这一集请到了网易出海团队的核心负责人，和我进行了一场真诚对谈。我们聊到他们在日本、北美等地如何立足，从《荒野行动》《第五人格》到与暴雪等顶级IP的合作，也探讨了当前国内厂商在买量、合规和IP联动上面临的难题。如果你想借鉴网易的全球化经验、了解IP破圈的真招，这期访谈值得一听哦~ English Subtitles (First 5mins) Sherry: Hello gamers, I’m Sherry, and welcome to my podcast. Today I’m super excited, because we’ve got an old friend of mine here, who used to be in charge of international market strategy for NetEase Games. For privacy’s sake, we’ll just call him X. Many of you are curious about NetEase’s global endeavors over the years—like how they performed in Japan, their expansions in the West, plus titles like Knives Out, Identity V, Naraka: Bladepoint, LifeAfter, and so on. This is a chance for us to talk about the current state of game exports, and about NetEase’s challenges and opportunities. Say hi, X! X: Hey everyone, I’m X. It’s a pleasure to join Sherry’s podcast. I’ve been doing international tasks at NetEase for quite some time. In the early days, I mainly focused on Japan, then shifted to Europe and North America. Over the years, I’ve experienced all sorts of “twists and turns” in the overseas scene. Sherry: Yeah, I recall how you’d head off to Japan, investigating game stores in Akihabara and Ikebukuro to figure out the real tastes of local anime fans. Wasn’t that around the time NetEase was first pushing Knives Out into Japan? X: Exactly. We wanted to test the Japanese market with Knives Out. Some folks thought that was odd—would a battle royale game truly resonate in Japan? The genre was hot worldwide, but the local preferences can differ. So we launched big ad campaigns, used offline promotions, collaborated with Japanese stars and idol groups, and it actually took off. The game ended up ranking fairly high on the App Store’s charts in Japan. Sherry: That success shows how being unique helps. Knives Out found the right moment, and NetEase localized heavily for Japan. Do you remember any initial big challenges, like cultural conflict or distribution channel friction? X: Oh, definitely. The biggest was trust—Japanese gamers can be wary of foreign studios, especially a Chinese brand. They might assume “Is it low quality?” Meanwhile, competition in Japan is steep, with local giants and also Korean imports. If we wanted a Chinese battle royale to thrive, we had to address those trust concerns head-on. So offline ads helped. We also adapted the game’s UI, map design, even the aesthetic for weapons to match local tastes. We added social features because Japanese gamers enjoy teaming up with friends, so that was a big plus. Once they realized they could have fun with friends, word of mouth spread. Sherry: So word-of-mouth plus thorough localization—both essential. Later, NetEase introduced Identity V (aka Fifth Personality) overseas, right? I recall it was also well-received in Japan and Korea, with loads of Cosplay and collab cafés. X: Yes, Identity V is a prime case. Its gothic visuals and asymmetrical gameplay felt new to Japanese players. We partnered with local anime communities, held cosplay contests, staged pop-up shops, even did collaborations with major IPs like Detective Conan. Some fans came for the Conan event, then got hooked on Identity V’s spooky puzzle vibe. From our perspective, “breaking out” means forging alliances with local IPs. That synergy can attract the IP’s fans. Japanese players also enjoy collecting limited-edition outfits, so it works well for revenue, too. Sherry: Right, IP crossovers are a hot approach for “breaking out.” But you do need the resources and synergy for it. I guess NetEase had a strategy for IP from the start? X: We had some ideas, sure. But basically, you have to check whether your game’s themes match the target IP. For example, Identity V’s gothic puzzle vibe merges well enough with Conan’s detective angle, but pairing it with some random unrelated IP might confuse fans. Also, you want to see if that IP’s fan base overlaps with your prospective players. Then the final aspect: your own brand’s strength, because IP owners want to ensure you won’t tarnish their image. So money matters, but so does the intangible synergy. With anime IP, for instance, the IP holder might see your game as a chance to expand awareness among younger users, so it can be a two-way street. ……………… （Comments for more English Subtitles)

米哈游是如何把《原神》《崩坏：星穹铁道》这类二次元手游做到全球爆红的？本期将深入解剖它们在游戏内容设计、跨平台技术和全渠道营销上的关键手段。你会发现，他们把研发与运营玩到极致，牢牢抓住全球玩家的眼球。如果你正好想学学他们的打法，这集你一定不能错过~ English Subtitles (First 5mins) 00:00 Hello gamers, I’m Sherry, and welcome back to my podcast. Many of you asked for amore in-depth breakdown of miHoYo’s approach to game content and marketing. People in the industry who are testing overseas expansion want to know how exactly they turned titles like Genshin Impact or Honkai: Star Rail into global hits. So let’s take a close look at miHoYo’s key overseas strategies. Specifically, we’ll focus on game design and marketing tactics, exploring what they did right. I’ll add real-world examples and my personal insights, so hopefully it feels detailed and engaging. Stick around for the full chat. 00:49 Let’s start with miHoYo’s actual game content. That’s always been their foundation for conquering overseas markets. We can examine Genshin Impact and Honkai: StarRail, as they best represent miHoYo’s approach to foreign audiences. First up, Genshin Impact. When it launched in September 2020, people called it a “milestone for open-world mobile gaming from China.” The production quality was downright impressive. By “impressive,” I don’t just mean it looked pretty; I mean it combined an open world, action RPG elements, cross-platform co-op, and more, all in a single mobile-friendly package. That was extremely appealing to players outside of China, because advanced open-world experiences were usually on consoles or PCs, not phones. Meanwhile, anime fans loved that it was basically an “anime open world in your pocket,” truly mind-blowing for many. 01:52 In terms of design, miHoYo put a huge emphasis on weaving together “world lore +characters + storyline.” You get multiple nations and elemental powers from the start, letting you mix wind, fire, water, lightning, etc. The regions each have a different cultural vibe—Mondstadt is European-inspired, Liyue is more Chinese, Inazuma has a Japanese flair. This multi-cultural approach resonates strongly overseas. Japanese fans obviously connected with Inazuma, while Western players might enjoy Mondstadt’s “fantasy kingdom” style. On top of that, each playable character is carefully crafted with unique looks, skills, and voice lines. Instead of just a mindless stage-based game, there’s cinematic story content to pull you in. 02:45 But it’s not just gorgeous art and characters—miHoYo also prioritized cross-platform support. You can do story quests on your PC, continue them on your phone while commuting, then maybe jump onto your PS4 or PS5 at home. That seamless continuity expands the game’s potential audience drastically. For overseas players, it means you don’t need a top-tier gaming PC if you want to experience it, or if you prefer a controller. Actually, that kind of consistent cross-platform is still rare in the global market, so Genshin quickly captured attention from console players in the West, too. It basically bridged mobile gaming and AAA visuals, flipping a lot of preconceived notions about “mobile equals low-end.” 03:35 Now let’s look at Honkai: Star Rail (“Star Rail,” for short). This one demonstrate show miHoYo customizes their game design to foreign tastes. Star Rail is an anime-styled, turn-based RPG set in a galactic adventure. That’s not a super common blend, but they used their iconic anime visuals, collectible characters, and a large overarching plot to hook global users. Some worried Western players might find turn-based too “old school,” but it launched to big success in various markets within days. They believed turn-based could still wow people with flashy animations, strategic depth, and synergy among characters, rather than depending on real-time ARPG mechanics. Indeed, that approach resonated with a new wave of fans. Meanwhile, multi-platform synergy and elaborate promotional videos created an immediate hype, especially among Genshin loyalists. It’s basically all about reusing and refining the in-house know-how built on the Honkai IP and Genshin’s open-world engine, further pushing the “HoYoverse” brand to anime fans worldwide. 04:49 Now let’s pivot to miHoYo’s marketing approach—something many consider to be “outrageously high-impact.” Indeed, the scale and variety of their overseas promotions are sometimes stunning. One classic example is how Genshin launched in Japan. They flooded central Tokyo’s major anime hubs—Akihabara, electric towns, big train stations— with massive banners and wrapped advertisement trucks. People said it must have been very expensive, and indeed, smaller studios can’t easily replicate it, but it quickly skyrocketed Genshin’s visibility. Even passersby who weren’t hardcore gamers became curious because they’d keep running into these ads. For Japanese anime fans, that impression of “wow, huge marketing plus quality visuals means this must be major,” spurred them to check out the game. ……………… （Comments for more English Subtitles)

韩国玩家热情高、付费猛，但要打进这个“小而精”的市场可没那么简单。这一集会解析韩国游戏市场的规模、玩家特点，以及PC房文化的深层影响，还会分享如何用对策略快速拉拢核心用户。想拿下韩国榜单，或者单纯好奇“氪金猛男”背后的逻辑？本期揭晓！ English Subtitles (First 5mins) 00:00 Hello gamers, I’m Sherry. Welcome back to my podcast. I’ve put extra effort into preparing this episode because many listeners messaged me asking for an in-depth look at the Korean gaming market. I’ve been doing my own research and gathering data, trends, and real-life examples, so I hope this discussion will help anyone looking at Korea as a potential market. Or maybe you’re just curious about Korean gaming culture. Either way, let’s dive in and explore the scale, player preferences, marketing tactics, success stories, and future opportunities or challenges. I have quite a bit of info, so get comfy; this might be a longer chat, but hopefully a very productive one. 00:47 First things first: overall market size. According to a recent industry survey, the Korean gaming market was roughly 8.8 billion USD in 2024, with mobile games accounting for over 60%, and the remainder split between PC and console. Notably, Korean mobile gamers have extremely high ARPU (average revenue per user), ranking among the top in Asia. In other words, while the total user base might be smaller than other major markets, their spending power is formidable. From 2023 to 2024, revenue for Korean mobile games grew over 10% YOY, and some top-tier RPG or MMO titles individually surpassed 200 million USD in annual revenue. 01:54 Those numbers highlight Korea’s strong passion for gaming—one that extends beyond the old-school online titles. They might not have the world’s largest user count, but they do have a high average spend, a strong desire for top-quality experiences, and respect for long-term support. One statistic: about 65% of Korean gamers reportedly play mobile games at least five hours a week, and around 30% spend over 25 USD monthly—higher than many other countries in Asia. Some joke that “Korea is the land of big spenders,” but realistically, they’re just happy to pay when they find a game that’s truly fun and fulfilling. 02:44 Next up: player preferences. Traditional PC categories in Korea, such as MMOs, RPGs, and FPS, continue to dominate the mobile charts. A 2024 breakdown of top mobile grossers found that about 56% are heavily reliant on core mechanics—major stats, big combat, or large-scale social gameplay. Korean players are used to leveling, gear progression, siege wars, guild battles, etc., and they’re quite willing to pay for upgrades or gear that give them a sense of social prestige. Another thing is they love playing with friends or guildmates, and about 40%mention “guild activities and team competition” as a key reason they keep spending money. That need for communal pride and social connectivity runs deep. You’ll see that many successful mobile games in Korea double down on epic guild wars, PVP rankings, cross-server conflicts, territory fights, that sort of thing. 03:55 We can’t overlook the PC café (PC room) culture. According to some data, in cities like Seoul, Daegu, Busan, over 70% of young gamers regularly visit PC cafés as a social or party spot. It’s common to see them playing League of Legends, Sudden Attack, or PUBG for hours on end in that environment, which offer stop-tier internet, comfortable setups, and sometimes drinks or snacks. If you release both mobile and PC versions, or want to promote a single game across devices, teaming up with PC cafés can significantly help. You might give special in-café rewards or hold small tournaments. I’ve heard that up to 90% of PC cafés will give favorable promotional placements to new or top releases. So if you strike a deal, you can quickly build hype and reach the local user base. 05:13 Now, let’s talk about major local companies. Nexon, NCSoft, Netmarble, Smilegate, and Krafton collectively command strong positions on the top charts with their signature IPs—KartRider, Dungeon Fighter, MapleStory, Crossfire, PUBG, LostArk, and so forth. They’re known for breathing new life into older IP or connecting PC and mobile versions to sustain big user volumes. For example, theLineage series by NCSoft was already an iconic MMO, but they turned it into various mobile iterations—Lineage M, Lineage 2M, Lineage W—and still rank among Korea’s top grossing year after year. One analysis showed NCSoft’s mobile lines alone bring in over 1 billion USD a year in Korea. This shows that if you have an IP resonating with Korean gamers, you can bank on it for a long time. ……………… （Comments for more English subtitles)

如果你以为本地化只是把文本翻译成外语，那就大错特错了。这一集会告诉你海外玩家真正想要的是什么——从文化梗到支付习惯，再到UI细节和运营活动，都不能忽视。只要掌握对的方法，翻盘的机会远比你想象中更多。想真正打开海外市场？一定别错过这期！ English Subtitles (First 5mins) 00:00 Hello gamers, I'm Sherry, and welcome to my podcast. In the last episode, we looked broadly at the rise of Chinese games abroad. A bunch of you messaged me, saying you want more specifics, particularly on “localization”—the biggest challenge when going overseas. Over the last couple of years, I've been in contact with a few studios who've put tons of effort into localization, and they've also made plenty of mistakes. That's why I thought it'd be valuable to share some of my findings today. Let's really explore what's behind this concept of “localization,” and why so many companies call it a “necessary hurdle,” but also see how it can create huge opportunities. 00:54 First, let's talk about why it's so crucial. Many people think localization just means translating your game's text or hiring someone who can speak the target language for customer service. Reality is far more complex. For instance, when Genshin Impact first expanded abroad, players had a lot of feedback about the translations and the voice-overs. miHoYo had to keep revising the text, addressing each region's language concerns, to finally convince global players they were serious. That's in sharp contrast to some earlier Chinese titles that simply slapped on a rough English translation and threw it into North America, leaving gamers complaining about weird machine-translated menus or baffling slang usage. That's the difference between superficial vs. genuinely deep localization. 01:57 Moreover, “localization” extends way beyond language. It includes adaptation of culture, payment habits, UI layouts, gameplay design, event pacing, etc. If you just do the language part but ignore cultural preferences, players overseas will sense it's still “very Chinese,” out of sync with their daily life. And if you also fail to adapt your payment system or event schedules, it might only take two or three days for local users to start complaining, blowing up your game's reputation. Let me share an example. When Tencent launched the mobile version of Tianya MingyueDao overseas, they didn't just translate the story text but worked closely with local partners to figure out how to present the ancient Chinese martial arts theme to Western gamers. They even adjusted the initial narrative sections so players wouldn't feel lost. That's how a strongly “Eastern-flavored” title ended up finding a stable foothold abroad. 03:10 Another angle is “holiday events.” Many studios love holding big events during Chinese holidays like Mid-Autumn or Lunar New Year, but those don’t mean much to foreign players. You need to either incorporate or adapt local holidays as well. For instance, when NetEase first launched Onmyoji in Japan, they discovered local users didn’t grasp some of the Chinese cultural elements. So they aligned the event schedule with Japanese festivals, invited local illustrators and voice actors to collaborate, used Twitter hashtags—this ended up really boosting players’ interest. A Japanese friend of mine actually started playing at one of these localized events, and told me she stuck around because she felt NetEase cared about Japanese culture. That’s a shining example of bridging holiday and cultural differences. 04:49 Language translation itself can be quite the pitfall. English alone has differences across British, American, and Australian usage, not to mention the slang or humor sometimes being untranslatable. Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, from Shanghai-based Moonton, had to rework their hero skill text for Western markets because the original translations were too terse and awkward, leading to user confusion. They took feedback from Reddit, worked with their translator teams to “naturalize” the text, and ended up with more clarity and immersion. Another scenario: the original Honkai 3rd had difficulty with Western voice-acting, because comedic references or subtle jokes sometimes got lost. Over time, miHoYo found better local actors, gave them more freedom, and improved the dialogue writing to match local culture better, so players were more comfortable. The “Star Rail” project also used English VAs that players really enjoyed. ……………… (Comments for more English subtitles)

想知道2024-2025年的全球游戏市场会往哪个方向转？本期节目会分享过去一年里出海热潮中的有趣现象，也大胆预测新一年的爆发点。重度游戏还能否保持霸主地位，小程序游戏是不是下一匹黑马？答案就在这一集里，让我们先为出海之旅定下基调。 English Subtitles （First 5mins) 00:06 Hello gamers, I'm Sherry, and welcome to my podcast. I started this show because I want to chat about all aspects of game expansion overseas with both Chinese game developers and fellow gamers who simply interested in this field. I'm a pretty hardcore gamer myself, and later on I was lucky to work in the Chinese gaming industry, handling a few projects geared toward overseas markets. Along the way, I realized that Chinese games going global can be both fascinating and really challenging. That's why I decided to use this podcast to share a more systematic perspective. Of course, part of it is that I love talking about games, but I also hope this can become a platform that's open to everyone—no complicated threshold—to learn about the ins and outs of game exports. 01:01 Since this is our very first episode, and we've just stepped into 2025, I want to start by reviewing the events of 2024 and offering some forecasts for 2025. I hope we can sort out the latest industry movements and opportunities together. Over the last few years, there's been constant talk about how huge the potential for “Chinese games going global” is, and indeed, plenty of domestic studios have poured themselves into overseas markets. But if you ask me about the overall state of 2024, I'd sum it up with “steady growth, and more expansion to come.” I'd like to explain why I think so, step by step. 01:52 From roughly 2018 onward, Chinese games expanding overseas has always been on the rise, though there were some ups and downs along the way. Around 2020, many studios rushed into foreign markets only to realize the cost of compliance and user acquisition was far higher than expected. Some smaller outfits couldn't hang on and had to retreat, while others stuck it out. Fast forward to 2024,and I see a lot of bright spots in this wave of expansion. Numerous Chinese titles have achieved unprecedented revenue worldwide—especially staple genres like SLG and RPG, which remain immensely popular and profitable. On top of that, many studios have ventured into new merges of older themes like the Three Kingdoms or magical fantasies, or have toned down the typically hardcore, grindy gameplay to a more relaxed style, thereby attracting yet another wave of overseas fans. 02:54 Let's get more concrete. SLG games in the Middle East, for instance, continue to do well. Some Chinese SLG studios have deliberately crafted their UI and character designs to suit local aesthetics, integrating real-life cultural elements into the plot, or timing in-game events to match local holidays. That's resonated well with the local player community. A colleague once told me they spent a lot of time tweaking stats and carefully adjusting the monetization structure for Middle Eastern users, ultimately surpassing their predicted retention and revenue goals. It's tough to break into a region as competitive as the Middle East, so it's a sign that if you really invest the effort to understand local players' culture and habits—instead of just skimming the surface—you can open up new opportunities. 04:10 We also mentioned a “lightweight gaming” trend. I've noticed that some smaller domestic teams, which used to focus on idle, sim management, or casual competitive games, are now prospering overseas. People often ask, “Aren't Western players mostly into hardcore games? How come idle games can still do well in the West?” The reason is pretty straightforward: the global pace of life is accelerating, so more and more players only have fragmented chunks of free time—maybe they're office workers, maybe students. They just want a game that can entertain them in five or ten minutes during their commute or lunch. So if you manage to cater to that demand, you can succeed in foreign markets. 05:10 Within this wave, some teams have found success by combining a unique world design, a sharp art style, and a super relaxing progression system. That's helped them capture quite a few overseas users who say they like that “leveling up while AFK” experience, or “chatting with friends while the game basically runs itself.” A recent example is a game called “Legend of Mushroom”, an idle RPG featuring cartoony mushroom characters and humor-filled storylines. It's drawn many overseas fans thanks to ad creatives touting “level up by lying down” or “goofy mushroom adventures,” and it's done well in places like Japan, Korea, and the West. Many players say it's simple, it doesn't overburden them, it doesn't feel trivial, and it's a convenient way to unwind for busy young adults or office workers. ……………… (Comments for more English subtitles)