In the casual gaming sector, match-3 games have long dominated revenue streams. However, in 2024, the merge genre has gained significant attention as a promising contender, showing potential to surpass match-3 games in popularity.
A powerhouse in the merge genre, Travel Town is a name many are likely familiar with. In 2024, it claimed the title of the highest-grossing merge mobile game, generating $117 million in in-app purchase revenue to date—a remarkable 231% year-on-year growth. Originally launched by Magmatic Games in 2020, the game experienced significant success after being acquired by Moon Active in 2022.
In November, Gossip Harbor, a merge mobile game developed by Microfun, continued its steady growth since launch. Fueled by a series of marketing campaigns for Thanksgiving and Black Friday, the game experienced a revenue boost, surpassing Travel Town and climbing to 15th place in the global Google Play revenue rankings for mobile games.
Story-driven merge gameplay, targeting the U.S. female market.
Gossip Harbor: Merge & Story seamlessly combines engaging merge gameplay with a captivating storyline, delivering an interactive and immersive gaming experience. By August 2024, its revenue had grown nearly tenfold since launch, reaching an impressive 114 million RMB—a record high. Notably, revenue from the U.S. accounted for nearly 50% of its total earnings. By November, it had surpassed Travel Town in revenue.
The game opens with an animated sequence that sets the stage for the story. After discovering her husband’s infidelity, the protagonist decides to divorce him and, along with her daughter, returns to her family’s dilapidated restaurant to start a new life. Players accompany Quinn on her journey to rebuild the restaurant, gradually uncovering more of the story while restoring areas damaged by a fire. Through merging food to serve customers, repairing the restaurant, and unraveling the truth behind various incidents within its walls, players delve into the mysteries hidden beneath the surface.
The game emphasizes “story” as its core element, featuring a design that is both rich and engaging. Dialogues are thoughtfully concise, avoiding excessive reading while remaining captivating enough to keep players invested. Much of the plot unfolds within the restaurant setting. For example, early in the game, the restaurant is poisoned, prompting players to uncover the culprit as they progress through the gameplay.
The game seamlessly incorporates elements of simulation and home decoration, featuring simple and intuitive gameplay. Players unlock and use various generators to merge specific items, complete orders, and earn coins. These coins are primarily used to unlock new buildings and advance the storyline. Coin management is kept straightforward, allowing players to focus on completing orders without unnecessary complexity. As the game progresses, players can unlock additional generators, enabling them to merge a wider variety of food items to fulfill more diverse orders.
Another standout feature of the game is its strong focus on social gameplay elements, designed to boost player retention and conversion rates. For example, the game features multiplayer competitions where players’ rankings are based on how quickly they complete tasks. Rewards are then distributed according to these rankings, adding a competitive edge to the experience.
Gossip Harbor also stands out for its art style and character design. The game features a vibrant, highly saturated color scheme that creates visually striking effects, which particularly resonate with the female player demographic.
Through these thoughtfully designed game elements, Gossip Harbor has successfully blended merge gameplay with an engaging narrative, offering players an experience that is both entertaining and rich in depth.
Steady Revenue Growth: Gossip Harbor Leverages Peak Consumption Seasons for Strategic Marketing.
In November, with the arrival of traditional Western holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Black Friday, player spending saw a significant increase. According to data from Tencent, holiday gaming consumption rose by over 40%, particularly in the United States, where the festive atmosphere presented a prime opportunity for game developers targeting international markets to boost revenue.
During this period, Gossip Harbor effectively boosted player engagement and spending by launching holiday-themed events and promotional strategies, leading to a significant revenue increase. Examples include Thanksgiving and Black Friday-themed event bundles. Data shows that these bundles appeared frequently in the game, with the $2.99 bundle standing out as particularly popular. Its high cost-performance ratio and generous resource supply made it the preferred choice for many low-spending players.
Additionally, the game boosts user retention by updating the storyline weekly, offering a “serial-watching” experience that enhances player engagement. These frequent updates, combined with suspenseful plot twists, keep players consistently intrigued and involved, while also increasing their willingness to spend.
Since an update in early July, Gossip Harbor has maintained stable user acquisition, with the number of creative ads ranging from 600 to 800. This consistent ad placement ensures continuous visibility, helping to sustain brand recall and attention among the target audience. Meanwhile, the game’s daily active users in the U.S. have steadily increased from 60,000 to around 120,000, closely aligning with its revenue growth. The effective user acquisition, coupled with a relatively stable advertising budget, has been a key factor in the game’s continued expansion in the U.S. market.
From Jellipop Match to Gossip Harbor: How Microfun Profits from Merge-2 Games?
For those familiar with the Chinese casual gaming market, Microfun is a well-known name. In 2014, they achieved significant success in the match-3 genre with Jellipop Match, which became their highest-grossing product. However, since Jellipop Match, Microfun has struggled to replicate that level of success with other blockbuster titles.
Since 2021, Microfun has shifted its focus to exploring the merge game genre. In the Merge-2 sector, they have launched Gossip Harbor and Seaside Escape, both of which have performed well in the market. However, it’s important to recognize that the success of these two games did not happen overnight. Rather, it is the result of Microfun’s careful refinement and development after ongoing exploration and trial-and-error with several products in the merge game category.
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Through precise market positioning and product innovation, Microfun has achieved significant revenue growth. Both Gossip Harbor and Seaside Escape follow the “Love & Pies-like” framework, combining merge gameplay with a captivating storyline, while also incorporating elements of simulation, management, and decoration. The games use “engaging storyline unlocks” as a key driver, motivating players to continue playing and make in-game purchases.
Although the match-3 game genre is nearly saturated, making it challenging to achieve breakthroughs, Microfun has successfully targeted the Merge-2 game sector through precise market positioning and product innovation, resulting in substantial revenue. This highlights the company’s strong competitive edge in the mobile casual gaming market. Particularly in the U.S., Microfun has experienced rapid revenue growth through effective user acquisition and ongoing operational efforts.
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