Web3 market also has otome games now.
Author: Mu Mu
Bossy CEO, sweet pet, abusive love, revenge, various refreshing dramas that are less than 5 minutes per episode, making the audience exclaim "cliché, cheesy, and addictive." In 2023, this type of fast-paced, plot-twisting short drama created a 20 billion yuan content market on short video platforms, with half of the content targeting female readers.
The strong purchasing power of the female market has always been a battleground for businesses. Now, the supply side is not only limited to beauty and baby products, but also includes products that provide emotional value, in addition to movies and TV shows, there are also games. According to SensorTower's report, from January to August 2023, the revenue from mobile games favored by women exceeded 11.2 billion US dollars.
In China, the dominant position in the female gaming market has always been occupied by the paper-cut game company, which once attracted 100 million registered users with the love management game "Love and Producer" and will launch a 3D version of the "Love and" series new game in 2024.
Just at the end of 2023, a game production company called SleeplessAI, claiming to be "formed by the former core team of the paper-cut company," combined AI with Web3 and launched the "otome" chain game "HIM," which received 36,958 test applications within just 1 day of public testing.
This Web3 game, which focuses on "AI boyfriend development," has created a concept of "Love To Earn," aiming to let players "spend money but also make money." This means that by accompanying your virtual boyfriend, you might end up becoming a "wage earner"?
Although the game attributes are slightly weak, the appearance of "HIM" marks the attention of chain games to the rising Web3 female market, and the Web3 game track is becoming more and more diverse.
"Boyfriend Development" otome game enters Web3
In the Web3 market, the chain game "HIM" targeting female players is showing the potential for explosive sales.
Currently, the Discard community of "HIM" has accumulated nearly 50,000 members. On the day of public testing, 36,958 people applied for testing. On the NFT market NTPrompt, the daily independent active wallet (UAW) number of "HIM" Genesis NFT series reached as high as one million, ranking first at one point.
"HIM" targets the female player market, providing more than 10 virtual boyfriend images, each with its own personality, reportedly driven by AI. Players can chat with them, share daily life, and the text and images input can be understood and responded to by the "AI boyfriend."
_ "HIM" currently provides 10 virtual boyfriends for players to bind_
The popularity of "HIM" in the Web3 market is partly related to the fact that the game token "AI" was listed on the globally renowned cryptocurrency exchange Binance. The exchange provided early circulation of the token "AI" through its token distribution platform Launchpad. Another reason "HIM" is attracting attention is that its development team, SleeplessAI, claims to be formed by former employees of the paper-cut game company with years of game development experience.
When it comes to female games, the game development and publishing company, the paper-cut game company, is considered the top in the country. The "Warm" and "Love and" series produced by them are deeply familiar with the preferences of female players. Among them, the love management game "Love and Producer," which was launched in December 2017, generated nearly 300 million yuan in revenue the following month.
"Love and Producer" also successfully introduced the concept of "otome games" from the Japanese game market to China. This type of love simulation game, which targets female audiences, revolves around a female protagonist and multiple male characters, and the gameplay mainly involves card turn-based combat. The cards that enhance the abilities of the game characters are the main consumer goods of these games and also the profit point for game companies.
There is no doubt that unlocking the plot of otome games requires "spending money," and the paper-cut game company has been called "stacked dogs" by players due to excessive spending. Now, with the AI chatbot function, "HIM" has put on the "battle armor" of Web3, promoting the slogan "Love To Earn," seemingly aiming to overturn the model of its "former employer."
"HIM" introduces the concept of "Soul Binding Token (SBT)" based on the Ethereum blockchain Web3 identity system. Once the player selects a boyfriend character in the game, it becomes the player's exclusive SBT (Soul Binding Token). This type of token emphasizes ownership but cannot be traded.
After binding, players can interact with their "boyfriend," and the large language model in "HIM" provides emotional value through interaction and conversation with female players. Of course, you still need to "develop" them, and you need to buy food and clothing for your AI boyfriend in the in-game store, all represented by NFTs. Creators can also design various NFT accessories for users, forming a market closed loop of players-platform-creators.
"HIM" proposes "Love to Earn," one way is to chat with the virtual boyfriend and cultivate and upgrade to obtain virtual asset rewards. Chatting is easy, but if you want to level up faster, you need to recharge virtual assets to purchase props to cultivate the "boyfriend's" skills, and these assets can be bought and sold in the secondary market of cryptocurrency assets.
In addition, you can also let your "boyfriend" participate in competitions, vote for popularity through staking game governance tokens "AI," and the winners will receive more cryptocurrency asset rewards. Having these items in the secondary market means "realizing" them.
Selection - Ownership - Chatting - Dressing up - Profiting, the gameplay of "HIM" integrates the core of otome games with Web3 gold farming. Coupled with the AI that can converse, it seems more "profitable" than traditional female love management games, but can it really capture female users?
The rise of "Her Economy" in the Web3 market
"HIM" not only needs to capture women, but also women in the Web3 market. Because for the game to be profitable, it needs users to pay, and this "payment" is mostly virtual assets.
You can use fiat currency to purchase the cryptocurrency assets required for the game, but entering the Web3 game through the "crypto wallet" is likely to be the first hurdle for Web2 players. Compared to female players of Web2 games, native female users of the Web3 market are more likely to become the first target users of "HIM."
The Web3 market has always been dominated by male users, and the number of female users has been on the rise in recent years.
A survey by the cryptocurrency exchange platform WazirX shows that the trading volume of female users on its platform has increased by 3.3% in a year. The trading volume of female investors in cryptocurrency assets has increased from 15.27% in 2021 to 18.57% in 2022. From this data, the number of female investors in the cryptocurrency asset market is increasing, but the proportion is still relatively low.
By 2023, a global survey report from another trading platform, Bitget, shows that in South Korea, Japan, and Turkey, the demand for cryptocurrency investment among women is higher than that of men. In South Korea and Japan, the proportion of women who hope to improve their personal lives through cryptocurrency investment is 49% and 41%, respectively, while for men, it is 45% and 30%.
In the past two years, female content has also been eager to occupy a place in the Web3 world. The most famous is the NFT work "World of Women," which was launched in July 2021 by Middle Eastern artist Yam Karkai. Within 10 hours of its launch, the total of 10,000 NFTs sold out.
As of now, the total transaction amount of "World of Women" is over 84,000 ETH, and the number of owners has reached 4,600.
The total transaction amount of "World of Women" NFT exceeds 80,000 ETH
SleeplessAI first targeted the rising Web3 female market. In fact, female chain games appeared as early as September last year. The game "Power of Women: Genesis" deployed on the Solana blockchain once topped the overall ranking of games in the Google Play Store in the US, making it the earliest Web3 female-oriented game to break through, laying the groundwork for this market.
There is huge untapped potential in the native market, and "HIM" also aims to educate Web2 users, providing these users with more familiar login methods such as email and phone numbers, while also offering a "free-to-play" mode on the mobile client. Of course, if you want to earn cryptocurrency assets through the game, you still need to learn how to open the door to the crypto world.
Currently, "HIM" is still in the testing phase, and many interesting gameplay features are still under development. After attracting traffic, "HIM" needs to consider the user experience, especially when Web2 otome game market users enter. It's important to note that whether in China or overseas, these users have played quite mature otome games, and these games have even launched derivative products such as anime.
Even the popular "Love and Producer" in China has been criticized by many players for not being exciting enough. Often, the games that are compared are from the birthplace of otome games, Japan.
One player criticized the 4 boyfriends in "Love and Producer" as "limited choices," "face-blind," and "voice-blind," saying, "In 'Star Sign Boyfriend,' there are twelve male leads, twelve zodiac signs, twelve appearances, twelve personalities… that's three times the number in 'Love and Producer'…"
Currently, "HIM" offers 10 characters with 10 different personalities, with a more Japanese style. It is reported that more "boyfriend" types will be added later, but from the current images provided, it is still lacking in terms of variety. It is hoped that the AI large model can contribute to a more diverse personality experience through interaction with the characters.
In addition, the plot does not seem to be the core of "HIM." It mainly emphasizes "companionship," and the game attributes are relatively weak. Essentially, it is a collection of NFTs that can interact using natural language. If it is called a game, then it can only be the "money game" of Web3. It remains to be seen whether the "AI boyfriend" that players pay to support can become a qualified "wage earner" and whether it can create economic value for players while chatting.
The paper-cut game in the SleeplessAI team's label has evolved, and this year will launch a new game in the "Love and" series, with the boyfriend characters in this game evolving to 3D, attempting to capture the hearts and minds of female users with more three-dimensional virtual characters and plots. In comparison, "HIM" with AI support is still in the paper-cut stage. It is also reported that it will launch related comic derivative actions in the future.
Overall, the outstanding feature of "HIM" in the Web3 game market is the integration of AI and the emphasis on the value of the female market. In most Web3 chain games, when it comes to economic models and visuals, "HIM" has found a new traffic code, and the application targeting female users has made the products in the race more diverse. However, in terms of gameplay, it still has not departed from the logic of the NFT market, emphasizing the Web3 core of "Earn," and the game experience needs to be improved.
It is reported that SleeplessAI has also launched a similar male-oriented product called "HER," with images of girlfriends with excellent figures in the game being very "otaku-style." This may also provide a window to observe the Web3 user group - who is more willing to pay for "eyeballs" in the cryptocurrency asset market, men or women.
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