"Naturally compatible with video number scenarios, the three major scenarios of 'PC + Video Number + IP' accelerate developers' entry."

On July 16th, the WeChat Mini Games team revealed at the Developer Conference that as of now, mini game users have reached 1 billion, with 500 million monthly active users, and user usage duration continues to grow.

"In the past year, the platform has served over 400,000 developers, of which over 80% are small teams of 30 people or less, and over 240 games have generated quarterly revenue exceeding 10 million yuan." At the scene, the WeChat Mini Games team, along with representatives from developer teams and IP partners such as Yuewen Group, Tencent Video, and Rubber Duck, as well as classic content like Qing Yu Nian, Dou Luo Da Lu, and Xi Yang Yang, jointly appeared to share the current state of development of the mini game ecosystem.

According to Caijing Tuya, the WeChat Mini Games honor system was also announced for the first time and is clearly divided into four honor modules: Outstanding Brands, Emerging Breakthroughs, Practical Breakthroughs, and Forces for Good. A total of 35 games were awarded in the first phase.

The Mini Games team stated that over the past six years, the platform has continuously upgraded its content security interfaces, creating a healthy gaming environment for millions of players and providing comprehensive content and information protection by strengthening the construction of real-name authentication systems, improving minor protection strategies, and issuing the "User Privacy Protection Guidelines" and a series of other measures to effectively protect every user.

At the scene, the WECARE charity plan was launched simultaneously. This plan will become WeChat Mini Games' long-term charity brand in the future. The platform will continue to encourage and collaborate with mini game developers to engage in charitable activities and create more social value by leveraging product charity capabilities, initiating and participating in charity projects, providing charity feedback, and incentivizing developers through various means focused on technology, education, and culture.

Significant Differences between Mini Game Users and Traditional Game Users

"Mini games have been around for six years since the launch of the 'Jump, Jump' mini game in 2017. We have witnessed several milestones together, with mini game users reaching 1 billion and usage duration continuing to grow. Over these years, we have continuously upgraded the basic and commercial capabilities of mini games, providing them with an efficient, stable, and long-term operating environment, attracting more and more developers to mini games."

Li Qing, a lecturer at WeChat Open Class, stated that WeChat Mini Games currently have over 500 million monthly active users, showing significant differences from traditional games, featuring more diversity, maturity, and a wide geographical distribution—with a high proportion of female users; half of the users come from second- and third-tier cities; and user ages are mainly between 24 and 40 years old with a diverse distribution.

It is reported that mini game users spend about an hour online every day, with a 14-day retention rate exceeding 50%. More than half of them start mini games through private domain scenarios such as pull-down menus and session sharing. Users actively discover mini games they like and enjoy the fun of gaming. In their leisure time, "playing a mini game" is becoming a habit.

At the scene, the mini game platform introduced multiple incentive policies to help developers accelerate capital turnover and expand the available capital scale. Firstly, the conditions for obtaining advertising funds were further relaxed. While maintaining the original advertising fund policy, from now until September 30th, developers can directly use the advertising funds for campaign spending without the need for transfer operations, receiving 50% of the advertising funds (up to 10% of monthly revenue).

Secondly, to encourage the growth of new teams and products, new games with in-app purchases that achieve an average daily revenue of 50,000 yuan for the first time in a week since April 15th will receive a 15% advertising fund rebate incentive for Tencent advertising campaign spending from now until September 30th.

In addition, the platform has opened up T+1 cash withdrawal capabilities for mini games that comply with regulations, gradually covering more and more developers, allowing more products to enjoy T+1 cash withdrawal.

Traditional Game Companies Are Also Joining In

Among mini game developer teams, in addition to over 80% being small entrepreneurial teams of 30 people or less, traditional game companies are also entering the field. In the past year, over 60 games have achieved DAU of over one million, and over 240 games have generated quarterly revenue exceeding 10 million yuan, representing a significant increase from last year.

At the same time, the mini game platform continues to provide universal capabilities to enhance the efficiency of mini game production, operation, optimization, and growth across the entire link, and has created a new scenario picture of "PC + Video Number + IP Platform" for developers, providing a fertile ground for their creativity.

In the PC scenario, some game users have reported that compared to mobile devices, the experience is more hardcore, with some even spending three times as long and having a three-fold higher payment rate on PCs, and an arpu that can reach twice that of mobile devices. The platform supports one-click adaptation for large screens and keyboards and mice, exposure scenarios such as official accounts, mini programs, and Moments, and independent delivery of mini games on PCs, bringing new growth momentum to developers.

The video number scenario also exhibits natural compatibility advantages with mini games, distributing mini games through short video tasks. Benchmark mini games have reached over 100,000 daily registrations from a single game, contributing over 80% of registered users. In live streaming scenarios, the highest daily viewership for a single game has exceeded one million, with an ROI from live streaming investments reaching 130%. The platform has simultaneously launched new incentive policies, where IAA advertising revenue generated by mini game registrations sourced from video numbers will receive up to 40% of advertising heating funds, and IAP in-app purchase revenue will receive 10% of advertising heating funds.

"Mini Games + IP" has also become an efficient path to keep games vibrant for a long time, with IP collaborations significantly boosting mini game revenue. Data shows that during IP collaboration events, many mini games have seen a significant reduction in user acquisition costs, a notable increase in user-generated sharing and promotion, and improved overall business recovery.

According to the mini game team, the IP collaboration platform launched at the beginning of the year has already attracted over 200 IPs, including well-known IPs like Qing Yu Nian and Rubber Duck. Developers can view and "apply for authorization with one click" in the IP collaboration module of the MP platform.

This article was originally written by the public account Caijing Tuya (ID: caijingtuya). For reprints, please contact Tuya.