, making it incomparable to other techniques.
This same approach has previously ruined even high-quality games like Empire Grip, leading to widespread complaints from players.
If you don't have the genius-level design skills, don't try to use a legendary sword!