Reviewing Hikaru Sulu's old article "Who Killed Our Games?", are blockchain games repeating the same mistakes?

On August 20, 2024, the Chinese game company "Game Science" will release the blockbuster game "Black Myth: Wukong." With its exquisite graphics and exciting action scenes, many players are eagerly anticipating its release, and international reviews have given it quite good ratings. Co-founder of Game Science, Feng Ji Yocar, who has been in the industry for ten years, once pondered the reasons for the failure of domestic Chinese online games in 2007, and wrote the insightful article "Who Killed Our Games? - Revealing the Truth behind the Failure of Domestic Chinese Online Games."

Looking at it now, compared to the analysis in the article on how profit-driven online games, excessive pursuit of profit, and neglect of gameplay lead to negative consequences, it is quite worth referencing for blockchain games. While blockchain game companies try to offer players more "profit" opportunities, they still stick to profit-oriented solutions; this can even be extended to the token economics carefully designed by cryptocurrency startups, attempting to create mechanisms for money flow but neglecting practical applications.

A summary of the article's content can be found here.

Feng Ji Yocar: Where is the Golden Age of Domestic Online Games Heading?

Once upon a time, the gaming industry was hailed as a "cash cow" industry where money could be made while sleeping. However, nowadays, many projects from various development teams are stillborn before they even go live. In 2006, over 60 domestic online games flooded the market, but only a meager 15 of them turned profitable in the end. Faced with such bleak reality, we have to ask: Who exactly killed our games? This article attempts to analyze this issue from the perspective of game planning and uncover the truth behind the failures.

Stillborn: Games That Will Never See the Light of Day

In the field of domestic online games, game projects often go through months or even years of development only to quietly perish during the testing phase. Many believe this is due to reasons such as capital's impatience, chaotic management, and ever-changing market conditions. But what is the real root cause? Successful games are not successful because more resources or time are poured into them, but because their planners know how to avoid the pitfalls that lead to failure.

However, the industry generally praises the myths of "elite teams," "countless refinements," and "constant delays," which mask the reflection on the fundamental reasons for failure.

The Cursed Teams: Failures Starting from Planning

Many failed projects are doomed to fail from the very beginning. Especially at the planning level, when planners themselves have no hope for the project, the whole team seems to be cursed, gradually losing their passion for the project. If planners are not willing to play the games they develop, how can they expect players to be enthusiastic about them? If planners are tired of their own work, the prospects for the game in the market are already very dim.

The Closer to Planning, the Farther from Players

In China's online gaming industry, the duties of planners have gradually deviated from the original intention of "creating fun games" and shifted to focusing on how to make players addicted and how to guide consumption.

Planners are forced to find a balance between profitability and gameplay, but driven by strong capital, many planners have already turned to the "dark side." The systems they design are no longer to enhance the fun of the game but to maximize player payments and stickiness. This trend leads to a growing disconnect between game planners and player needs, ultimately turning games into soulless profit tools.

The Dark Side of Anti-Addiction: Capital's Boundless Pursuit

China's unique "anti-addiction system for online games" is not accidental. The vast "disappointed crowd" has become the most fertile hunting ground in the eyes of capital, and online games are the best way for them to find a sense of existence and achievement in the virtual world. As a result, game operators spare no effort in designing various mechanisms to make players addicted, regardless of the negative real-world impacts. The introduction of the anti-addiction system is essentially a helpless balance against capital's profit-driven motives.

The Dark Side of Originality: The Decline and Compromise of Planning

Driven by capital, game planners have gradually turned to the "dark side," shifting from the original pursuit of creativity to building successful business traps.

They no longer focus on improving the playability of the game but dive into designing more addictive mechanisms. Innovation is suppressed, imitation and tweaking become mainstream, and planners gradually lose their emotional connection with players. When the game is no longer meant to bring joy to players but to squeeze every penny out of them, the online gaming industry loses its soul completely.

The Awkwardness of Operation Planning: The Conflict between Service and Creativity

Compared to the creative planning in game development, operation planning is often seen as "second-class citizens." Their work mainly focuses on how to keep players engaged and design activities to maintain activity levels. However, the standardization and monotony of activity planning cause players to gradually lose their sense of novelty and interest. Planners are busy dealing with various trivial tasks but overlook the overall improvement of the game experience. Over time, players' dissatisfaction accumulates, and the game gradually declines in a cycle of repeated activities.

The Future of Planning: Finding Hope in Difficulties

Although planners may not hold the same status as programmers and artists in game development, they are still the creators of the game's soul. However, the trend of over-pursuing profits and neglecting gameplay is eroding the healthy development of the entire industry. The future game planners can only regain the joy of games by maintaining a passion for creativity and empathy for players. Otherwise, domestic online games will continue to lose their direction in impetuosity and utilitarianism.

Who Killed Our Games?

The failure of domestic online games is not simply a market issue or a management mistake but the compromise and decline of planners under capital pressure. When game development no longer revolves around creating fun, players' disappointment and the demise of the game become inevitable.

Only by returning to the original intention and rediscovering the essence of games can domestic online games rise again in the fierce market competition.

Reflecting on Blockchain Game Issues

Reflecting on the past state of the gaming industry allows us to better understand the current development trends and challenges of "blockchain games." Blockchain games face similar problems in many aspects but introduce new variables. Let's analyze some key points:

1. Conflict Between Speculation and Gameplay

In the past, game planners in online games often focused on making players addicted, guiding consumption, and other "dark aspects" to increase player stickiness, neglecting the fun and innovation of the game itself. This is even more apparent in blockchain games. Blockchain games typically highlight "earning money" as their core selling point, while gameplay takes a back seat. Players participate in these games more for investment returns rather than entertainment and enjoying the gaming process. This turns games into speculative tools, and when the market hype subsides, the viability of these games becomes precarious.

2. Short-Sighted Development Models

In the past, the rushed mentality in online game development led to a large number of stillborn game projects. Similarly, developers of blockchain games often focus on rapidly launching new projects to capitalize on market hype without long-term product planning. This has led to many blockchain games rising rapidly and then quickly collapsing, mirroring the development model of early online games.

3. Alienation of Players' Roles

In traditional online games, players gradually became mathematical models and consumers, with planners focusing not on gameplay but on maximizing player payment behavior. Blockchain games take this a step further, viewing players solely as investors and asset managers, replacing the "fun" in games with economic motives. This alienation weakens the emotional connection between players and the game, leaving only a cold capital operation.

4. Innovation Suppressed by Commercial Interests

In the past online game market, innovation was compressed, replaced by proven market routines and imitations. Similarly, in blockchain games, there are few truly innovative gameplay works, as most products simply combine blockchain technology with existing game modes or even package them as NFT trading platforms, lacking the creative and content that would dazzle players.

5. Sustainability of Economic Models and Greed of Capital

Blockchain games often rely on complex token economic models to sustain operations, but the sustainability of these models is highly questionable. Designs that excessively pursue returns can easily form Ponzi-like structures, where early players earn from the investments of later players. When new funds cannot enter, the entire economic system collapses. This is a result of capital's greed-driven outcomes, similar to the numerical designs in early online games that aimed for addiction.

The Future Path of Blockchain Games

To avoid repeating the mistakes of the past gaming industry, blockchain games need to reexamine their core values — whether they are for creating entertainment or solely for profit. Truly successful blockchain games should balance the relationship between "play" and "earn," making economic incentives auxiliary to the gaming experience rather than the sole purpose. Additionally, game developers should focus on innovation and the genuine needs of players, avoiding short-sightedness and getting caught in market bubbles. Only by doing so can blockchain games shed the label of speculative tools and become enduring entertainment products.