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Hyper-casual fact! 4 tips for emerging hyper-casual developers

In terms of trends, we can see that from 2020 to 2021 hyper-casual games are no longer a “single spark”. This full explosive of growth has inevitably led to a large number of emerging developers flooding in. Many developers may feel at a loss in this huge wave. Therefore, we would like to share with you some tips and encouragement for developers.

1. Creativity is priceless

From a global perspective, the hyper-casual game industry is very friendly to developers in terms of creative support and protection. Take our game “PopStar” as an example. In the past five years, there are countless copy-cat products. In the face of this situation overseas, once App Store and Google Play sensed such plagiarism or infringement, they remove this latecomer off the market just with an email.

Some might say that the success of hyper-casual games is hard to copy. It refers to the creative part of the development level, unique ideas, concepts, gameplay, etc., which is indeed priceless.

2. The Power of Passion

Hyper-casual games require ardor and passion from developers. As it’s not the same as a hard-core game with a certain numerical system and payment model, such a game might be able to make profits by making a slight change. But things aren’t the same with hyper-casual games, which rely on the initiation of its projects. Whether a product can be promoted or not depends on whether your gameplay is attractive enough. So, how can you do it well without passion?

3. Huge Opportunities

Even though developers agree that the barrier to entry into the hyper-casual game industry is getting higher and higher these days, we must also be aware that the gaming industry itself has a low probability of success. People usually can only notice those products and enterprises that make it to the top.

From this point of view, we believe that today’s hyper-casual games are still an industry full of opportunities.

Where does this confidence come from? First of all, speaking of game development, the cost of hyper-casual games is extremely low. Take “Sharpen Blade” as an example, the developer team consists of five people, one producer who is also the planner, one 3D developer, and the remaining three are all artists. These five staff add up cost 50,000 RMB (around 7,700 USD) per month. It takes at least half a month to make a game, one month at most. If they’re capable enough, they can make more than twenty games a year. As long as one of them makes a hit, everything will be on track. The successful one will not only cover the 19 failed ones but also make profits.

In other words, it’s definitely a developer-friendly industry. Nowadays, many large mobile game companies also offer support to developers and do some idea custom. So, in our opinion, the future of hyper-casual games must be getting better and better.

4. Game Publisher’s Help

Of course, developers might still have some concerns. For example, a hyper-casual game is a test of creativity and gameplay. So they’ll be wondering whether their ideas and gameplay have already been done in the market? And is it really a crowd-pleaser?

As a publisher, it’s time to play our roles. We’ll use our knowledge of the market to help developers kick out these worries. As for game publishing, there’s something we can learn from our experience. For example, if developers can bring in a mature numerical system on top of a product with creative ideas, the final result may exceed one’s expectations.

Tips for Developer

1. For hyper-casual games, creativity is priceless. And it’s a developer-friendly field by paying attention to the support and protection of their creativity.

2. Hyper-casual games rely on the initiation of the projects, while passion can create miracles.

3. Hyper-casual games can be developed in a short time period with low costs and substantial investments and support. It’s a market with desirable prospects and countless opportunities.

4. If you have passion and ideas, just don’t know enough about the market, and still have concerns, that’s the cue for us to play the role as a publisher! ZPLAY will use our rich experience to solve your problems and be your shield.

What are you waiting for? Come join us and let’s make the next hit together!

If you’re wondering if we need more talent? Yes, we’re hiring! Come find your next opportunity in this exciting industry!

Next time, we’ll bring you more details on the relationship between Zplay and our developers, so stay tuned!