Year-end gaming battle: Giants scramble for Spring Festival traffic. Who will fire the first shot?

With less than two days left until the end of 2025 and less than two months until the Spring Festival of the Lunar Year of the Horse, the "year - end sprint battle" in the gaming industry has reached a white - hot stage.

In order to boost their annual performance, domestic game manufacturers have all brought out their best works. Big players like Tencent, NetEase, Bilibili, Lingxi Interactive Entertainment, and Kingsoft have been very active. Tech Planet has exclusively learned that ByteDance has also quietly joined the fray by establishing a new subsidiary, Lingjing Interactive Entertainment, which specializes in the mini - game track. Its auto - chess mini - game, "Partners Rush Forward," has been officially launched.

According to statistics from "Game Daily," 13 new games are planned to be launched in December alone. Many manufacturers, including Tencent, Lingxi Interactive Entertainment, and Kingsoft Games, have all entered the arena, covering multiple popular categories such as adaptations of classic IPs and auto - chess games.

From the card game adapted from the "King of Fighters" IP to the new game featuring a cosmic farming gameplay; from the official mobile version of "Goose Goose Duck" to the auto - chess product derived from "Honor of Kings," each new game launched at the end of this year bears the dual goals of manufacturers to boost performance and capture users' minds.

Behind this year - end carnival is the backdrop of increasingly fierce competition in the saturated gaming market. The annual report of Steam shows that the number of new global games soared to 19,000 in 2025, but the time players spent on new games only accounted for 14% of the total gaming time.

Players are becoming more and more picky, and manufacturers are becoming more and more eager to boost their performance. This year - end battle is no longer just a simple comparison of products. Instead, it is a comprehensive test of manufacturers' IP operation, gameplay innovation, marketing ability, and long - term operation skills. Whoever can break through in this battle will not only determine the performance ranking in 2025 but may also affect the industry's competitive landscape in the coming year.

01

Big manufacturers adapt classic IPs, while small and medium - sized manufacturers explore niche tracks

The first round of the battle in the year - end new game battlefield focuses on category layout and IP appeal. In the current situation where players' attention is scarce and customer acquisition costs remain high, classic IPs and mature categories have become the "safe cards" for manufacturers to reduce trial - and - error costs. However, clustering in the same layout will inevitably lead to involution, and differentiated innovation is the key to breaking the deadlock.

Adapting classic IPs remains a crucial move for gaming giants. In December, Tencent played two major IP aces: one is "All - Star Awakening," a card - based mobile game that brings together more than 50 characters from three classic fighting IPs, namely "King of Fighters," "Samurai Shodown," and "Fatal Fury." It aims to attract core players born in the 1980s and 1990s with nostalgia. The other is "Honor of Kings: Chess Tactics," an auto - chess game derived from "Honor of Kings." It launched its winter test and easily completed the cold start of user acquisition thanks to the traffic base of the national - level IP.

In addition, "Roco Kingdom: World," a derivative of Tencent's childhood classic IP, was originally planned to be launched before the Chinese New Year but was finally scheduled for March 26, 2026. Even though the launch time has been postponed, players' expectations have not diminished. As of the end of December, the game's online pre - registration volume has exceeded 40 million.

It's not just Tencent. In this year - end gaming battle, other leading manufacturers are also continuously making efforts in the classic IP track. "Ragnarok: Reborn" launched by Lingxi Interactive Entertainment is the first real idle mobile game in the RO series. The game not only restores classic maps such as Prontera and Geffen and six original professions but also innovatively adds a function that allows free switching between horizontal and vertical screens. This can meet players' idle - playing needs during commuting and also adapt to in - depth combat scenarios. It topped the free iOS game list on its public beta day.

Kingsoft Games recently launched the official mobile version of "Goose Goose Duck" following the reasoning game trend. Relying on the good reputation accumulated on the PC version, it quickly entered the market. The public beta of another game, "I'm MT: Pocket Guard War," instantly evoked players' memories of the early days of World of Warcraft with its original character voice - overs and lines, precisely hitting the core user group with nostalgia.

The advantages of IP adaptation are obvious. The built - in popularity and fan - base can significantly reduce marketing costs. However, manufacturers always face a dilemma: completely replicating the original work may not keep up with current players' operating habits; over - modifying it may easily arouse the resistance of core fans.

The approach taken by Lingxi Interactive Entertainment is quite representative. The strategies of "fully understanding the core of the IP" and "innovating in an organized way" that it developed while operating "Three Kingdoms: Strategy Edition" have also been applied to the new game "Ragnarok: Reborn." This game retains the original professional settings and social atmosphere, and at the same time, adapts to the needs of mobile players through designs such as optimizing trading rules and reducing the burden of daily tasks. It is this balanced approach that has enabled it to gain a foothold in the fierce market competition.

Beyond IP, category innovation has become the breakthrough point for small and medium - sized manufacturers to compete differently from the giants. The life - simulation track has become the core battlefield in the year - end battle, with Tencent, NetEase, and miHoYo all making intensive layouts in this field.

Tencent's "Lili's Miniature Kingdom" focuses on the emotional experience in the microscopic world, creating 1.5 million words of NPC dialogues and an independent memory system. miHoYo's "Stardust Valley" takes an anime - style route, breaking through the circle limitations with a 12 - player online mode and a galactic market social scene. NetEase, on the other hand, has taken a different path by launching "Starry Painting and Sunny Days," moving the farming gameplay to the universe. The hexahedral planet design solves the space limitation problem of traditional life - simulation games.

Behind the big manufacturers' intensive efforts in the life - simulation track is the rise of this niche area. The proportion of life - simulation games in the actual sales revenue of the domestic game market has been continuously increasing, and players' demands have shifted from simply pursuing exquisite graphics to free expansion of gameplay and diversified experiences.

In addition, niche categories such as social reasoning and science - fiction adventure have also seen a concentrated explosion at the end of the year. With the launch of the mobile version of "Goose Goose Duck," the social reasoning track has added another powerful competitor. Games of this type have become a new social platform for young players due to their low threshold and strong interaction features.

The mobile version of NetEase's "Yanyun Sixteen Sounds" even topped the free game charts in more than 50 countries and regions around the world. Its global performance in the Chinese - style martial arts genre verifies the cross - regional penetration power of high - quality content and provides a reference case for the overseas exploration of year - end new games.

02

Deep application of AI technology in new games

If IP and categories are the "stepping stones" for year - end new games, then gameplay innovation and technological upgrades are the "core competitiveness" that determines the product's life cycle. In the industry context where the number of new games is increasing rapidly but players' stay time is limited, simple model replication is no longer sustainable. Looking at the games launched at the end of the year and those in the internal test stage and planned to be launched next year, manufacturers are all seeking breakthroughs in core mechanisms and technological applications.

The integration of gameplays has become the mainstream trend for breaking through category boundaries. The report "Insight into the Global Mobile Game Advertising and Buying Trends and Strategies in Q1 - Q3 2025" jointly released by XMP, a cross - channel intelligent advertising tool under Mobvista, and Insightrackr, a mobile marketing strategy analysis platform, points out that gameplay integration has become the key to breaking through category boundaries. According to Sensor Tower data, "Kingshot" by XD Inc. successfully expanded its user base by integrating 4X and tower - defense elements. In Q2 2025, the European and American markets where "Kingshot" is popular contributed 63% of the global total revenue and 57% of the total downloads.

The year - end new games continue this trend, and the depth of integration is constantly increasing. NetEase's "Starry Painting and Sunny Days," which ended its first test on December 14, innovatively adopts a dual - gameplay structure of "life simulation" + "party game." Players can either manage planets in the universe or participate in more than 120 official mini - games. The two gameplays complement each other through resource sharing, building a risk - resistant retention system.

The Three Kingdoms SLG game "Battlefield of Jiumu" published by Leiting Games breaks the traditional grid limitations and enables free movement of troops, making tactical gameplay such as flanking maneuvers and luring the enemy deeper into the territory a reality. It has opened up a new direction for the highly homogeneous SLG category.

Technological upgrades provide the underlying support for gameplay innovation. The deep application of AI technology has become a prominent feature of year - end new games, not only improving development efficiency but also optimizing players' experiences.

In - game functions such as AI - empowered NPC interactions and scene generation have significantly enhanced the sense of immersion. NetEase's "Tianxia: All Things" uses a new engine to achieve movie - level dynamic lighting and particle effects, making the exploration of the open world more immersive. The new item - finding puzzle game "The Master's Eye" by Fat Pudding continues the brand's unique suspenseful atmosphere through delicate picture rendering and sound effects design, maintaining a differentiated advantage in the casual puzzle - solving track.

Tech Planet has exclusively learned that miHoYo is also developing a new game - like app called "WaveLite," which may incorporate AI elements to seek new breakthroughs.

It is worth noting that game manufacturers are starting to pay more attention to polishing players' experiences. Steam data shows that 40% of players' gaming time in 2025 was still occupied by classic games launched eight years ago. This means that new products must impress players in terms of details to achieve user retention.

Tencent's "Lili's Miniature Kingdom" creates 1.5 million words of NPC dialogues, giving each resident an independent memory system. "Ragnarok: Reborn" cancels mandatory daily tasks and time - limited leaderboards, reducing players' burden while ensuring exploration freedom. These designs all reflect manufacturers' emphasis on players' experiences.

03

Aiming at the Spring Festival season, who can seize the traffic dividend?

Actually, the real focus of this year - end battle has long been directed at the upcoming Spring Festival season. For manufacturers, the year - end performance boost is just a short - term goal. Whether they can seize the traffic dividend of the Spring Festival season with the reputation accumulated at the end of the year is the ultimate test of the value of game products.

From the manufacturers' layout, the operation rhythm of year - end new games has been deeply linked to the Spring Festival season. Although Tencent's "Honor of Kings: Chess Tactics" is still in the winter test stage, the actions of collecting players' feedback to optimize the gameplay are obviously paving the way for the official version before the Spring Festival. The intention is to break through the user circle in the Spring Festival social scene among relatives and friends by leveraging the influence of the national - level IP "Honor of Kings." Even for "Roco Kingdom: World," which has been postponed to be launched in March 2026, pre - heating activities have been carried out through the New Year's Day content. It is not difficult to see that the planners want to continuously attract new players and their attention, accumulating momentum for the launch after the Spring Festival season.

Tech Planet has learned that the auto - chess casual game "Partners Rush Forward" under ByteDance's Lingjing Interactive Entertainment was launched before the Spring Festival, precisely targeting the light - entertainment demand during the festival. This casual game features a low threshold for entry and short - duration matches, which is just suitable for the fragmented entertainment scenarios during family gatherings and visits to relatives and friends during the Spring Festival. Whether it's a quick game when family members are sitting together or a relaxing pastime after visiting relatives, it can quickly fit into the atmosphere.

"Essentially, manufacturers are promoting these games because they understand the traffic logic of the Spring Festival season very well. During this period, players have the most leisure time, and the demand for social interaction reaches its peak. Whether it's a highly social competitive gameplay or a light - weight casual game, they can all find a precise user scenario," a game product manager told Tech Planet. The products launched at the end of the year can just use this pre - festival time to polish the experience and build a good reputation. When the Spring Festival traffic peak arrives, they can seize the dividend with a mature product state.

More importantly, the performance during the Spring Festival season often determines the long - term development of a new game. Products that can retain users with high - quality experiences during the festival can often build a stable core player group, laying the foundation for long - term operation.

The Spring Festival season is like a touchstone that will screen out the real winners among the year - end new games. In the saturated market where players are becoming more and more picky, only high - quality works that truly understand users' needs can survive the short - term dividend and achieve long - term success.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Tech Planet" (ID: tech618), author: Chen Qiaohui. Republished by 36Kr with permission.