The "flop" of "Code: Project Parrot" has taught a lesson to games targeted at women.

Text | Min Feng 

Editor | Shiwu Liu 

With the increase in popularity and the continuous expansion of the product, for female-oriented games, controversies have also arisen in the past period. Especially since mid-December, the discussions about the game "Code Kite" have been extremely intense.

In early December 2024, some players have pointed out that some lines and character names in the mobile game "Code Kite" use vulgar memes, and some copywriting content even shows implications of disrespect towards women. For example, the recent popular meme "Smoked chicken at noon, and also at night", and title contents such as "Is there something wrong with looking for someone in the underground mansion?" and "The normal attack is continuous damage and can release two skills. #Shi Zimiao · Going to the Candle, will the landlord like it?" are pointed out to be derived from a well-known male-oriented harem anime, causing strong dissatisfaction among the mainly female player group of the game.

Some controversial contents of "Code Kite"

On December 12, some players found that "Code Kite" had removed the original "female-oriented" category label on multiple platforms, pushing the player emotions in this event to a climax. Since that day, the controversies about "Code Kite" have repeatedly appeared on the hot search list, and players have tried to express their anger and protest through collective voices.

Facing the heated discussions, Lingxi Interactive Entertainment insists that the operations of "Ru Yuan" and "Code Kite" are completely independent, and the controversial issues in the copywriting of "Code Kite" are not reflected in "Ru Yuan". Moreover, the labels on the official website of "Ru Yuan" and the App Store have always been "Immersive Plot Card Mobile Game", and it has never positioned itself as a "female-oriented game".

However, such a response obviously cannot satisfy the players. In the minds of the vast majority of players, as different versions of the same game, "Ru Yuan" and "Code Kite" should have the same values and brand spirit. The response of "cutting" the two is equivalent to a makeshift solution.

According to Qimai Data, within a few days after the controversy occurred, the estimated revenue of "Ru Yuan" in the AppStore has continuously declined, with a decrease of 30.63% compared to the previous day. Due to player boycotts, the co-branding activities of "Code Kite" with brands such as Pop Mart and Keep were also temporarily terminated. This turmoil has also led to a straight decline in the ratings of other game products of Lingxi Interactive Entertainment in game download software such as TapTap and the Apple Store, indirectly affecting the market reputation and potential user attraction of "Ru Yuan".

The uproar caused by this copywriting event is not only the players' deep love and strict responsibility for the game, but also reflects the reality that although the current female-oriented games are developing rapidly, many developers still fail to truly resonate deeply with the needs of the female market.

Since the official launch of the game in 2023, the first-month dual-terminal revenue of "Code Kite" has easily exceeded 10 million yuan, and the total revenue has reached 73 million yuan by the end of December of that year. Since the official public beta of "Ru Yuan" on September 26, 2024, it has quickly ranked in the top 5 of the iOS national game bestseller list and was shortlisted in the 12th place of the current China App Store mobile game revenue list in October. The increasingly large player base brings higher requirements for the game quality. As a game that has been at the top of the female-oriented bestseller list for a long time, the emergence of such problems in "Code Kite" makes players worry whether the money they "spent" can really bring them a "female-friendly game world".

Why is "Code Kite", a female-oriented game, strongly welcomed by female users?

Aside from the basic elements such as the exquisite style, the immersive feeling of Live2D technology, and the rich daily gameplay, the biggest feature of "Code Kite" lies in the creation of its "female-oriented perspective".

In galgames where the male gaze dominates the narrative, female character images often appear as the object symbols that carry the desires of male players, and are often in a state of invisibility and objectification. Most game designers tend to deliberately amplify the sexual attractiveness of female characters, and excessive gender gaze often leads to the destruction of the integrity of their personality shaping.

Since the birth of the first otome game "Love and Producer" in China in 2017, the potential of the "female-oriented" game field in China has gradually been explored.

Female-oriented games are mainly designed and developed for female players, and in this type of game, plots with traditional gender gaze rarely appear. In otome games that focus on love, the male lead often gives spiritual encouragement and support from the perspective of female players, opening up a unique track to meet the emotional needs of women in male-centered love games; while in dress-up games, female players obtain emotional value by "dressing up their characters beautifully".

However, from the perspective of the popular female-oriented games on the current market, the needs of women for games are not limited to "emotion" and "beauty".

In the current market where most female-oriented games are otome games of "falling in love with the ideal partner" and dress-up games of "matching beautiful dresses", "Code Kite" has taken a different path on this basis, implementing the "female-oriented" and "self-oriented" concepts into the game content. Different from the previous game works of the Three Kingdoms era that focused on the male perspective, "Code Kite" creates in the historical gap, allowing players to experience the growth and unique arcs of female characters to a greater extent. The player-character Guangling King has begun to learn to strategize in the power struggle since the beginning of the game, being decisive, tenacious and calm. When dealing with the personal emotions of several male leads, the player also needs to balance between emotion and rationality, having the ability to protect oneself and others, and is no longer the object of "being conquered", "being gazed at" and "being saved".

Aside from the main character, the portrayal of the female group image in the "Embroidered Clothing Building" is also unique. Whether it is Zhen Fu who always wants to pass the exam, Xu Man who helps people break off engagements everywhere, or Guo Jie who is "vindictive", they have all got rid of the traditional portrayal of being physically weak and adhering to conventions, and are extremely tenacious in spirit and physically. The character line "Destiny should originally fall on women" in the game has also become an iconic language symbol in the mouths of players, which shows the players' preference for the female-oriented perspective of the game.

Screenshot of "Code Kite" game

In the current situation where the gameplay of female-oriented games is monotonous, the unique gameplay design of "Code Kite" is undoubtedly a major highlight of the game. Most female-oriented games on the current market put a lot of energy into the emotional immersion part, and the in-game combat mechanism is relatively simple. Most levels almost only require automatic combat, which actually shows a stereotype that questions the game ability of women from a certain perspective.

However, the combat mechanism in "Code Kite" is more rich, with the card combat as the core. Each character has a unique life plate system and skills, and players need to make strategic combinations according to the level requirements and their own preferences to achieve clearance. Some BOSS levels in the game are of certain difficulty, and in the process of studying the mechanism and researching the skills, players can also obtain a great sense of achievement.

Screenshot of "Code Kite" game

Some players said that they have never played otome games for a long time, because simply falling in love will soon make her lose interest, and the proportion of the love plot between men and women in "Code Kite" is not too high. The rich card strategy combat, city conquest layout, character rumors, home design and other gameplay as well as the atmosphere of power struggles are the real attractions of this game for her.

The label of female-oriented should not become a shackle of a gameplay. Actions / strategies / real-time battles can also be female-oriented. In the female game industry that almost does not care about the fun of the game itself, "Code Kite" has noticed the game needs of women other than emotional value.

The "separation" of the characters and the game - Outside the game itself, players are still willing to pay for the charm of the characters themselves

While the in-game revenue has dropped significantly, the game characters seem to have completed a certain "separation" from the game itself: the discussion degree of the character topics has not decreased but increased, and the prices of related goods have not fluctuated significantly due to the various problems of the game. Most "quitting" players said that even if they have completely lost interest in the game itself, they are still willing to continue to produce fan creations of their favorite characters and buy related peripherals.

The successful "separation" of the characters benefits from the completeness of the early character shaping.

In "Code Kite", each male lead and secret agent are set with a rich character background and personal rumors, and the multi-dimensional portrayal has made the completeness of some character shaping high enough. Because of this, when the game characters say some lines that are "not in line with the character design", players will not think that this expression is the "original intention" of the character, but will attribute it to the out-of-character in the copywriting.

The controversial copywriting of "Code Kite" recently

Players' comments on this copywriting

Many players said that "It is the love and wisdom poured into the characters when they were first created that make them so vivid and can become independent personalities away from the original author's pen". The vivid shaping makes the charm of the characters last for a long time, and they can already be independent of the work to achieve the continuation of vitality.

The deep emotional bond established with the players is also an important emotional factor for the characters to achieve "separation" from the game itself. Facing the sudden "collapse" of the game, players will establish a self-protection mechanism for the economic and emotional costs they have invested, and as a group portrait game with rich character plots, this "self-protection" will also be projected onto the maintenance of the character image.

Some players' feelings about this event of "Code Kite"

Some players said: "I have seriously invested emotions in this game. I have entrusted family affection to Lion Meow and Xu Shu, and even the people in Hidden Kite Pavilion. The blue and purple card secret agents in the Embroidered Clothing Building are my friendship and my partners. I know their pasts, and we fight together to protect and rebuild Guangling". In the interaction with the characters, learning their stories and growth processes, players have developed a deep emotional dependence and identification with the characters in the game. Therefore, when players are disgusted with the game itself, they often separate the character images that carry their emotions, indirectly protecting the emotional costs they have invested.

Excessive value-hype marketing may bring great side effects

The games with higher values are often more likely to have problems. From this perspective, the "collapse" of "Code Kite" may have been foreseeable from a long time ago. Since the popularity of "Code Kite" has increased, the game line "Destiny should originally fall on women" has almost become the slogan that every player uses to promote the game externally, and judging from this line alone, the feminist thinking in "Code Kite" should be relatively radical.

After the "feminist" promotion has attracted a large number of loyal players to the game, it also inevitably needs to face the strict requirements of players for the game's own content.

Some players have long pointed out that the main character Guangling King in the plot lacks plot highlights, the overall power struggle planning is superficial, and is often in a passive state. The secret agents that are often recruited everywhere often have their own masters. The state of having no military power and no advisers has led some players to feel that the main character "has no real power and can only talk big". The contrast between the limited content depth and the grand promotional slogan has already made many players feel a psychological gap.

In addition, in addition to feminism, "Code Kite" still chooses to take "love" as one of the important selling points of the game, and "cedes" some plot highlights to several love-oriented male leads, which has also caused dissatisfaction among many players, who think that "they don't want to see the main character being rescued by men all the time, but hope to show her personal charm and ability".

What makes most players regret is not the relatively thin love plot, but that although Guangling King as the main character has ambitions, it has not really implemented this ambition. Although there are desires, it is always difficult for players to truly feel the intricacies of the power-grabbing road in the experience.

The thinness of the work copywriting itself is difficult to better undertake the slogan of "female-oriented", and the "rollover" has become a certain inevitability. And in the current situation where players are increasingly sensitive to gender issues in the work, the appearance of multiple "bad memes" that do not respect women in an entertainment product with female users as the main target group is no different from smashing one's own signboard.

Conclusion

In the current situation where the economic and educational levels of women have generally improved, the changes in women's various viewpoints will also inevitably affect the game aesthetics of contemporary female users. The ancient and common setting of "men are strong and women are weak" is no longer welcomed by the majority of female users, and more and more women expect to achieve equal psychological status with their ideal partners.

It is true that this event of "Code Kite" has had a certain degree of adverse impact, but in the current situation where this type of market has not yet been segmented, its female-oriented perspective of "There are women in history without a name, and a stroke of rouge opens the eyebrows" has indeed created its own share in the development path of female-oriented games. We still expect that the female-oriented game production team can think about women with a female mindset, truly pay attention to the emotions and game demands of women on the basis of not objectifying any gender, rather than just relying on gender labels to attract attention.

We hope there are more female-oriented games with a "female-oriented" perspective, and the voices of