It has become a new trend that game producers choose to produce simulation games about zombie.

As Sensor Tower stated in its data, State of Survival, FunPlus’s new game is in top 30 list of mobile games with the most downloads in November. State of Survival was released to the market in August, while it increased its promotional budget in November, after which it acquired a large number of users within a short time. Thanks to the promotional decision, it became one of the mobile games in the top download list.

In addition, State of Survival’s revenue has already reached $9.04 million in four months, far surpassing the data of Last Shelter: Survival and Age of Z in the same period. 

FunPlus shows great enthusiasm to simulation games. The two simulation games Guns of Glory and King of Avalon always maintain a good position in the top revenue list. Compared to the commonly seen games with the medieval magical theme, State of Survival chose the zombie theme, which is delicate in today’s popular culture.

1. SLG Version of State of ‘Survival’

The State of Survival series came to the public when zombie games were still popular. And games where players can fight zombies (PVE) and other players (PVP) tend to have higher popularity. And Dying Light is the typical example.

In State of Survival, battles can be divided into two categories: siege battles in army, and encounter battles in person. Players can play in group to fight zombies in the infected areas and get recourses, reclaim wastelands, group with other players, and fight other player units. And encounter battle is the core element of PVE contents in the game. In fact, State of Survival to some extent, needs to tell stories, and different heroes should be played in different ways.

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a. Armies and Branches

Similar with the other simulation games, the key of siege battle in the game is to allocate branches and deploy armies in the right way. And State of Survival achieved to combine branch designs with zombie element in a good way. In the game, there are infantry for close-in infighting, cavalry on motorbikes for assault, and missile troop for long distance assault. And the skills of the soldiers will be upgraded when the army is getting into a high level.

b. Heroes

The positioning of heroes in State of Survival is similar to heroes in MOBA games. Each hero has three active abilities, and attribute addition triggered in different situations. Based on different branches and distance of battle, the heroes’ positioning also can be divided in to different categories, including jungling, collecting, assaulting, defensing, gathering, etc. And you can enjoy yourself, both in siege battles and encounter battles.

Material collection during encounter battles, walls around gathering places, research studios, hospitals, and zombies outside the wall --- all these elements provide us with an immersion to the zombie era. Buildings in State of Survival basically reach the standard for the players to implement their strategies, though it’s not that outstanding when compared with other elements in the game.

2. The Unabated Popularity of Zombie Games

Thanks to the popular zombie movies, zombie games have acquired a large scale of popularity all over the world. Since 1968, when George A. Romero made the first zombie movie “Night of the Living Dead”, have been playing a role in popular cultures for so long.

For game players, fighting zombies will never be outdated. And in recent years, the trend tends to increase: main stream 3A games including Days Gone, BIOHAZARD RE:2 and Dying Light 2, are all related to zombies.

At present, most of the simulation mobile games are related to the elements like Middle Ages, knight, castle, sword and shield, and dragon. And zombie games attract people’s attention with its distinct style. Zombie games: Last Shelter: Survival from IM30 and Age of Z from Camel Games all play well in the game market.

After The Walking Dead, the visual style of zombie wasteland have come to the public. From then on, the element of “survivor”, “camp”, “different responsibilities” and “resources snatching” are commonly seen in zombie related works. And those elements are all included in State of Survival. That may contribute to the success of State of Survival.

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3. The Power of Promotion

The unique theme of zombie is not the only reason for State of Survival’s success. Producer’s effort on promotion, the strength of FunPlus, also plays an important role.

State of Survival was released to the market in August, while it increased its promotional budget in November, after which it acquired a large number of users within a short time. Apart from mainstream promotional platforms such as Facebook, Mopub (owned by Twitter), Epicunity and Vungle, we can also see a large number of contents published in YouTube and Reddit. The rapid enhancement of popularity of State of Survival in November is a precious opportunity for the game producer to accumulate users.