Last updated on September 17th, 2024 at 05:55 pm
The mobile gaming industry thrives on a dynamic mix of innovations and trends from various fields. As new trends emerge, audience expectations shift. To engage players effectively, it’s crucial to adapt strategies quickly, experiment with new ideas, and address evolving demands.
Reflecting on recent trends, it’s evident that bold and experimental approaches in game development are becoming rarer. Developers are increasingly gravitating towards proven, predictable gaming models. The industry is shifting towards casual and midcore genres. Developers are stepping back from previously popular hyper-casual projects. Unlike AAA game developers, some independent developers face budget constraints. As a result, they focus more on mid-core games. These games are designed to better retain users. Notable examples include Top Games’ popular title Evony: The King’s Return and uCool’s RPG Heroes Charge. Common Traits of uCool and Top Games include prioritizing top-tier UX and valuing player feedback. This shift emphasizes a preference for stability and proven success over constant innovation.
Today, we delve into how the well-known independent developer Top Games has managed to retain its audience with its mobile game Evony: The King’s Return, and what CEO David Guo believes makes a game truly captivating.
As a mid-core real-time strategy game, Evony: The King’s Return offers 5 core features that attract players:
- Diverse Game Universe:
- Evony creates a rich and varied game world, allowing players to choose from seven different civilizations such as Europe, America, and Arabia.
- Strategic Gameplay:
- Players can recruit famous historical figures, including King Arthur, Napoleon, George Washington, and the legendary Empress Wu Zetian from the East. Each general has unique attributes and skills, requiring strategic combination and usage in battles.
- Robust Social Features:
- The game includes extensive social elements, with an alliance system and an automatic translation feature supporting over 25 languages. This fosters communication and cultural exchange among players, enhancing the game’s inclusivity.
- Multiple Combat Modes:
- Evony features large-scale battle modes like PvP and SVS. It also hosts annual All-Star events where top-ranking players can win rare, upgradeable castle skins and other rewards.
- Collaborative Events:
- Top Games focuses on partnerships with other brands to enhance gameplay, such as the 2023 collaboration with the Napoleon movie, which introduced themed events and characters into the game. This event attracted millions of players and received widespread attention.
David Guo: Balancing Efficiency with Quality and Speed
David Guo, also known as Yaoqi Guo, Co-founder and CEO, emphasizes their commitment to creating the best gaming experiences and fostering long-lasting gaming communities.
In a speech, David Guo shared, “On behalf of the team here at Top Games, we thank Samsung for awarding us the honor of Best MMO in the Samsung Store for 2022. We thank all of our players for the love and support shown. Games bring us together no matter where we are in the world. Together, we can make an even greater community.”
David highlighted that their approach focuses on user-centric development, leveraging data science for decision-making, and embracing innovation rather than avoiding new technologies. This “Quality & Speed” reflects a refined team that learns and adapts through experience, consistently encouraging creativity and innovation.
David Guo, who majored in physics at Sun Yat-sen University, created the renowned Skynet firewall in 1998, which protected tens of millions of users in China. He later co-founded a major virtual currency exchange platform and has since focused on enhancing user experience in the gaming industry as the CEO of Top Games Inc.
“Mobile gaming is now pivotal to everything we do at Top Games Inc.,” says David Guo.
