The success story of Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) in the Indian market is no longer a surprise. However, few people know that KRAFTON’s creative studio, Dreammotion’s “Road to Valor: Empires,” is resonating in India. RTV is a Summon-Battle Tower Defense game. In this game, players must safeguard a core trio of towers: one central and two flanking, from the opponent’s attack over an intense three to five-minute match duration. This game also recently held an e-sports competition and has been loved by many Indian users. We’ve heard about the history, status, and future plans from the launch of the game.
Nice to meet you. Please introduce yourself to the KRAFTON blog readers.
Hello! I am Balaji, I am currently working as the Product Manager for Road to Valor: Empires (RTV). I act as a single point of contact between the developer and the India Publishing teams, and my primary responsibility is to ensure a delightful gaming experience for RTV users in India. To achieve this objective, I work with multi-disciplinary teams in ideating and implementing features within the games as well as promoting them. This process often involves understanding our users’ needs, translating them into feasible solutions, and continually refining these solutions based on user engagement.
What kind of game is Road to Valor: Empires (hereafter RTV)? Please provide a brief explanation.
RTV is a Summon-Battle Tower Defense game. In this game, players must safeguard a core trio of towers: one central and two flanking, from the opponent’s attack over an intense three to five-minute match duration. Victory depends on strategically deploying your troops to destroy your opponent’s towers. Ultimately, the player who deals the most substantial damage and destroys the maximum number of towers emerges as the winner.
So, how popular is RTV in India?
RTV has surpassed 1 million downloads and is growing steadily in the Indian market. We have meticulously planned to introduce many new features in the future for the Indian market to make it a huge success.
It’s becoming much more popular in India than I expected. Then, please tell us about the history of RTV from when it was launched in India to the present. What has happened so far?
To provide some context, the global version of RTV was already in service before its launch in India. For the Indian market, we decided initially to not make extensive alterations to the game’s design, economy, and monetization, essentially maintaining parity with the global version. Our objective was to assess users’ reactions first, and subsequently make informed decisions regarding localizing content specifically for Indian audiences.
The following actions and their corresponding impact outline our strategy and its effectiveness:
- We introduced an entirely new Indian faction to the game, which initially had four factions. Our users loved the Indian content.
- We localized pricing to better fit the Indian market, leading to a significant enhancement in our rate of purchases by users.
- The inclusion of India-exclusive packs was another successful move, demonstrating the strong performance of localized packs.
I understand that RTV is the first time a global gaming company has applied Indian culture to a game. Were there any difficulties?
The most challenging task to date has been the incorporation of the Indian Faction into the game. Considering India’s diversity, much care had to be taken to respect cultural and religious sensitivities while creating the Indian content.
Numerous consultations and collaborations occurred between our India Design team and the developers centered on the design of the Indian Faction. The goal was to ensure that the content would seamlessly integrate with, and enhance, the overall gaming experience, thus necessitating multiple iterations.
Are there any impressive issues that occurred while running the game?
Esports: The recently concluded RTV Open Championship tournament in India was the largest Esports tournament in India for Summon Battle games. Imagine conducting the Esports tournament in about 9 months from launching the game in India!
This clearly signifies two important factors: Firstly, the immense potential of this game to host competitive tournaments. Secondly, the existence of a highly competitive user base in India, eager to participate in these challenging competitive events.
Platform Support: RTV has been chosen for more than 10 high-profile store activations by both Google and Apple in 2023. Additionally, RTV was included in the prestigious Google Play Points program because of the dedicated negotiations by the platform BD team.
As you mentioned, I heard that RTV e-sports are also being popular, and I’m curious about the scale and method of progress.
To date, we have organized numerous small-scale Third-Party Tournaments along with one major official Open Championship Tournament. As mentioned earlier, the 2023 RTV Open Championship has the distinction of being the largest Esports tournament in India for Summon Battle games.
The overall tournament starting with the thrilling league matches, involving around 1800 registered players, spanned over approximately a month. The tournament was filled with exhilarating matches and numerous unexpected outcomes, creating a truly riveting gaming experience!
Are there any ways to activate RTV e-sports?
The Devs vs Players events, Third Party Tournaments, and our own official tournament that took place in 2023 offered a plethora of insightful lessons. Currently, our primary objective is to cultivate a highly engaged community by enhancing the 2 vs 2 mode in the game.
In India, the impact of network/ social effect is particularly strong, and we anticipate that encouraging players to engage with the game’s social mode would boost overall competitiveness. Furthermore, it could aid in developing a community comprised of highly engaged users.
We are planning to organize a series of small-scale Third-Party Tournaments with the aim of consistently engaging our competitive users. This strategy is designed to nurture these players and potentially guide them on a transformative journey to become the next prominent figures in the Esports Tournaments.
‘Beowulf’ is very popular in RTV e-sports because there are no bans. Are you aware of this?
In my opinion, the Guardian ‘Beowulf’ stands as one of the most balanced units in the game, demonstrating formidable capabilities in both offensive and defensive scenarios. Given its relative ease to master, this unit enjoys substantial popularity among our users. Drawing from our experiences with the Esports tournaments we hosted in 2023, we pledge to continuously fine-tune our rulebook. This continual refinement aims to guarantee an engaging and captivating experience for not only the tournament participants but also the spectators tuning in!
What were the key plans for successfully establishing RTV in the Indian market?
As we look ahead to 2024, we have the following plans for RTV:
- Community building through the new 2 vs 2 mode
- Continuous user engagement through the available LiveOps levers
- Leverage the Influencer network for game promotion.
- Maximize game reach through various store activations.
- User acquisition campaign optimization for sustainable growth
- Multiple Third-party esports tournaments.
- Exploration of potential partners through mutually beneficial partnerships
Is there something that differentiates RTV from other mobile games in the Indian market?
Localized content is the biggest differentiating factor for RTV in comparison to other games. Even leading developers publish the global version of their games in the Indian market which is not the optimal approach and completely missed out the Indian market dynamics and nuances. By employing a dual strategy of localized content and pricing, RTV resonates well with the Indian user base.
What marketing strategies have you used to increase awareness and popularity of RTV in India?
Among the various strategic actions we’ve undertaken, below are particularly noteworthy:
- Leveraging the BGMI Influencer Network: Since the inception of RTV, we’ve successfully capitalized on the expansive BGMI influencer network to promote the game. During the initial launch period, we executed a partnership agreement with an influencer network, wherein influencers boasting millions of followers live-streamed RTV matches on various social media platforms over a span of two weeks.
- Micro-Influencer Network: We have also fostered a close-knit community of micro-influencers, whom we guide and support in regularly creating and promoting RTV-focused content.
- Utilizing our Owned Channel: RTV social channel has a great mix of humor, information, and edutainment to spread awareness about the game.
- Partner Promotions: As part of our collaboration, payment partner Unipin and mobile phone brand Oneplus have actively promoted RTV.
- Esports Promotions: To enhance game visibility and familiarity, RTV was promoted during breaks in official BGMI tournaments.
- Public Relations (PR) Campaigns: Owing to the substantial goodwill that Krafton India has established with media partners over time, we’ve run extensive PR campaigns during our launch and notable feature update releases.
Like BGMI, I think the voice chat feature will be a popular feature among Indian users.
Indeed, in India, voice chat carries a significant appeal as a social feature. Nevertheless, in RTV, we have introduced voice chat exclusively in select game modes. For instance, it’s utilized in the 2 vs 2 mode to facilitate seamless communication between teammates, enhancing in-game coordination during battles. While voice chat undoubtedly enhances the gaming experience, its implementation needed careful thought, as it comes with potential risks. One of our primary concerns has been to safeguard our users from the possibility of verbal abuse from random players. Hence, we have treaded with vigilance while employing this feature in the game.
What is the direction of RTV’s game updates in the future?
At present, our primary objective is to cultivate a deeply engaged community of RTV players. We’re fully committed to fostering an environment where players not only involve themselves in the game but also interact and build relationships with each other. To facilitate this objective, we are concentrating our efforts on the refinement and enhancement of the 2 vs 2 mode. This mode provides an excellent platform for collaborative gameplay, catered to those who enjoy joint strategizing and teamwork. By making improvements in this mode, we aim to offer a richer and more immersive multiplayer experience for our players. Once these enhancements are implemented, we will closely monitor and analyze player responses and the mode’s overall performance. Basis the insights, we will shape our future plans and strategies, ensuring that we continuously align our actions with the preferences and needs of our growing RTV community.
Do you have any last comments for this interview?
Firstly, I wish to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the RTV users, whose unwavering love and support for the game have been absolutely inspiring. This journey would not have been possible without the invaluable contributions from the KRAFTON India team, KRAFTON HQ teams, and Dreamotion team members, who all played instrumental roles in the game’s growth. Reflecting on our performance in 2023 and our prospective plans for 2024, I can assert with confidence that RTV will continue to be a genuinely user-centric game, consistently providing a delightful user experience. Onwards and Upwards!
