Picture this. You’ve been playing a super intense game, and your team is down. The round is almost over, you’re the last one on your team standing and you have to come in clutch to pull ahead. You’re used to these kinds of five-on-five shooters. You’ve been here before. You wrack your brain to think about how you can match up against the other three players alive on the opposing team. That’s when you remember, you’re playing Strinova. Not only do you have unique skills and “Superstrings” at your disposal, but you can also swap freely between three-dimensional and two-dimensional forms. Like blending in with the flat surface of a nearby wall, stealthily.
You do just that, sneak behind the group, jump back into three-dimensional form, and unload a volley of bullets. Down they go and you’re triumphant. Your stream chat pops off in the background. That’s precisely what’s possible in Strinova. An anime-style third-person tactical competitive shooter with five-on-five games. But again, you can switch freely between three-dimensional and two-dimensional forms. Think of changing dimensional space as a superpower. It’s certainly a unique mechanic, and you can use it while reloading, dodging, and moving around the anime-style worlds.
It’s so unique we wanted to get to the bottom of this game’s design. We recently had the chance to sit down with Jeff Lyndon, Co-founder and President of iDreamSky, and Alan Zhang, the Executive Producer of Strinova. Here’s what they had to say:
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What makes Strinova such a unique entry in the world of competitive online gaming?
Jeff Lyndon: “A quick overview […] is anime and stringification (turning 2D into 3D). Anime has been one of the biggest gaming trends in the past decade. Yet, we haven’t seen any real good anime shooters which makes us unique. Unique game mechanic that isn’t a gimmick, it adds a whole new dimension to the gaming genre.”
Unique indeed. I can’t think of many games that allow you to swap between those dimensional spaces at all, let alone on the fly.
As for what spurred the development of such a game in the first place, Lyndon says, “It was not market trends or feedback.”
“The inspiration really comes down to Alan wanting to put his two biggest loves into one which is anime and shooting games. Yet, having its own unique part by adding stringification.”
Honestly, that’s the first sign that this development team was in the right headspace. Most of the games that resonate with audiences, and I hesitate to say gamers, but they’re the types of games that the developers wanted to play themselves. In other words, they weren’t the result of market stats, general popularity, or investor’s needs — they’re simply games the developers would love to play and so everyone else does, too.
“It comes deep down from Alan’s passion and history of gaming and growing up. We all grow up with some level of cartoons and some level of anime that have inspired us and during tough times, have shaped who we are. From cartoons like Transformers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, One-Piece, and Naruto are cartoons we loved watching growing up and the other part we all grow up as gamers having played Half-Life, counterstrike and up to Overwatch. So, the inspiration really comes down to Alan wanting to put his two biggest loves into one which is anime and shooting games. Yet, having its own unique part by adding strinigification.”
What was Strinova’s development actually like?
It’s always interesting to peek behind the curtain, so to speak, especially with video games like this. What did it actually take to get this thing up and running?
“Five years making the game. From concept to launch. One of the biggest challenges: how do we present 2D in a 3D world? Yet, playable. How do we take 3D to 2D and 2D to 3D mechanisms playable in a competitive game? Playable in a sense where people can understand it, use it, play it. Yet it’s not broken. That was the toughest part. Alan had countless sleepless nights and sometimes we would talk the entire night about overcoming these challenges.”
Alan steps in quickly to explore the target audience for something like this, which, by all rights, is also going to be as unique as the game itself.
He explains, “First, it’s a group that really likes anime and always wants to play great anime games that are not pay-to-win and second, targeting players that enjoy shooting things and are bored of what they are playing and want to try something new, creative and out of this world.”
How will Strinova evolve once it’s in the player’s hands?
As we also know, competitive online games like this tend to change over the scope of development. Not just in actual development but after release, as well, through regular content updates, patches, and beyond. It’s only natural to wonder how Strinova too will change.
“I think for us the question is not how much money we will make, but how much less money will we make?”
Jeff and his team have a plan: “It comes down to three things. But really it’s one key thing that we all know which is content. Players want new content and that’s ultimately what will keep players coming back. Keeping them engaged will come down to three things: new characters (come with new abilities, skins, power-ups, and other ways they can be played) Considering that the game is designed around these characters and teamplay we will be listening to the community and looking at what we like as game developer that we want to show and make. Characters, new game modes (creating new game modes that fit well with array of character abilities). Third part, Strinova’s unique anime art style is one of the few games in its genre that has adapted this art style. We have a lot of anime fans and content creators that are looking for more activities around anime art style. Coming up with different programs to help cultivate different features, actively looking at the e-sports genre or the e-sport strategy.”
As for plans already in motion, the Strinova development team plans to release a new season every two months. They’ll also be continuously updating characters, maps, and gameplay to introduce fresh experiences for players. Next, on the docket, they’ll be updating Demolition Mode to version 2.0, as well as introducing a Bio Mode gameplay mode.
Understanding Strinova’s monetization
Then, of course, there’s the looming question of monetization. How will Strinova and its free-to-play model evolve?
Alan says it’s the opposite of what you might expect. “I think for us the question is not how much money we will make, but how much less money will we make? As a F2P (free-to-play) game, given that we are not a stat-based game. The game is not pay-to-win. You are not buying any guns that will destroy another player. In that sense, we actually make less money.
Jeff laughs heartily, and says the better question for himself is “So how do we maintain a profitable business?” It makes sense, it’s not like you want the business to go belly up.
“It comes down to three things. But really it’s one key thing that we all know which is content. Players want new content and that’s ultimately what will keep players coming back.”
“Ultimately, we believe that as the game grows and we get a bigger player base, there are already many competitive games that have shown you don’t need to break the balance of the game to be a sustainable business. We want to win quickly and grab cash which is the whole reason why we spent five years making the game when we could have just made another mobile game. We will be sustainable by keeping the players engaged and providing them with more activities at both the casual and competitive levels.”
What about iDreamSky’s previous success?
Maybe you know this, maybe you don’t, but iDreamSky has had plenty of success in the mobile games market. Titles like Temple Run, Gardenscapes, and Subway Surfers are at the top of mind. But the real question here is how Strinova builds on those legacy successes. What is the leap from mobile gaming to this world of competitive gaming like?
Jeff explains they’re the brand’s origin story if you will. “Without these games (Temple Run, Garden Scapes, and Subway Surfers) we would not understand how to create Strinova. It seems very far apart. Mobile games and PC games. But ultimately it comes down to what is a gaming company and for me and Michael Chen, my partner, we believe that rather than a gaming company or movie company your core is IP (Intellectual Property). It’s creating recognizable brand stories that people can tell and love. If we drill this down even further, it’s about the characters. We all remember Disney because of Mickey Mouse.”
“As long as we have a sustainable model, we will continue to support Strinova and see how far we can go with the passion from our Team and the community.”
“So rather than looking at Temple Run, Subway Surfers, Garden Scapes, or Home Scapes, yes, we remember them as runner games but also because of the great memorable characters. Strinova ultimately is a game that has lots of characters and that’s what I mean by it builds on the legacy. It’s not because we built Temple Run so we know how to develop runner games. It boils down to what a good character means and how good characters turn into a great story and how a great story can turn into a brand.”
Strinova’s initial promise is exciting but will it hold?
“I think the initial reception of Strinova is about what we believe it to be, and I think we were a little bit more pessimistic, to be frank, and we are very happy. We are lowering our expectations a little bit because we know the market is very competitive.” Jeff explains it’s less about the game, and what they’ve created, and more about the market.
“It’s creating recognizable brand stories that people can tell and love. If we drill this down even further, it’s about the characters. We all remember Disney because of Mickey Mouse.”
“It’s not that we don’t think our game is great. It’s just that the market is so competitive so it’s better that we set our expectations a little bit lower, so we are happier. That said, the reception so far has been great. We have broken quite a few charts on Twitch, Steam, and in Japan on the first day of pre-registration. Within the first two hours, we were the number one topic on X in the world. So, I think from a reception level we are pleasantly surprised.”
What will Strinova look like in the future?
As for what to expect and what the future holds, both Jeff and Alan have a message for the players:
Alan says, “From the product side we are going to ensure we create amazing game content for the players, listen to their feedback and make changes. Also, for active players, we want to develop an ecosystem from competitive e-sports and tournaments from different regions and create a ladder for players to continue to develop themselves within the ecosystem.”
“Strinova ultimately is a game that has lots of characters and that’s what I mean by it builds on the legacy. […] It boils down to what a good character means and how good characters turn into a great story and how a great story can turn into a brand.”
While Jeff says, “On the other side of the ecosystem are our casual players. For casual players that aren’t interested in becoming competitive, let’s face it, if you want to be competitive there will be a smaller group of players. Strinova attracts a large group of casual players and fans that are not that competitive and for them, we want to keep providing entertaining game modes, and new content and also leverage the creativity to go on the other side of the spectrum with broadcasting live events, creating more fans, fan gatherings, e-sports meetups and helping them with Tik-Tok which is another side of Strinova that we want to emphasize on.”
“Back to your question about iDreamSky which I founded 14 years ago in China as a publisher in the Chinese market. We will continue that; we just signed a new contract doing Rush Royale in China. We will continue publishing games in China on top of that we are also exploring new regions like the Mena region. I am now officially established in Saudi Arabia. Other than being the group President I am also the CEO of our Reit office. We are also looking at helping other international partners going into the Mena as a publisher and on the developer side and as long as we have a sustainable model, we will continue to support Strinova and see how far we can go with the passion from our Team and the community.”