Financial and messaging app platforms are expanding mini-game services to increase user engagement. As mini-games prove effective in boosting app usage and conversion rates, the HTML5-based web game market is expected to expand into retail and shopping sectors.
According to industry sources, Kakao introduced a game tab on KakaoTalk in mid-June, launching 25 HTML5-based web games, including six casual games utilizing Kakao Friends intellectual property.
Kakao is enhancing user engagement by allowing users to create game profiles, compare rankings with others, and share games with friends. The company plans to increase the number of games offered to 50 by the end of the year.
The HTML5 mini-game market has been expanding since Toss entered the space in October last year. Financial apps are particularly focused on increasing user engagement by offering rewards such as points and coupons, linking this engagement to advertising, financial products, and shopping services.
Kakao had operated a game section within KakaoTalk since 2016 but ended it in August 2020. However, with Toss rapidly growing the in-app mini-game market, Kakao has re-entered the competition with KakaoPay and KakaoTalk.
Toss currently features mini-games in 20% of its mini-apps, totaling around 800 games. The platform offers a variety of genres, including puzzles, web board games, RPGs, and tycoon games. Notable titles include WeMade Play's 'Anipang 2', WeMade Max's 'Abyssrium', NHN's 'Hangame Single Match', and Neptune's 'Infinite Stairs', among others.
In the increasingly competitive financial app market, companies are incentivizing user participation by offering points for game play. For instance, Toss rewards players with points equivalent to 2 won for every minute spent playing 'Infinite Stairs.'
Industry reports indicate that the average daily engagement time for mini-games varies significantly, ranging from about 5 to 30 minutes depending on the genre and play style. This variation leads to different monetization strategies, such as reward-based advertising and in-app purchases. Consequently, platforms are linking increased engagement time to financial and commerce services, while game developers are converting increased usage into revenue through advertising and in-app purchases.
As more app platforms adopt mini-games, the supply channels for game developers are expanding into finance, messaging, and shopping sectors. Analysts suggest that the competition for content among platforms is intensifying, providing game developers with more distribution options.
Additionally, HTML5-based web games can be adapted from existing mobile games to fit web environments, making it less burdensome than developing new titles from scratch.
On July 6, TwoByte launched the mobile puzzle game 'Pow Pop Match' on KakaoTalk and KakaoPay through Com2uS Platform, converting the existing mobile game to HTML5 to expand its distribution channels. TwoByte had soft-launched 'Pow Pop Match' in the U.S. and Indonesia in February and optimized the game for web environments while maintaining the core fun of the puzzle game.
TwoByte CEO Ham Young-cheol stated, "For this web game service, we reduced the game size from 460 megabytes (MB) to around 60-65 MB, focusing on optimizing graphics and game resources while preserving the essential enjoyment of the puzzle game."
Mini-games are expected to expand into retail and shopping platforms that prioritize user engagement and conversion rates. A representative from a game company supplying games to financial apps noted, "We are preparing to launch additional games on three to four platforms, including shopping apps, by the end of the year."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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