This funny game, which was launched less than half a year ago, has become the No. 1 product in its category, and its monthly sales have exceeded 100 million.
In the past two or three years, the two categories of Physical Match and Tile Match have developed rapidly, and many new products
Eliminating the high turnover of games and the relative solidification of the integrated match-3 pattern are the main reasons why many manufacturers have entered these two subdivided tracks. Unlike the match-3 category, where one product like “Candy Crush Saga” can last for almost 10 years, the patterns of these two subdivided tracks are constantly changing because of their short time.
Recently, the “Match Factory!” we observed before not only squeezed out the previous number one in monthly sales, but even broke the ceiling of monthly sales in the category.
have been released, such as “Triple Match 3D” released by Boombox
Killed TOP1 in half a year
On August 29, 2023, Turkish manufacturer Peak Games (acquired by Zynga) began testing the physical elimination mobile game “Match Factory!” on the iOS side. The game was officially launched on the App Store in November, and the Google Play version was launched in December.
In the month when iOS was launched, the monthly revenue of “Match Factory!” on iOS reached US$1 million, and then grew rapidly. By February 2024, it had surpassed the No. 1 “Triple Match 3D” in the same category, and its revenue in April It even reached US$12.14 million, 12 times that of six months ago, making it the physics elimination game with the highest monthly revenue. By May, the revenue of “Match Factory!” further increased to US$14.22 million (approximately RMB 103 million), successfully surpassing the previous monthly revenue ceiling of US$12.9 million for “Triple Match 3D”.
As the first new product officially released after being acquired by Zynga, “Match Factory!” has finally become a small hit that Peak Games can produce after years of exploration after “Toon Blast” and “Toy Blast”.
DAU ranks among the top 3 in its category, with theme settings taking advantage of it
If we break down the revenue and look at it, the number of people * per capita payment, almost at the same time that the game revenue ranked among the top 1, the DAU (daily active users) of “Match Factory!” also surpassed “Triple Match 3D” in February 2024, and in early April It reached a peak of nearly 700,000 people and then stabilized at around 600,000 people. This data is already higher than the highest record of 450,000 DAU of “Triple Match 3D”, which raises the number of physically eliminated DAUs. Even among similar competing products that pursue large DAU monetization without in-app purchase advertising, it can rank among the top 3.
As a new product, how can Peak Games quickly expand its user base? The author’s investigation found that, unlike many competing products that currently choose to vigorously operate social accounts such as Facebook and Twitter, the Facebook page of “Match Factory!” does not post many posts and has less than 1,800 fans so far. X and YouTube do not have official accounts. , even Peak Games’ official accounts on Instagram and X didn’t do much to promote the game.
From this point of view, the main way for “Match Factory!” to expand its player base is through traditional advertising purchases. Observing the iOS delivery record, which accounts for the highest revenue share, we can find that the creative delivery volume of “Match Factory!” has two peaks after its launch, which occurred in November 2023 and March 2024 respectively.
Among them, the advertising activities on the TikTok channel are the most worthy of observation. Although the number of advertising creatives placed on TikTok has not been high, and at most times it only ranked in the Top 5 among all channels, TikTok’s proportion of advertising impressions has been at the forefront from November 2023 to February 2024. Among them, the display volume during the period from February 5 to February 16, 2024 accounted for as high as 63.54%, far exceeding other channels. This period also happens to be a critical period for game revenue and DAU to surpass “Triple Match 3D”.
When it comes to TikTok, video materials account for the highest proportion, reaching 72.88%, of which the proportion is as high as 98.77% between February 5 and February 11, 2024.
In our previous observation, by setting a background of “organizing and loading the factory” for the physical elimination mechanism, “Match Factory!” not only gives players a stronger sense of immersion, but also can be combined with the very absorbing “organizing” “Miscellaneous things” is connected with the ultra-rest gameplay to facilitate the production of materials.
“Match Factory!” has since continued to amplify the advantages of this background setting. Currently, the top 3 most displayed video materials are all imitating and sorting super-break video materials, and they are all delivered through TikTok.
“Match Factory!”How to maintain a large DAU and monetize it efficiently
As we said in our previous article, in terms of gameplay, the experience of “Match Factory!” is similar to other physics elimination games. The advantage lies in the background setting + the sense of substitution brought by the physics engine.
This time, in order to figure out why the flow rate of “Match Factory!” is rising rapidly, we have extended the experience level to 200 levels. We found that this game has made several changes compared to similar products.
One is to add a main line by changing the “skin”, that is, constantly adding new categories of elimination items to lengthen the number of levels; the other is to enrich the content through limited-time activities such as PvP and side gameplay. While using the two gameplay methods to strengthen retention and interaction, the difficulty is also adjusted to drive players to purchase higher-priced packages with props to increase turnover.
Reskin + integration, giving physical elimination a different main line
In March 2024, “Match Factory!” was updated online, providing an item pack called “Animal Friends”, and also announced that a new item pack would be launched every two weeks. The Animal Friends item pack will replace the elimination items from daily necessities to animal dolls, which is actually a “skin” for the game.
However, the unlocking threshold for this item pack is set very high. It cannot be unlocked until the 200th level. After that, a new item pack is unlocked every 50 levels, and it cannot be unlocked directly through in-app purchases. The setting of an item pack is updated every two weeks, setting a relatively simple main line for players.
If in many fusion match-3 games, the decoration progress gives players some motivation to continue, “Match Factory!” chose skins.
In addition, the difficulty of the game is also adjusted after level 100. Players generally encounter a “Super Hard” level every 10-15 levels, which has less time limit and needs to be eliminated. Items are also harder to distinguish.
Among them, the super difficult level 156 is particularly difficult. The difficulty of this level even caused Skillgaming, a YouTube account specializing in difficult puzzle game levels, to upload a live broadcast of the level, which has been viewed more than 7,000 times. All 21 comments in the comments section complained that the level was too difficult and almost impossible to pass without paying.
The author’s experience found that the difficulty of the 50 levels before this level and the 50 levels after it (until the 200th level) are much lower. In fact, it has become a monetization node, and you must purchase a package with props to have the best chance of passing the level. Those who want to reach level 200 to experience new skins are often already hard-core players. Starting from this stage to attract players to make in-app purchases is often more likely to succeed, and there is only one obvious “forced” node in the first 200 levels, and it will not let players Players are disgusted.
This kind of control over difficulty allows “Match Factory!”‘s package with props to also have considerable revenue. In the past 30 days, the highest proportion of iOS in-app purchases in the United States is the $9.99 Master Bundle package with props, reaching 25.38%. . In comparison, the highest turnover ratio of “Triple Match 3D” is the $1.99 small gold coin package, reaching 28.88%.
Relying on the advantage of DAU, online PVP gameplay to attract money
In addition to adding the main line, “Match Factory!” will also launch a series of limited-time activities starting in November 2023. Together with generous rewards, it will give players more motivation to pass the level. One of the more worth mentioning is PVP.
In the field of elimination, changes worth mentioning in recent years must include PVP gameplay, the representative of which is “Match Masters”, which has attracted a large number of players by adding competitive and social elements. The current monthly revenue is still around 9.61 million US dollars. Whale Chuhai also previously published an article titled “From “almost being cut down” to monthly turnover of 35 million, verifying another breakout idea of Match 3+” for analysis.
“Match Factory!” relies on its “outstanding” DAU base among similar products to introduce PVP as a limited-time event and return regularly.
The rules of the PVP event “Mine Dash” we experienced this time are very simple. Players compete with 5 players who have the same level of clearance to see who can clear a certain number of levels first. The first person to clear the level will be rewarded with gold coins.
Relying on DAU, Mine Dash’s room matching is very fast, and it only takes 3-5 seconds to quickly enter the room. In addition, because the rhythm of physical elimination is faster than traditional match 3, players will fail if they are not careful and will be overtaken by others immediately. In addition, the coins rewarded in PVP are also to help pass the level. Players do not want to fail and consider returns in fast-paced games. Due to the superposition of the dual factors, the demand for in-app purchases generated in the PVP link is also very strong. The game also provides three levels of competition: 5 levels, 10 levels and even 15 levels, which need to be unlocked step by step, further enhancing the depth.
Another limited-time event that will return regularly is “Space Trip“, a side game that simulates pinball. Players can obtain pinballs after clearing physical elimination levels. They can then pull the handle to launch pinballs and hit the mechanisms in the machine to gain points. Points can be exchanged for various props and prizes. Players can also increase the number of pinballs launched at one time in exchange for more points, giving it a bit of a gaming flavor.
It has to be said that in the design of limited-time activities, the team demonstrated a deep understanding of the elimination track and player psychology.