This article is a part of an ongoing sequence of data-driven articles from PocketGamer.biz and information.ai (previously App Annie) highlighting developments within the world cellular video games sector utilizing information.ai’s Game IQ analytics.
While Apex Legends cellular incarnation has been a world success, the sport’s success within the notoriously difficult Japanese market has been a standout, remaining within the prime 10 video games by obtain for 54 consecutive days.
information.ai leveraged its gaming intelligence suite to interrupt down how Apex Legends cracked the market.
Japan is among the world’s largest and most profitable markets for videogames of all types. While the nation is the eleventh largest on this planet by inhabitants, it was the world’s third largest cellular video games market within the first half (H1) of 2022 with a client spend of over $6.7 billion.
Global gaming hub
Japan can also be a world powerhouse with regards to sport improvement with lots of the world’s best-loved titles rising from improvement studios throughout the nation. This can results in charts that are filled with home-grown titles – which might enhance the difficulties of success for titles developed abroad.
So how did Apex Legends obtain chart success? The information.ai platform supplies perception into customers and helps them create a localised technique, based mostly upon extra knowledgeable decision-making.
The sport consists of a number of key options that play very effectively throughout the Japanese market, together with:
A deal with robust characters and mental property (IP)
Japanese avid gamers may be seen to react favourably to heroes/character-based content material. To put this in context, Apex Legends changed Disney as essentially the most downloaded IP by whole app downloads in Q2 2022, throughout iOS and Google Play.
Marketing with a neighborhood flavour
EA centered exhausting on localised promoting for consumer acquisition and was cautious to focus on the preferred platforms. In the case of Apex Legends, EA noticed its share of voice on YouTube rise from 3.3% to 7.4% three weeks post-release, and from 0.33% to three.6% on Twitter.
EA additionally localised its promoting artistic, selecting a definite cell-shaded anime model which differs from the in-game graphics.
Offline, the corporate partnered with the Koshigaya Rice Paddy Art Executive Committee in Koshigaya City, Japan to sponsor the creation of Bloodhound rice paddy artwork in a area seen to commuters on a busy practice line. Viewers may scan it to win prizes.
Understanding participant sentiment
Apex Legends scored extremely when it comes to participant critiques. information.ai’s Ratings Over Time operate, which reveals historic rankings for an app reveals greater than 80% of reviewers in Japan rated it 5 Star for iPhone, in comparison with 72% for PUBG Mobile and 62% for Knives Out.
It’s price noting that information.ai subscribers can go deeper and analyze critiques by ‘topics’ similar to ‘performance and bugs’, ‘design’ and many others to assist prioritise ache factors that avid gamers are discovering in rival video games.
Download Now
DATA.AI’s Q2 2022 Mobile Market Pulse Top Apps and Games presents even higher perception into the worldwide cellular markets and the efficiency of the main apps and video games in key areas worldwide. The report is on the market free and may be downloaded right here.
Find Out More
If you’re having fun with the insights from information.ai, you’ll be able to hear in to the corporate’s new Game Changers podcast, which takes a deep dive into totally different points of the worldwide cellular video games market.
