Nezha's major collaboration: Why is the main character a directly sold legendary limited edition, while the supporting characters have to be obtained through a lottery? (Part 2)

Data confirms that the collaboration's main character is exclusive to high-level players. Making it a Legendary or Rare skin would undoubtedly appeal to loyal fans. To broaden its reach and make the skin more accessible to the general public, selling it at a lower price is the only way forward. Players need to feel it's worth the money to be willing to buy it, thus encouraging rational consumption. Furthermore, for a character like Nezha with a sustained damage-focused gameplay mechanic, skin customization isn't very strong. The game character and the animated version are almost identical; even without a skin, the same flame-based appearance makes making it a Legendary or Rare skin a significant challenge.

The relationship is deeply intertwined; brotherhood must be of the same quality.

Next, let's analyze Ao Yin. There are four members in the collaboration: Nezha and Ao Bing. The poster shows the two brothers walking hand in hand. The supporting characters are the East Sea Dragon King fighting the West Sea Dragon King. In this way, the pairings are deeply bound together, and the quality is synchronized to maintain consistency. As a limited edition of the Nezha Legend, Ao Yin is naturally classified in the same category.

In terms of appearance, Ao Yin is superior, and the number of marksman players has always exceeded that of top laners. Currently, his strength is mid-to-low, which is the opposite of Nezha. He has no status in high-level games, but is popular in mid-to-low-level games. Given these factors, the developers have even less reason to upgrade him to a rare legendary rarity. It will happen in the future, but not now.

Ao Yin only has one hero.

Looking back at Ao Yin's existing works, it's almost always the same pattern: one game is a hero's companion, and the next one jumps straight to a rare or legendary tier, obtainable through gacha. That doesn't make sense; it's too strange. He's not qualified yet. He could emulate female heroes, launching directly as legendary upon their first appearance, like Shao Siyuan. Without the burden of being a rare tier, they could all be limited to legendary tiers, priced at 990 points. For the two main characters, that's a total of 1980 points. Just like the original price of 1788 points for a directly sold legendary tier, the price increase is only slight. This one-for-two exchange would help boost sales.

This is the brilliance of the planning and operation: cleverly catering to players with different needs, maintaining the protagonist's popularity at an affordable price, and ensuring high-profile heroes are the real money-making strategy and the driving force behind player popularity. Whether in terms of appearance, mechanics, or gameplay, these heroes perfectly fit the characteristics of rare legendary items. After ten years of game operation, both characters have received accessible versions of their designs; all that's missing is a rare legendary item. A collaboration with an existing IP presents the perfect opportunity.

Image source: Internet