Mole’s World, a web-based simulation game with a cute cartoon style and cheerful social atmosphere, took the Internet by storm when it first came out in 2008. As a game with over 150 million registered users, it carried the memories of many Gen Z Chinese players. In 2015, Mole’s World stopped getting updates and many players were deeply affected.
After six years, Mole's World came back in June of this year in the form of a mobile game, and it went viral as soon as it launched: The iOS version exceeded 2 million pre-downloads on the first day and topped China’s App Store. Despite its later rapid decline, there’s no doubt that Mole’s World is still one of the most popular games this year.
Some players may notice that the game's developer is still TaoMee, but is published by Leiting Games, which is primarily known for indie game publishing.
It is no coincidence that last week, Leiting Games officially announced that they are working with Kairosoft, a Japanese developer known for its simulation game series, to release games in China. A commercialized operation like this doesn’t seem very "Leiting" - before Mole's World and Kairosoft, Leiting’s focus has always been on the indie market, where differentiation matters most. It looks as if Leiting is trying to switch lanes to where big IPs and indie games would advance side by side.
This parallel strategy has proven successful for Leiting Games in the past - according to its parent company G-bits Network Technology's Q3 2021 report, G-bit's revenue this year was 3.485 billion CNY (544 million USD) as of September, up more than 70 percent year-over-year. The main sources of revenue are both classic IPs like Mole's World and indie games like Immortal World. Among the 10 new games launched by Leiting this year, three of them are among the top 10 bestsellers, which is a remarkable achievement.
The new Dungeon Survivor 3 released in October may best embody Leiting’s new strategy this year: the game distinguished itself in terms of gameplay experience with free map exploration and plot advancement, while the overall design of the game is centered on commercialization. This represents a change in the series tradition of pay-to-play, to a free-to-play payment model. Dungeon Survivor 3 combines the payment and gameplay experience through creative implementation of In-app purchases, making it a game with market value and great popularity.
Leiting came up with considerable incentives for pre-order of Dungeon Survivor 3
2021 is a year of transformation for Leiting Games, and it’s going well so far. Whether it's working with big IP games or independent games, with Leiting's publishing and operation efforts, both sides have achieved good results. The players of Mole's World have grown up, and Leiting seems to have found its own road to success.