One year after its launch, the daily active users (DAU) of Tencent's "Delta Squad" exceeded 30 million. The game has completely taken off.
Text by: Guofu
"Delta Squad" has truly gone "crazy" in the market.
In the previous two months, people were still talking about how well "Delta Squad" was performing and analyzing how this product was affecting Tencent. However, no one could have predicted that on September 21st, the anniversary day, the official announced that they had once again broken the record, stating that the game's DAU had exceeded 30 million.
The official announcement picture of 30 million DAU
It's important to note that it's only been two months since the game's DAU exceeded 20 million. Initially, it took them more than half a year to reach 12 million DAU after the game's launch. Moreover, the 30 million figure doesn't even include foreign players. This growth rate might not even be adequately described as "terrifying".
As early as five months ago, we had already specifically analyzed their strategic approach, which is to "fish for big catches with a long - line strategy" and take the GaaS game model to the extreme.
As Tencent's first game with the "Four Qualities" concept, the strategic ecosystem of "Delta Squad" has a strong contemporary flavor from the very beginning. For example, around the concept of cross - platform interoperability across all platforms, they designed operation content with different focuses. On the PC, it emphasizes in - depth confrontation, while on mobile, it leans towards inventory management or casual looting during fragmented time. Regarding the target audience, they emphasize high - quality shooting gameplay and have chosen the mainstream "search, fight, retreat" model as the core content.
In other words, their ambition is far more than just "launching a product".
As a global leading game company, Tencent can always accurately identify the current needs of players and launch corresponding iconic representative works, turning them into "ever - green games". For instance, "Honor of Kings" capitalized on the booming trend of mobile games in the past, "Peacekeeper Elite" met the demand for the mainstream battle - royale gameplay, and "Delta Squad" has grasped the core needs of current and future players - a high - quality, multi - platform game that allows players to play together and caters to various types of players.
The scene of the Delta anniversary celebration
When it comes to the product itself, the years of accumulation of the Linlangtianshang project team cannot be ignored.
On the one hand, many of the FPS games they developed in the past have been recognized by hardcore players. Before "Delta Squad" was launched, the official game's comment section was filled with one - sided praise and anticipation, rather than the usual skeptical voices. At the same time, the experience in developing and operating multiple FPS games has also allowed Linlangtianshang to accumulate rich market observation and operational experience.
On the other hand, Linlangtianshang has higher thoughts and pursuits regarding product quality. They emphasize excellence and approach game - making with a sense of reverence. Naturally, the team could use their past experience to create a decent commercial product, but they also hope to take the path they believe is right after in - depth thinking, so as to discover the unmet needs of players. The producer, Shadow, believes this is a kind of "kindness".
Therefore, if I were to summarize "Delta Squad" in the past year with a phrase, I'd say it's a "solid hit".
These two characteristics may seem contradictory, but they are perfectly balanced in this game. As ever - green games, the achievements of "Honor of Kings" and "Peacekeeper Elite" are obvious to all. As for how far "Delta Squad" can go in the future, it's still an open question.
This article was first published on "36Kr Games".