Tencent's Dungeon & Fighter Mobile bucks weak local market with strong first-month performance

DnF Mobile raked in US$270 million from Apple's China iOS platform since its launch on May 21, according to data provided by app intelligence firm Sensor Tower.

"Since its release, DnF Mobile has been occupying the top positions for the iOS charts in all categories. This is a very impressive start, and it has been stable as well," Nan Lu, Sensor Tower's senior director of Asia-Pacific marketing, said on Tuesday.

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"The future performance will depend on Tencent's operations and continuous updates to the game," Lu added.

The title crossed the US$100 million mark just 10 days after its launch, topping the revenue growth chart, and its 11-day sales run in May surpassed the combined revenues of Tencent's long-time blockbusters Honour of Kings and Peacekeeper Elite over the same period, Sensor Tower data showed.

The strong performance of DnF Mobile, described as the "most explosive" debut for a mobile title in the past few years, contributed to a 12 per cent rise in Tencent's mobile gaming revenue last month, according to Sensor Tower.

In this photo illustration, the Tencent logo is displayed on a smartphone screen. Photo: Shutterstock Images alt=In this photo illustration, the Tencent logo is displayed on a smartphone screen. Photo: Shutterstock Images>

The performance exceeded expectations and will give a much-needed boost to Tencent's video gaming business on the mainland, which recorded a 2 per cent year-on-year decline in first-quarter revenue to 34.5 billion yuan (US$4.8 billion).

The new title is the mobile version of Dungeon & Fighter Online, the personal computer (PC) game developed by Neople, the subsidiary of South Korean studio Nexon. It garnered attention from Chinese gamers who were fans of the multiplayer "beat 'em up", action role-playing PC game that initially debuted in mainland China in 2008.

"Nostalgia has played a significant role in the success of DnF Mobile, as it taps into the fond memories of Chinese millennials who grew up playing the original DnF game," said Ivan Su, senior analyst at Morningstar. "These once cash-strapped students now possess more disposable income, which they're willing to spend on this familiar mobile adaptation."

The original PC game and its solid gamer base will also help to keep the mobile title's growth momentum going for longer, before the inevitable decline over time, Su added.

A screenshot from Tencent's Dungeon and Fighter Mobile game. Photo: Handout alt=A screenshot from Tencent's Dungeon and Fighter Mobile game. Photo: Handout>

"Since DnF Mobile can leverage a substantial amount of content already used in its Korean version, we expect the decrease in revenue to be gradual, helping to maintain player interest and prolong popularity," Su said.

Tencent, which runs the world's biggest video gaming business by revenue, last week pulled the game from Android app stores run by Chinese smartphone makers including Huawei Technologies, Oppo and Vivo.

It marked the latest flare-up between game developers and platforms on sales sharing, as Android app store operators on the mainland are known for sometimes taking up to 50 per cent of a video game's revenue as commission.

Ending cooperation with these Android platforms will not affect the game or Tencent's revenues, as the Chinese internet giant also runs its own app store and makes the title downloadable through an official website, analysts said.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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