Der Ausstoß von Kleingames wird allmählich zur "Spielart" großer Unternehmen?

Author | Lan Jie

Editor | Qiao Qian

The leading companies in the mini - game industry are still making continuous profits.

On the evening of August 29th, Century Huatong released its semi - annual financial report for 2025. In the first half of this year, the company's revenue reached 17.2 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 85.5%. The net profit attributable to the parent company was 2.656 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 129.33%.

The revenue contributed by the overseas game business accounts for more than 50%. Among them, "Whiteout Survival" (the overseas version of "Endless Winter") has consistently ranked first in the revenue list of Chinese mobile games going global. It topped the global revenue list in March.

Even earlier, according to data released by SensorTower, "Whiteout Survival" successfully ranked first in the revenue list of Chinese mobile games in July, surpassing Mihoyo's "Honkai: Star Rail" and Tencent's "PUBG MOBILE". Although a considerable part of the revenue of the latter two games is contributed by PC players and is not included in the above statistics, it still shows a lot of things.

"Whiteout Survival" is a product of DianDian Interactive, a wholly - owned subsidiary of Century Huatong. It is also the most profitable mini - game at present. Its success is a microcosm of the current trend of mini - games going global. In 2025, when the trend continues, the competition is more intense, and the leading effect is more obvious.

Following closely behind "Whiteout Survival" is "Kingshot", also a game under DianDian Interactive. According to Sensor Tower data, as of the end of July, the cumulative global revenue of "Kingshot" has exceeded 200 million US dollars, making it another hit for DianDian Interactive.

(Relevant data from SenSorTower)

A relevant person in charge of Century Huatong told 36Kr, "It can be said that the success of 'Kingshot' is because it stands on the shoulders of 'Whiteout Survival'." Behind both "Whiteout Survival" and "Kingshot" is a mature methodology of DianDian Interactive - a proven core framework of SLG (Strategy Game) + mature experience in advertising and user acquisition.

How did "Whiteout Survival" ride the wave of mini - games going global?

In China, due to the existence of two super apps, WeChat and Douyin, a rich mini - program ecosystem has emerged, providing fertile ground for the growth of mini - games. In contrast, it is difficult to have apps of the same scale overseas, and the technical support is also lacking.

Yan Chunlu, the CEO of Kongdao Technology, which developed "My Favorite Stress - Reliever", once told 36Kr that his team tried to launch mini - games overseas based on apps, specifically Facebook mini - games, but there were many problems - from the perspective of users, there were issues of inconsistent language and culture; from the perspective of hardware, the overseas payment systems and the underlying performance of platforms were not perfect. Then they switched to the WeChat mini - game platform.

Many teams launching mini - games overseas encapsulate domestic mini - program codes into native apps for overseas release to adapt to Google Play and the App Store. Even when conducting localized adaptation and development, the form of mini - games going global will still be apps. As a result, the boundary between mobile games and mini - games is no longer clear.

Liu Zun, the research director of DataEye, mentioned that the concept of mini - games going global is now being generalized. He summarized a judgment criterion - a game is relatively lightweight, at least in the initial stage; at the same time, it can adopt a hybrid monetization model (a profit model combining in - app advertising and in - app purchases); it contains various elements and combines different gameplay styles for overseas release. Games with these characteristics can be classified as mini - games going global.

Therefore, both inside and outside the industry generally regard "Whiteout Survival" as a successful case of mini - games going global.

"Whiteout Survival" is also a successful case of "exporting and then re - importing". Its corresponding domestic version, "Endless Winter", has long ranked first in the best - selling list of WeChat mini - games. The factors driving the popularity of these two games are almost the same - the genes of DianDian Interactive are highly compatible with the business logic of mini - games.

As early as 2016, "King of Avalon", a domestic SLG (Strategy Game) developed by DianDian Interactive based on the legend of King Arthur, was the first game to top the revenue list of iPhones in the United States. The following year, another SLG game, "Age of Firearms", also developed by DianDian Interactive, became a hit again. In September 2018, its revenue exceeded 1 billion yuan, surpassing "King of Avalon". These two games demonstrated the characteristic of heavy investment in advertising and user acquisition at that time.

Subsequently, DianDian Interactive, which was transforming into self - research, went through a period of trough. Although it didn't create any more hits, it maintained a relatively high output and thus accumulated experience in local material production and combining different gameplays.

For example, "Feifei's Great Adventure", which had relatively good commercial performance at that time, integrated elements of simulation management on the basis of traditional simulation management gameplay, allowing players to promote simulation management through adventure stories.

In 2023, "Whiteout Survival" became another highlight moment for DianDian Interactive. The marketing and user - acquisition strategies that DianDian Interactive is good at work very well in the rules of the mini - game track.

On social platforms at home and abroad, the advertising materials for mini - games usually have the characteristic of "bait - and - switch", which is also one of the strategies adopted by the advertising of "Whiteout Survival". In short, "bait - and - switch" means that for an SLG game, the gameplay shown in the advertising materials corresponds to that of a casual game with a large DAU (Daily Active Users). Or the materials present a certain painting style and story, but when users click in, they find a completely different art style and narrative.

This is why some netizens sighed on social platforms, "What's the name of that game about saving a mother and daughter in the ads? I've been disappointed hundreds of times." - A large amount of advertising pushed an image of a shivering mother and daughter in the snow to players, attracting netizens to click in, but there was no plot of "saving the mother and daughter" at all. Instead, there were only synthesis, elimination, and management gameplay.

The advertising materials of "saving the mother and daughter" often seen in the news feed)

Liu Zun told 36Kr that game manufacturers do this to maximize the "funnel" and attract more users who are not originally the target audience of the game. However, the risk of doing so is also high, as users are likely to leave immediately after feeling deceived.

Surprisingly, the retention rates of "Endless Winter" and "Whiteout Survival" are not low. This is because compared with other "bait - and - switch" mini - games, DianDian Interactive is better at combining different gameplays. In this process, there is also a transition from light to heavy gameplay. As a result, the game can combine the traffic of mini - games and the long - tail effect of SLG games (Strategy Games).

As the relevant person in charge of Century Huatong said, "In 'Whiteout Survival', the SLG - related content will be gradually unlocked after players reach the sixth chapter of the game. At this time, the proportion of simulation management gameplay in the experience is still very high, which to some extent alleviates the problem of traditional SLG games being too monotonous in the early development stage or the later promotion stage, and can greatly retain more simulation management game enthusiasts."

Now, on platforms such as TikTok, "Whiteout Survival" is still innovating in advertising materials, such as using real - life scenarios in plot - based advertising and having live - stream hosts comment on the game. Differentiated materials are more likely to arouse users' curiosity, and the dissemination threshold is relatively low.

Amid the popularity, the dividends of mini - games going global are decreasing

Century Huatong's financial report once mentioned, "Global users are becoming more fragmented, and lightweight games can quickly occupy users' fragmented time."

A relevant person in charge of the company further told 36Kr that in different life scenarios, users need a game experience that can be paused at any time. With the development of users' habits of using multiple terminals such as mobile phones, tablets, and in - car screens, the demand for fragmented game time is also increasing.

This is an important user - habit basis for the wave of mini - games going global. As a result, mini - games have become popular from China to overseas. In this process, the supply has soared, and the competition has become more intense.

After the success of "Whiteout Survival" and "Kingshot" was verified, many game manufacturers tried to follow in their footsteps. Game manufacturers such as Jiangyu Interactive, IGG, and Yuanli Prism, which are also good at the SLG category, have started to try similar mini - game overseas launches.

Among them, "Three Kingdoms: Ice Age" ("Ice War") by Tuyou was launched in more than 20 countries and regions overseas on July 9th. It topped the free iOS list in Macau, China on the day of its launch and entered the top ten of the free iOS lists in Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, China, and Japan.

The emergence of competitors not only means the occupation of market share but also the further increase in the cost of advertising and user acquisition. No matter how innovative the advertising materials are, they still rely on large - scale advertising investment. Otherwise, everything is just "making bricks without straw".

Century Huatong's semi - annual report for 2025 shows that its sales expenses were 6.564 billion yuan, a 121.72% increase compared with 2.961 billion yuan in the same period of the previous year, mainly due to the increase in game business revenue and the corresponding increase in marketing expenses.

Innovation in advertising materials, selection of themes, and the rhythm of advertising all require a large amount of data support. One of the reasons for DianDian Interactive's success is its data - driven approach, which also requires a large amount of human and financial investment.

Large - scale game companies can afford the high cost of advertising and user acquisition. However, for many small and medium - sized game companies, the rising cost of advertising is further squeezing their survival space.

Therefore, there are also chaotic phenomena amid the popularity and competition.

Copy - cat mini - games are a common sight in the domestic mini - game industry. As the popularity of overseas launches increases, some game manufacturers now copy popular domestic mini - games and launch them overseas before the original games, making it even more difficult for the latter to go global.

Liu Zun shared that this phenomenon has become more and more common this year. In fact, it's just about "farming" the users multiple times. In this case, the original game manufacturers will be at a disadvantage when going global. "That's why many mini - games launched overseas this year haven't become popular. This is a major reason."

In addition, according to industry insiders, compared with platforms such as Facebook, the compliance threshold on TikTok is relatively lower. The consumption of mini - games on TikTok through Samsung - related channels has increased significantly this year.

Whether relying on original games or copy - cat versions for overseas launch, more and more game supplies are filling this blue - ocean market. The overseas market is vast, with emerging regions such as Southeast Asia and Latin America in addition to Europe, the United States, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. However, with the increasing popularity of mini - games, the opportunities for new players, especially small and medium - sized players, are becoming fewer and fewer.