The nuance of a successful sequel: Balancing familiarity and refreshing experiences in AFK Journey

Following in the footsteps of idle superstar AFK Arena, Lilith Games’ AFK Journey has had a strong launch year generating over $150 million gross by AppMagic estimates to date, landing this title among the most lucrative new mobile games of 2024.

Its momentum propelled this summer with a release in Asian markets, breathing new life into AFK Journey and helping accelerate it to 16 million downloads - according to Lilith Games’ own numbers.

Across that install base, players have cleared 4.5 billion AFK stages, stargazed nearly 150 million times and consumed more than one trillion Hero Essence.

To better understand the reasons behind this successful new game, we spoke with AFK Journey’s executive producer Jiangyuan, who has been with Lilith Games for a decade. We talked all about design philosophy, navigating player feedback, and even got a glimpse of what’s next for AFK Journey in 2025.

Want to know more about how Lilith Games makes games? You can also check out our previous interview with the developer’s head of strategy and investment Vincent Ou about the company's unique team building and greenlighting process.

PocketGamer.biz: AFK Journey has clearly had a hugely successful launch year, especially since releasing in China this summer. Overall, how has the game performed compared to your expectations?

Jiangyuan: The game’s launch performance has definitely met and even exceeded our expectations. Not only has the market performance been impressive, but player reception has also been great, with overwhelmingly positive feedback on various aspects of the game.

This has been incredibly encouraging for us and validates the years of hard work we’ve put into the game. However, our seasonal design is still a work in progress and has not fully met our expectations. Striking the right balance between offering players a refreshing experience and retaining familiar elements that players love remains a challenge. This is a key focus area for us at this stage.

How was the buildup to initial launch and what strategies did you employ to help ensure a successful release?

We were incredibly busy before launch. On the one hand, we had to manage tonnes of tasks related to the release of the open beta version. On the other hand, we also needed to prepare ourselves for the development of future updates.

To tackle these challenges, we relied on two key factors. First, the experience we gained from our previous project allowed us to anticipate and avoid many potential pitfalls. Second, we maintained a flexible mindset, addressing issues as they arose without any overly rigid strategies.

It was more about solving problems as they came, taking things one step at a time.

What would you say are the core reasons why AFK Journey has had such a strong start? Are there any specific game design features you can point to?

I believe the success we’ve seen so far is the result of efforts across multiple disciplines. From an art and visual perspective, we delivered a storybook-inspired artstyle that captures the imagination. On the narrative side, we’ve crafted compelling stories and memorable characters.

In terms of gameplay, we struck a successful balance between idle progression and open-world exploration. Additionally, on the technical front, we ensured stable servers and optimised the game for a wide range of devices.

Together, these elements have combined to create the strong foundation we see today.

It’s previously been said that Lilith Games sets up a new subsidiary company for every game project. How much of the team working on AFK Journey previously worked on AFK Arena? How important are new voices versus experienced developers on the IP?

Most of our core team members come from AFK Arena, and I personally was also involved in its development. I believe both experienced developers and new voices are essential parts of the team and have been key to the successful completion of this project.

Experienced developers bring a wealth of knowledge, which is invaluable in both design and execution.

Meanwhile, new voices often provide fresh perspectives, especially those who have worked on different types of projects. Their input challenges established ways of thinking within the team, fostering innovation and breakthroughs.

How do you deal with player feedback? Were there any aspects of AFK Journey that didn’t resonate with players after release that you had to rework?

We take player feedback very seriously. Our team members monitor community discussions daily, while the operations team compiles daily sentiment reports to summarise player opinions. If any critical design issues arise, we immediately start discussions and work on solutions.

Additionally, we hold formal sentiment analysis meetings every two weeks to review positive and negative feedback on recent updates. This process allows us to identify areas that need improvement and make informed adjustments to better align with player expectations.

This is actually quite common during the development process. We’ve always believed that running a live service game is, in essence, a collaborative process with the players. That’s why player feedback is important to us. We leverage their suggestions to adjust and optimise existing content, ensuring the game continues to evolve in ways that resonate with the community.

How big is the team currently handling live ops on AFK Journey? And what’s your approach to running events and updates? What kinds are most popular with players?

Our team currently consists of over 200 members.

At this stage, our approach focuses on enriching the seasonal contents. We’re introducing new gameplay systems as planned to enhance the overall player experience. Meanwhile, we incorporate player feedback to adjust and optimise our plans, ensuring updates align with what resonates most with our community.

When it comes to popular events and updates, player preferences are quite diverse and different gameplay styles attract different groups. For example, strategy-focused players are drawn to modes like Honor Duel, while more casual players enjoy activities like fishing.

Recently, the Monopoly-style gameplay in our Halloween event also garnered significant attention.

Overall, whether it’s refining existing experiences or introducing fresh and engaging events, both approaches tend to be well-received by players.

Are there any KPIs that you can share with us?

AFK Journey has been installed over 16 million times by fans around the world. It has ranked number one in the top free games charts in 12 countries on Google Play and eight on the Apple App Store.

Players have cleared over 4.5 billion AFK stages, consumed over one trillion Hero Essence and sent over 182 million chat messages.

Finally, what can players expect from AFK Journey going into 2025?

As mentioned earlier, our goal is for players to continually experience new gameplay, events, characters and stories within the seasonal updates.

Beyond optimising existing features, we are also exploring new features in the long term, such as designing dungeons and even shared maps within the open world.

These additions aim to provide players with fresh and engaging experiences over time.