2023

26k wishlists in 26 weeks – Games Operators x Huqiao

Author:

Jan Chmielowski



Reading time:

min.

+26 000 wishlists in 26 weeks without extra budget on influencers or ads? Yes we can! How will Games Operators’ case help YOU achieve similar (or even better!) results? Read our case study to find out.

1. Background

POV: You drink your morning coffee, scroll down some LinkedIn posts, lastly open Steam to check the wishlists growth of your title and then – all of a sudden – you see a huge spike generated by Chinese players. Your eyes bulge out and you start to shiver as if you saw your cat jumping on the Christmas tree. Sounds familiar?

Aside from the cat part - you may have faced this situation a couple of times on your development roadmap. This is exactly what happened to Games Operators and why they came to us.

The journey began on June 6th 2022. As a part of our All-things China package (for more information check out this article) we were responsible for:

Conducting influencer marketing campaigns with KOL who created content about Infection Free Zone, 911 Operator and 112 Operator

Registering and managing Games Operators’ official HeyBox account – the go-to platform for increasing sales in China (more on that here and here!).

Community management on HeyBox, Douyin and BiliBili.

Outreach to news outlets and partners in China, e.g. Tencent and Baidu.
Localization of announcements, trailers and other materials about Infection Free Zone.
Creating exclusive content in Chinese, i.e. posts, graphics and videos, including gameplays in Chinese as well as RTM materials - like this one:

Apart from that, Games Operators faced following other challenges:

1. API integration with Chinese maps

Finding better solutions for porting 3D maps into the game.

2. Crowdfunding in China

Organizing crowdfunding events on other platforms than Kickstarter and BackerKit.

3. Game premiere support for the other upcoming title - Pandemic Train

Getting as much Steam traffic as possible during the premiere day and to get as much feedback as possible.

4. Mapping out most loyal fans

Involving them into beta tests and to get even more feedback for future development.

All of these issues are covered by our All Things China package - and we can boldly say: you can't get closer to the Chinese community than that!

…but let the hard data speak it out loud!

2. Results

The wishlists’ growth has exceeded our expectations!
‍Jakub Ananicz, CFO at Games Operators ‍

‍Wishlists data as of December 2022:

+26 799 wishlists between June and December 2022 (46% increase in 6 months of cooperation)
31% - the number of wishlists coming from China (highest wishlist percentage, 2nd place - USA: 16%)
45 000 - the number of wishlists generated just from HeyBox

And some other honorable mentions:

Best performing HeyBox content pieces:

Gameplay recorded in Chinese by Jan Chmielowski 杨道

7400+ views
124 comments
75 reactions

AMA post

70+ comments of juicy questions that give a huge insight into the community’s feedback and needs

Key giveaway competition

92 comments
47 reactions

All of the content pieces - copy, graphics and videos - are created in-house with passion and love!

June influencer outreach results:

Total reach: 145k+ views
Reactions: 4,2k likes
Comments: 400+
+100-200 HeyBox fans

Among the influencers we contacted, 3 published the videos free of charge. We monitor Chinese social media on a weekly basis - and can’t wait for the game launch in 2023 Q3 to conduct a massive campaign with 50+ influencers that we have in our database 😎!

The number of wishlists keeps growing day by day - thanks to our support that is transparent, data-driven, based on proven methods and last but not least - suited to your budget.

‍If you’re as hyped as we are about these results and also want to follow Games Operators’ footsteps - here’s a tutorial for you 👇

3. YOUR next steps

All right, you know what, this is the moment when we could tell you what to do next, share a link to our calendly and invite you to a discovery call to get to know each other, but…

…perhaps you’d like to know more about the cooperation between Games Operators and Huqiao from the other perspective. In that case - send a DM to Konrad Chmielewski at Games Operators S.A., who will definitely tell you more on our daily routines.

And here are some other photos that clearly depict that our cooperation is not only about sales, sales, sales - but also about fun! 😊

Is that everything?

Yes… and no! We’re still exploring new promotion possibilities to maximize best possible results - but we’re still on the “Easy Mode” - the real fun will begin in Q3 2023 during Infection Free Zone’s premiere. 😎

So, if you want to hear more about our other ideas for promotion of Games Operators’ titles or to learn how we can help you increase sales/wishlists for your games - book a free discovery call and get to know:

How many players anticipate your game or how many game copies have been generated by HeyBox players.
How many influencers created content about your games and what is the total reach of their activities
What are the Chinese market’s dos and don'ts in terms of promotion for your titles.
How much budget should you allocate for the Chinese market in 2023 and what results to expect.