Last Wednesday, US video game media outlet IGN (Imagine Games Network) announced the nominees for Best Game of 2024, including two titles from Chinese developers: Black Myth: Wukong by Game Science and Infinity Nikki by Paper Games. Black Myth: Wukong and Infinity Nikki are the only non-mobile Chinese games to receive nominations since IGN established the award in 2001.
The nomination for Infinity Nikki, the fifth title in the Nikki series by Paper Games, was particularly remarkable given the title was only launched globally on December 5, 2024, less than a week before the nominations were announced. The IGN award winners will be announced on December 20.
Why it matters: The nomination of Infinity Nikki, a niche genre game primarily targeted at female players, is unexpected given its recent release. The rise of female gamers in China is reshaping the domestic gaming industry, with titles such as Infinity Nikki reflecting their growing influence.
Details: Infinity Nikki is a multi-platform open-world dress-up adventure game developed using the UE5 engine. UE5, or Unreal Engine 5, is a powerful game engine developed by Epic Games, known for its high-fidelity graphics, advanced physics, and extensive tools for creating immersive virtual worlds. As the protagonist Nikki, players can collect a variety of stylish outfits and use their unique abilities to explore an unknown world.
- As a free-to-download game, Infinity Nikki is available on iOS, Android, PC, and PS5, but it may include in-game purchases for items or gacha mechanics. Before its December release, Infinity Nikki announced on Chinese social platform Weibo that 30 million players worldwide had already pre-registered for the game.
- The game’s global first-week revenue across all platforms is estimated to exceed RMB 200 million ($27.5 million), according to Chinese gaming media outlet GameLook.
- On the PC platform, Infinity Nikki offers great visuals that allow players to experience its vibrant, detailed world as if holding a miniature fantasy realm in their hands, said an experienced Nikki player in an interview with TechNode. “The game offers a wide variety of pretty outfits and accessories for players to choose from, with rich details that provide a visual feast, which is its biggest advantage. It also minimizes combat elements and lightens the player’s development burden,” she commented.
- The Nikki player also shared several drawbacks of the game during the interview. The graphics quality on mobile is poor for a game that relies on costume changes as a monetization point, she said, and the game controls cannot be customized, which is especially frustrating since the jump button is reversed compared to other open-world games. The photo-taking feature in the game is designed with the same color as collectible items, making it easy to confuse them from a distance, she added.
Context: IGN’s full list of the Best Games of 2024 includes: Animal Well, Astro Bot, Balatro, Black Myth: Wukong, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Helldivers 2, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Infinity Nikki, Metaphor: ReFantazio, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Silent Hill 2, The Rise of the Golden Idol, and The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom.
- In Shanghai, female players make up 55.3% of gamers, according to the 2024 Shanghai Internet Game Survey reported by local media outlet The Paper this June. Among the respondents, 73% are aged 26 to 40, and 61% spend one to two hours gaming daily.
