The history of porting and launching Shadow Fight 2 on the WeChat and MobileQQ gaming platforms

This story is a continuation of my material about our cooperation with Tencent. Last time I told you how we launched in MyApp, one of the app stores of the Chinese giant.

This time I will tell you about our access to other, no less popular platforms in the Middle Kingdom – WeChat and MobileQQ.

WeChat is one of the largest messengers with more than 500 million monthly active users worldwide.

Mobile QQ is a messenger that has an even larger active user base (~800 million), but is mainly popular in China.

Both messengers have a section with games. Actually, we were offered accommodation there.

Communication

Due to the fact that we have already been released as part of MyApp, this time it was easier to communicate with Tencent representatives. And they became more loyal to us, and we began to better navigate the local specifics.

As part of the cooperation, we switched from communication by mail to Mobile QQ. Using the messenger, we directly communicated with a representative of Tencent, who was both a manager and a technical consultant at once.

Such a format change has become a huge plus for us. Now the answer to any question could be obtained as quickly as possible, despite the time (even during the day, even at night). Thanks to this, the porting process has been seriously accelerated.

SDK

To run on platforms, you will need to integrate the Midas SDK into your game. The manual for its use is not fully translated, but this should not delay porting much.

There is no minimum that needs to be done to get into the market. You have to do everything, and this:

I. Login to WeChat, Mobile QQ, and add guest login
II. New payment system.
III. Data module analysis – another collection of statistics about your application.

Login

You need to make 3 different logins to the game, taking into account WeChat accounts\ Mobile QQ, as well as guest login with all the consequences (for example, support for storing data about multiple users).

A few subtleties:

1. The application must be aware of the availability of the WeChat or Mobile QQ application. Otherwise, Mobile QQ should redirect to download the application, and WeChat should issue a QR code for downloading.
2. Guest login, both for you and Tencent representatives, is not interesting, but it should be (i.e., the progress of only one user should be saved). At the same time, every time a user logs in, the game should offer to make a login, thereby encouraging the player to still log in to QQ or WeChat (when logging in to one of them, the login will no longer be there).
3. There must be a logout, because several people can play on the same device, and the profile (WeChat / QQ) can simply change.

Payment card

There are no SMS payments here. You are waiting for a more or less familiar type of payment card, which your programmers have encountered when working with Google, Apple or Windows payment cards.

Russian Russian localization on your phone (Russian dot (.)), I will note one thing from myself, be careful that the payment card is still Chinese, and, for example, your payments may not work if you have Russian localization on your phone (Russian dot (.) it is not considered a point in Chinese billing).

Data module analysis

The collection of statistics for the most part will be automatically picked up with the embedding of the login feature.

Art

I would like to note that the Chinese user is very greedy for a beautiful picture. After looking at how the store and other applications are designed, you will understand for yourself that almost everything is tied to a beautiful and high-quality picture. Therefore, be prepared for the fact that a lot of art work awaits you.

In total, you will need to send about 100 unique images, starting with the icons of the weapons that you give to the players, and ending with adapted banners.

Part of it will be used during the release – for feathering, and part will remain for future ones.

Considering that the apruv takes about three weeks, and the viewing of the art provided by you takes place at one of the most recent stages – make them according to all the necessary requirements so that the apruv is not postponed.

Text

In addition to the standard adaptation of the text in the form of a description of the game and screenshots, representatives from Tencent themselves make a voluminous analysis of the game, in which they write both the pros and cons of the game. Plus, they even describe in detail how to play it.

Since this material is made based on the “first impression”, I advise you to request this review before publication in order to avoid unpleasant inaccuracies about your game, and also replace the screenshots “made on the knee” with those you want (this is not prohibited).

And, of course, don’t forget that you work with the Chinese. They are very sensitive about their language: your localization should be at the highest level.

With proper treatment, Tencent representatives will be able to help both with writing texts and with the operational editing of your art.

A little bit about the numbers

If we compare WeChat\WQ apps with MyApp (Tencent store), then we can say that they pay more in WeChat\QQ, and the conversion rate is higher there. However, DAU and new users are noticeably lower

And some dry numbers in WeChat\QQ (at the moment) :

• DAU ~11 000
• NewUsers ~ 2500
• Revenue ~500 $
• Conversion – 3%

In conclusion, I would like to say that maybe WeChat \ QQ is not the most profitable stores, but entering a new market is an interesting experiment, a test for you, the team and the application itself.