Xiaofan Zhang's  Instablog

TX2 reached 245K PCU during first week of open beta. NetEase's 3D game Tian Xia II (TX2) reached 245000 Peak Concurrent Users (PCU) on September 26, according to my tracking in the chart below. This represents a 32% increase from 185000 on September 19, the day before TX2's open beta. During this 7-day period, TX2's server capacity expanded 36% to 53 server groups. These two data points (32% and 36%) show that TX2's usage level has increased at a similar pace to server additions, and indicate the game's strong ability to attract new users.

Reasons behind TX2's success. In my view, comprehensiveness of game features is the key reason behind TX2's current success. After six years' continuous game development efforts, TX2 has gradually included almost all the popular features in the Chinese online game market. These features include Player Guilds' Wars, City Wars, Pets, Riding Animals, Master/Apprentice System, and Marriage System. The inclusion of these popular features has ensured that TX2 fits Chinese players' latest mainstream preferences and reaches the broadest possible user base. Historically, Changyou's TLBB and Perfect World's Battle of the Immortals also benefited a lot from their comprehensiveness. I believe other factors leading to TX2's success include excellent graphics, successful marketing, and NetEase's very positive brand image among players.

Game tracking methodology. My tracking methodology is based on these articles: Article 1; Article 2; Article 3. If you have any suggestions on improving the tracking, feel free to contact me.

Disclosure: No positions

 Chart: PCU and ACU Trends of Tian Xia II in 3Q09































  
 Source: Tracking by Xiaofan Zhang