Losing money for a whole year, but live-action dating video games are still a good business | Game Trendsetter
Article | Liu Chongjiang
Editor | Liu Shiwu
In the office, an actress dressed as a president not only didn't wear shoes but also put her feet directly on the table, asking the player to give her a "foot SPA". In the huge close - up, even the hairs on her thumb were faintly visible.
This is a clip from the game.
The camera then switched to another actress wearing even skimpier clothes, lying in bed and making all kinds of provocative moves towards the player. The player held a toy gun, and words like "Aim at the chest" and "Aim at the butt" appeared just in time at the bottom of the screen...
This is a clip from a live - action dating video game on a console platform.
Before its launch, this game used edgy marketing tactics like "extremely bold" and "heavily censored". However, despite the lust - filled scenes, the comments on the barrage were uniformly negative, such as "Forcing the edginess", "So cringy", and "Looking at it for one more second is disrespectful to Wen Ran (a character in another game)."
Some Bilibili users' comments on the game
With such reviews, it's obvious where the players' hearts lie. This game ultimately ended up in failure, as expected.
Back in October 18, 2023, a live - action dating video game called Oops! I'm Surrounded by Beauties (hereinafter referred to as Oops!) suddenly emerged. In that year alone, it sold 1.9 million copies, with sales revenue exceeding 80 million yuan. It is reported that even more than a year after its release, this game still sells between 100,000 and several hundred thousand copies per month.
The poster of the game Oops! I'm Surrounded by Beauties
With an investment of five million yuan and a revenue of 300 million yuan, along with a much shorter development cycle than regular games, the wealth - creating myth of Oops! cast a "dream - weaving net made of money and porn" over the live - action video game industry in 2024.
"You can make money by being edgy." According to incomplete statistics, as of October 2024, more than 60 domestic live - action interactive video games emerged on the Steam platform, with an average of about five products launched per month. However, 90% of them sold less than 2,000 copies and had revenues of less than 80,000 yuan.
Coincidentally, on October 23, 2024, Oops! I'm Surrounded by Beauties! Prequel (hereinafter referred to as Prequel) was released. Compared with the 93% positive review rate of the previous game, on the first day of its launch, the positive review rate of Prequel was only 75%, and then it dropped to 69%. (It has now returned to "Very Positive")
The Steam introduction page of the game Prequel
Why was Oops! so successful? Why couldn't Prequel replicate the sales myth of its predecessor?
Not only can other industry players not answer these two questions, but even the creative team themselves may not be able to find accurate answers. Under the great reputation, it's difficult to pass on the success. The live - action dating video game industry quickly changed from a "hot trend" to a "trap", and the just - opened market door seems to have been slammed shut.
Of course, there are still some who managed to break through successfully.
On March 29, 2024, Beauty! Please Don't Distract Me from Studying! (hereinafter referred to as Studying) was released on the Steam platform. During its first week of launch, the daily peak concurrent users (CCU) remained above 10,000, with a maximum of nearly 15,000. Based on third - party data and experience, it is estimated that the sales volume in the first week was in the range of 100,000 - 150,000 copies, and the expected revenue exceeded 500,000 US dollars.
The character Wen Ran is even called "the only true god after Oops!"
Wen Ran's character videos are very popular on Bilibili
From this perspective, there is still market space, but it's a "bluest of the blue" ocean - from a distance, it even looks more like a black one.
The uncharted ocean holds the most opportunities. When the crazy gold - rush subsides and when creators start to re - examine users' needs, the live - action dating video games in 2025 may present a different look.
What do male players of live - action video games really want?
When we open the review section of Oops! on Steam, it's not difficult to see posts like these:
"This game gives me the initiative that I never had the chance to experience. It's the attitude of being seriously treated that I've been longing for."
"Why do I feel like I'm going through a breakup after playing a dating game?"
"Maybe your (referring to the actress in the game) dream is also to become a big star. When you walk on the red carpet with a popular male celebrity, I hope you remember that there's a group of gamers who firmly chose you among the six."
Some users' comments on Oops!
Airports witness more sincere kisses than wedding venues - actually, we should add one more sentence: The review section of live - action dating video games on Steam witnesses more deep emotions than airports.
But even though male players are so affectionate, they still can't avoid being a bit vulgar: In Studying, as the only boy in physical education class, the player "reluctantly" stands aside and watches the girls do warm - up exercises. At this time, Wen Ran and Lin Ya both ask the player for help.
After some struggle, "you" still reject Lin Ya and firmly choose Wen Ran: "There are a few moves I can't do by myself. Can you help me stretch?"
A clip from the game Studying
Player: "Sure, I'll help you. Where do you need to stretch?"
Wen Ran shyly shrugs her shoulders.
Player: "Then let me rub your shoulders."
After saying that, the player reaches out and gently rubs Wen Ran's shoulders twice.
Wen Ran: "It really seems to be much better! Thank you!" Wen Ran skips away.
(The above is the plot in Studying)
A clip from the game Studying
At this point in the plot, a wave of comments from players appears in the Bilibili game video:
"Can these two gentle rubs really do any stretching?"
"What kind of form is this?"
"It's a bit hasty."
"Am I a druid? Just a touch and it's okay. Is this human power?"
"When will the rehabilitation treatment start?"
...
Wait, what about the so - called firm choice?
So what do players really want? Benefits or true love? Or perhaps, benefits = true love?
The UP master "Former Harper" proposed in a video: Women's imagination of love precedes physical desire, while men's desire for emotions appears simultaneously with physical desire. "A woman's love interest is not clear - cut. The real - life boyfriend she sees is processed by her brain, not a specific person. Her sense of satisfaction in love all comes from fantasies - fantasies extended from event - based satisfaction; men will only actively invest emotions in the object of their release when driven by passive physical desire. When a boy pays for you, it means he loves you, and having a relationship with you means investing emotions."
In short, "once you've done it, you've loved it."
So, in the eyes of male players, if you love me, you should give me benefits; if the benefits you give me are not enough, it means you don't love me enough.
But is it really just that simple?
Dana Kaplan, a cultural and social sociologist, wrote in What is "Sexual Capital": A Social and Historical Study of Sex: The focus of sexual pursuit is not pleasure but the satisfaction of narcissism, the enhancement of prestige brought by the ideal partner for personal lust. The goal of sexual desire is not sexual pleasure itself but the narcissistic intoxication brought by sexual conquest.
The cover of the book What is "Sexual Capital": A Social and Historical Study of Sex
Therefore, in the live - action dating video games known for being edgy, what men really see is not the beautiful women but an ideal version of themselves: "I'm really heart - broken. The game is so real, but so is my failure. Thank this game for giving me the experience that a loser like me has always dreamed of. I hope there will never be another loser like me." (Excerpted from the Steam review section of Oops!)
In contrast, consumers of pornographic films not only can't experience this kind of intoxication but often have the opposite experience. This is why games that play the "edgy card" often backfire on the players.
A user's comment on an edgy video game
In conclusion, "sexual pursuit" may be the core of live - action dating video games: You need love, but it can't be too straightforward; you need benefits, but they can't be given too directly - in the repeated clicks of the mouse, what the player ultimately finds is actually himself.
The logic of film and television creation is not fully applicable to live - action dating video games
Whether it's sexual pursuit or the desire for conquest, the essence of these emotions is the empathy between the player and the characters - undoubtedly, this is the specialty of film and television dramas.
However, if you blindly use film and television thinking for "innovation", it may be a thankless task.
After Oops!, apart from a batch of low - quality, edgy and vulgar works, there are still some creators who remain true to their original intentions and try to iterate and innovate this new genre.
The live - action dating video game Sweetheart AI Chase Plan (hereinafter referred to as Sweetheart) is one of the outstanding ones. It was released on the Steam platform on May 21, 2024.
