#red ocean

Let's establish something first - it's actually pretty difficult to peel players away from a lifestyle game. There's a reason they have an established player base and those players are being served what they want in a community that's already established. It isn't an impossible feat, but it is an uphill battle. Historically, it has been exceedingly difficult to unseat a market leader after dominance has already been established. This is, in part, because they are moving targets. As time passes, they continue to build more of their game and collect information about what their players want and how to better give it to them. Competing with them doesn't mean we need to beat them where they are today, it means we need to beat them where they will be when we release. In terms of scope, that may not be feasible.

That said, if our goal is to peel players away from an existing lifestyle game they play regularly, then we need to answer a few core questions:

What is their current game primarily providing for them that they want, so that our game can provide it too?

What is their current game not providing for them that we can meet needs that aren't being met?

What don't these players care about, so that we don't have to waste resources building it?

When is the current game the slowest such that the least enfranchised players would be the most willing to leave?

This is basically the core of competition in a [red ocean market]. Our new game must be better at meeting the needs of the players at a reasonable or better price in order to win them over. We must identify what makes the current game good so that we can make ours as good or better. We must identify what the current game isn't doing right so that we can fill that void. We must avoid spending our resources on things that don't matter, because we are on a budget. And we must time our launch carefully so that we have the best opportunity to get the most players that are least committed to the current game. If you look at the history of games that have managed to do this, they all share these four core elements - Roblox has eclipsed Minecraft, Fortnite overtook PUBG, etc. These are not easy tasks! This is not an easy goal to achieve! It's extremely difficult, which is why so few have managed to do it and history is full of failed attempts.

PS. This isn't the same as a broadly fractured market with no clear winner that eventually unifies under one major leader like how match 3 games all unified under Candy Crush, MMOGs solidified under WOW, FPS titles solidified under COD, or mobile gacha games all solidified under Genshin Impact. That's a completely different strategy.

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Shelley Desjarlais is offering three queer contemporary romance books for free on Amazon until March 28th!

Always Cora - F/F, contemporary, second-chance: https://www.amazon.com/Always-Cora-Shelly-Desjarlais-ebook/dp/B092JQBBN3

The Way We Are - F/F, historical: https://www.amazon.com/Way-We-Are-Shelly-Desjarlais-ebook/dp/B08B5G6Q9G

Red Ocean: M/F, trans character, contemporary: https://www.amazon.com/Way-We-Are-Shelly-Desjarlais-ebook/dp/B08B5G6Q9G

Covers and blurbs are below the cut

Daily Utsu-P #176:

art of my oc Ohyo :D