NetEase’s Eggy Party has been a huge hit for the company, but it looks like chief competitor Tencent may be working on their own title to fight for the crown.
A recently spotted website via Chinese search engine Baidu showed a new Tencent title with a name translated as Yuanmeng Star. The site for the new game shows a few screenshots and what looks like a battle pass system of some kind, such as those employed by Eggy Party and spiritual predecessor Fall Guys.
Judging by screenshots and pre-rendered trailer the game looks to contain the same kind of obstacle avoidance gameplay that Fall Guys and mobile emulator Stumble Guys have both used to find massive success.
Eggy Party debuted in the Philippines earlier this year, before making the jump to China and releasing globally after a reveal trailer at NetEase Connects 2023. Aside from demonstrating the potential of SEA as prime soft-launch real estate, Eggy Party has also proved a smash hit and helped push up NetEase’s revenues as it fuels part of a push into casual games after a licensing drought earlier this year in China.
Tencent taking back its turf
If you had to mark out one of the most successful, and prominent, gaming companies in China then Tencent would surely be a top contender. The company, which owns numerous foreign studio assets such as League of Legends developer Riot Games - as well as their own subsidiaries with Level Infinite - has its fingers in many pies. Add onto that the ownership of “everything app” WeChat and Tencent has good reason to be confident in its ability to launch a new scene-stealing game.
It’s no surprise then that they’re now looking to challenge competitor NetEase in their own genre. With Fall Guys-like now being a genre of its own, Tencent seem to be turning their attention to stifling Eggy Party’s success.
Fuelled by Eggy Party’s success the next logical step in the Chinese market - where games often emulate and take inspiration from one another - is for Tencent to throw their hat into the ring.
