SHANGHAI, Dec. 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Hotties Up has achieved exceptional success after it's ranked as top 3 on the US iOS game chart. It is a casual game developed by Wrap Drive and published by Smillage, the game studio invested by CooTek (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE: CTK) ("CooTek" or the "Company"). The story behind the success of Hotties Up is encouraging for Chinese game developers which are inspired to release new games through Smillage in the global market.
Wrap Drive has cooperated with other well-known ultra-casual publishers for nearly a year but haven't come out with any successful cases until collaborating with Smillage. "Traditional game publishers have very strict standards for the testing performance of an ultra-casual game prototype. Demos that do not meet certain standards will be abandoned quickly," said Eason, Wrap Drive's producer and main programmer.
Hotties Up is the second version of a game idea tested by Wrap Drive and Smillage, and it achieved an enhanced performance far beyond the expectation than the first version. Eason believes that the way how Smillage treat demos is more flexible and feasible for Chinese game developers to unleash their talents.
The original prototype of Hotties Up was a beautiful sisters dress-up parkour without detailed game plots. The testing results of the prototype were quite average. "Our idea would be disregarded immediately if we collaborated with a traditional publisher once the modest test results were shown," Eason continued. "However, Smillage didn't cut off our idea and guided us to achieve the success instead. Smillage's distribution team conducted in-depth analysis on the testing results and discovered the upside potentials of this game idea. After two rounds of optimization by both parties, the testing results have been improved significantly."
In the first round of the optimization, Smillage provided strong support on graphic design, directly opening the full set of art design resources of Catwalk Beauty, and fully upgraded the character models, costumes, actions, and scenes in the prototype. Eason shared that it was the art design support from Smillage that directly revitalize this game idea.
During the second round, Smillage suggested adding plot gameplay to reduce cost per install ("CPI") and improve medium and long-term retention. It's because Smillage verified this methodology when developing the game of Love Fantasy. Two rounds of transformation led to a CPI of $0.28, a game time of 15 minutes, and a 38% retention win rate.
Both Wrap Drive and Smillage made meticulous adjustments to the game. Smillage has enhanced its gameplay features by adding more levels covering different themes, and some operations have been refined and upgraded to make the game more engaging and sustainable; as for commercialization, Smillage has provided a fully mature set of commercialization options that have been proven numerous times.
In just one week, Hotties Up moved from the demo stage into the game publishing. Meanwhile, the distribution team of Smillage explored a variety of video materials on a large scale. In peak period, more than 200 video materials were generated and tested every day. And during the large-scale promotion stage Hotties Up successfully decreased its CPI, as opposed to increasing it. As a result of the concerted effort of the two parties, Hotties Up became as one of top hits in the casual game market.
About CooTek (Cayman) Inc.
CooTek is a mobile internet company with a global vision that offers content-rich mobile applications, focusing on three categories: online literature, scenario-based content apps and mobile games. CooTek's mission is to empower everyone to enjoy relevant content seamlessly. CooTek's user-centric and data-driven approach has enabled it to release appealing products to capture mobile internet users' ever-evolving content needs and helps it rapidly attract targeted users.
For more information on CooTek, please visit https://ir.CooTek.com.
For investor enquiries, please contact:
CooTek (Cayman) Inc.
Mr. Robert Yi Cui
Email: ir@CooTek.com
ICA Investor Relations (Asia) Limited
Mr. Kevin Yang
Phone: +86-21-8028-6033
E-mail: CooTek@icaasia.com
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