Whenever game developers undertake an IP adaptation, it feels like they're playing a risky game. Especially for IPs like "Dungeons & Dragons (D&D)," the pioneer of tabletop gaming, every modification is a high-stakes game with both fans and their own capabilities.

The reason it's considered a challenge is that in D&D, every passerby can be an important NPC, every scene and setting deserves careful consideration, and every character has ample room for imagination. This implies a high level of adaptation difficulty. Moreover, D&D's high flexibility and campaigns that can last for weeks or even months make it hard to "condense" into a single electronic game.

Game developers and fan players often find themselves at odds because they must maintain the original essence while introducing innovative elements.

Not long ago, "Baldur's Gate 3," which was released on Steam, became the masterpiece of CRPG created in recent years, inspired by D&D. As of now, the game has sold over 5.2 million copies. Recently, "Dragonheir: Silent Gods," a D&D-themed mobile game developed by SGRA, a subsidiary of Daylight Lightyears, was officially launched. The PC version will also be available on Steam on October 30th. Different from the pure CRPG gameplay of "Baldur's Gate 3," "Dragonheir" features an open-world exploration combined with semi-real-time strategy. In its first week, the game reached the number one spot in over 20 countries and regions worldwide, including Canada, Thailand, South Korea, and Greater China. Although its overall ranking has dropped slightly since then, the game is still within the top 10 on the global charts.

Part 1: 5 Years of Development, Over 100 Million in Investment – What Did "Dragonheir" Achieve with Its High Investment?

"Dragonheir" first entered the players' view as the "only Chinese game featured at the Apple WWDC 2023 event." This instantly garnered significant attention from both players and industry professionals. In fact, overseas media had recognized the future potential of "Dragonheir" (at that time known as "Project: Dragon") as an IP adaptation product as early as last year. Now, with the official release of "Dragonheir," we finally have the opportunity to get a firsthand look at it.

"Dragonheir" is a semi-real-time strategy RPG game based on the DnD theme. Its art style and visuals faithfully capture the classic Western realistic fantasy style of DnD while incorporating some oil painting textures. The fully 3D rendering brings more detailed character and scene modeling, and you can clearly see the "investment burning" in the lighting effects and skill animations. Especially at the beginning of the game, the free character creation and a cinematic-level storyline provide a concise yet high-quality presentation of the game's background and world view, creating a smooth and exquisite overall experience that heightens expectations.

Of course, for modern, especially for heavy-duty gaming products, having a polished exterior is the baseline. Therefore, "Dragonheir" goes beyond this and incorporates more "core competitiveness." According to official announcements, the game's initial content boasts over 600,000 words of storyline and features more than 200 heroes from different factions and races. The dialogue in the storyline is fully covered with English voice acting, with special contributions from Mathew Mercer, the voice actor from the DnD web series "Critical Role," world-renowned composer Jeff Broadbent for the game's music production, and performances by the Budapest Art Orchestra for the orchestral music. At key points in the plot, the game also includes high-quality CG animations, adding to the epic cinematic experience.

For heroes from different factions, players can freely choose their partners and form a 5-person team. In the initial season, "Dark Elf" Tryst will join the game, and in subsequent seasons, there will be crossover characters from "Dragonlance" and "Forgotten Realms." In the team-based gameplay, players have the freedom to allocate points to their main character. The addition of a D20 dice allows players to experience the core fun of "running a campaign" on sandbox maps. For example, multiple events in the game trigger dice checks, allowing players to turn the tide through luck. For players who have a particular fondness for DnD settings and culture, the storyline animations and the inclusion of "running a campaign" gameplay in "Dragonheir" are undoubtedly compelling features.

In addition to the campaign-style gameplay, "Dragonheir" introduces innovative combat design. On a 5x8 chessboard, players and enemy forces take turns attacking through separate action bars. The positions of players and enemies may change during each battle, such as standoffs or encirclements, and new enemies may appear at any time, adding an element of randomness. In a battle, players may face powerful bosses or be tasked with rescuing allies as additional objectives. Some battle scenarios require players to strategically utilize mechanisms like tornadoes, making hero composition and positioning crucial.

Overall, "Dragonheir" offers gameplay that is comparable to pure CRPGs. Before battles, the extensive hero pool provides players with options for creating diverse team compositions. The strategic aspect, similar to tactical games, allows players to strategically position their heroes.

During battles, the ever-changing chessboard layout and transformations of advanced monsters require players to use skills effectively in real-time, delivering a satisfying feeling of instant action, reminiscent of MMORPGs. Players can experience the joy of defeating enemies with powerful abilities.

After battles, the thrill of defeating bosses and obtaining high-level equipment with different attributes adds an element of excitement similar to loot-based games.

To ensure long-term engagement, "Dragonheir" has implemented a seasonal system. It's reported that a new season in "Dragonheir" begins every 12-14 weeks. With the start of a new season, player heroes and various statistics are reset to their initial state, and players embark on a fresh exploration journey from a random location on the world map. At the end of the season, players receive corresponding rewards.

As seasons change, core elements in the game, such as elemental builds (fire, poison, light, etc.), also undergo adjustments, providing players with different strategic opportunities.

However, while seasonal rotations can bring more strategic diversity, they can also create significant pressure for players and teams. On one hand, players must face redeveloping their strategies every season, which may be more acceptable for players with a background in strategy games. However, for the average player, seasonal rotations mean that the resources and time they've invested will also reset, leaving doubts about player retention in the long run. Furthermore, at the start of a new season, whether the game can introduce rich new content to attract and sustain players as they "start over" is a significant challenge for the development team.

In response to these challenges, "Dragonheir" has made two key attempts. First, in terms of character development, the game has reduced the difficulty and depth of hero development. By mid-season, players can have around 5 fully developed teams to tackle different battle scenarios and types. Second, in terms of iteration, "Dragonheir" initially chose to collaborate with multiple well-known works. By introducing crossover characters into the game, they aimed to attract both new and existing players, ensuring a continuous influx of fresh blood. In addition to this, new bosses, dungeons, and races are also added to the game at a stable frequency, similar to many other seasonal rotation games.

In summary, the combination of collaborations with well-known franchises, a seasonal rotation system, and the reduction of character development complexity has created a well-rounded approach for "Dragonheir." If the game can maintain a continuous stream of high-quality content updates, allowing players to quickly adapt to character development, it could help compensate for the game's reliance on traditional numerical growth mechanics and make the combat gameplay a core aspect of "Dragonheir." From another perspective, after the initial marketing push ends, this approach may also become a crucial factor for attracting new players and retaining existing ones.

Part 2: Asynchronous Acquisition - What Did X.X. Media Do Right?

Currently, in the emerging "TTRPG mobile game" track, "Dragonheir" is offering players a captivating experience with its authentic DnD experience, strategic combat mode, and epic storytelling. However, even before the game officially launched, "Dragonheir" had started expanding its influence through global asynchronous acquisition.

According to extensive data, the initial acquisition efforts for "Dragonheir" began in mid-May, coinciding with the game's Android and PC platform testing in Greater China, including Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. In June and August, "Dragonheir" intensified its acquisition efforts, focusing on key regions like the United States, Europe, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, and other Southeast Asian areas, mainly targeting the Android platform. As of now, the number of ad placements on the Android platform has reached 75,000, with a strong emphasis on in-game content, including character showcases, storytelling, and scene displays. Image ads make up a significant portion at 53.19%, while video ads account for 46.43%.

The acquisition efforts on the iOS platform started slightly later than on the Android platform. At the end of August, "Dragonheir" initiated ad placements on iOS, with a total of 15,000 ads. Interestingly, the primary target regions for iOS include Greater China (including Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan), Latin America, and Southeast Asia, and there hasn't been any advertising in the United States as of now. Apart from traditional channels like Google Ads, "Dragonheir" has conducted advertising placements in just two games on iOS. In contrast, on the Android platform, "Dragonheir" has placed ads in various fitness apps, educational apps, and some casual sports games. Notably, it had a high proportion of ads placed in "WordBit," a language learning app. Based on my observations, this choice of ad placement likely correlates with the back-to-school season, especially in the United States, aiming to capture a broad user base during this period.

Taking a comprehensive look at it, "Dragonheir" has primarily focused its ad placements on three key aspects: art, characters, and gameplay. Overall, their advertising strategy seems conservative and restrained at this stage. However, despite this relatively cautious approach, "Dragonheir" has achieved remarkable results since its launch. In my view, its success can be attributed not only to the DnD theme and the game itself but also to the reputation of Chaoxi Guangnian as a company. This reputation has played a significant role, similar to our analysis of Lily's "Awaken: War of Angels."

Up to this point, Chaoxi Guangnian has successfully released several products in Greater China (including Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan) and overseas regions, such as "Marvel Snap," "RO仙境传说:新世代的诞生," "高能手办团," "世界计划 缤纷舞台！特邀：初音未来," and more. These products have already been verified in overseas markets in terms of both distribution achievements and reputation. Therefore, for "Dragonheir," which is developed and published by Chaoxi Guangnian itself, overseas players naturally pay more attention.

Leveraging Chaoxi Guangnian's own accumulated reputation and the high-quality content of "Dragonheir," the game quickly captured the hearts of overseas players. Its multi-platform distribution strategy also aligns well with current trends in overseas core markets, especially in Europe and North America. Overall, both Chaoxi Guangnian and "Dragonheir" are moving towards globalization and the evolution of themes and categories. Their future performance may very well usher in a new wave of excitement in the field of overseas expansion.

Part 3: Conclusion

Not only Chaoxi Guangnian, but recently, we have observed an increasing number of game products aiming to penetrate overseas markets by integrating Western themes. However, most of these products merely fuse Western themes' representative art styles and storytelling conventions with the game itself. Undoubtedly, such an approach can ensure initial product performance and revenue in the short term, but it often leads to a lack of long-term sustainability for the game. Yet, as seen in the case of "Dragonheir," choosing to delve deep into Western cultural history, using narrative-driven gameplay, and letting gameplay enhance the gaming experience can provide a game with enduring vitality and market potential.

It is undeniable that this model entails higher production and iteration costs, which may not be universally applicable, especially for small and medium-sized developers. Nevertheless, the practice of starting from a particular culture or theme and extracting its inherent value is worth considering for every game developer venturing into the international market.

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