War Robots Exec on the Nuances of Launching Mobile Games for Chinese Players
Boris Burangulov explains how War Robots has maintained high player retention rates since its release in 2014, talks about the risks of overadapting games for foreign audiences, and explains what distinguishes Chinese players from other audiences across the globe.
War Robots has been live globally for more than 12 years, reaching hundreds of millions of registered users and more than $1 billion in lifetime revenue. What do you think has allowed the game to remain relevant for so long in such a competitive mobile market?
Usually, we give a fairly standard answer to this question: it's all about our data-driven approach and a cautious, evolutionary pace. War Robots is like a big, heavy machine that steadily moves toward its goal. We don't try to rush headlong after short-lived trends, nor do we attempt to abruptly spin the game 180 degrees. Instead, we progress step by step, run countless (and I mean it) A/B tests, and preserve the project's identity. That is our established approach to live-ops.
However, this time we noticed another angle that ties everything together. We've mentioned in previous interviews that our players stay with us for years, some literally since 2014. But the same is true for our team: a huge portion of our core group has been here since day one.
Ultimately, War Robots is about loyalty on every level. Long-time team members preserve and pass down the project's core DNA, which then translates straight to the players. This is a huge reason the game has stayed relevant for over 12 years and has more than 325 million registered users.
Many Western-developed mobile games struggle to break through in China, yet War Robots has become one of the more successful imported titles there. What made you believe the game could work in that market?
The exact same factors that drive our success globally: War Robots is a unique game that occupies, and in many ways creates, within mobile gaming, its own distinct niche. It's an action game, but with slower, tactical combat that is quite different from what people usually picture when they hear 'mobile shooter,' combined with our unique aesthetic of giant walking combat robots.
Our confidence rested on two main things. First, we knew for a fact that this niche, while not the broadest, is extremely stable, and we were confident that China had plenty of players who fit this profile and would join our community.
Second, we relied on solid data. Even before the ISBN regulation system was introduced, War Robots was (albeit briefly) already available in China and ranked among our top 5 regions, so we had historical data showing what we could realistically achieve.
That data has continued to hold up: according to Sensor Tower, War Robots ranks among the top five most successful imported mobile titles in the country in recent years by revenue.
When preparing War Robots for China, how did the team decide what should translate directly from the global version and what needed to be adjusted for local players?
It was far from a simple process. We were navigating complete uncertainty, blazing a trail through terra incognita, and 'keep-or-change' decisions faced us at every step. Surprisingly, what helped us was our faith in the project and... a bit of laziness.
When working on the Chinese version, right from the start, we established a rule: if something can be left unchanged, we don't change it. There were two reasons behind this. We had a decade of operating experience backed by heavily tested product decisions, and changing things in a smoothly running, successful game without a compelling reason or testing was simply unsafe.
On top of that, we already had a massive workload ahead of us and didn't want to inflate it further. Direct translation was the safest and most energy-efficient approach. And after several years of operation, we finally realized that was actually the absolute right decision all along.
Whenever we kept things unchanged, the game performed reliably. But as soon as we were forced to adjust mechanics or pacing for the local market – that's where we ran into real challenges and made our fair share of mistakes.
What kinds of live-ops changes made the biggest difference for War Robots in China?
We had to adapt across three main areas, starting with visual content compliance. In China, blood, bones, skulls, and certain symbols are prohibited. We were fortunate that our game features robots where nobody really dies and pilots safely eject when a machine is destroyed, which gave us a head start, though certain art still needed targeted adjustments and review by our partners.
The bigger challenges came from content delivery and balance. Over 10 years, a huge library of robots and weapons had accumulated, and we couldn't dump all of that onto Chinese players at once. We had to rebuild our pipeline and run content events much more frequently.
For instance, in 2025, global players received 9 robots and 3 Titans, whereas in China, due to the accelerated pace, players received 14 robots and 5 Titans. Because content was released differently, we effectively had to rebalance the meta for every new drop, and in areas where we couldn't rely directly on our global experience, we made plenty of mistakes.
We ran headfirst into balance issues, including what we internally call 'the Spectre problem' that we had successfully overcome 6 or 7 years ago. To put it simply: it's a situation when you release a robot so cool and powerful that players simply stop using everything else. To this day, we don't have a definitive answer on whether pushing such a high content release speed was the right move or if a slower pace would have worked better for player retention.
A lot of companies assume success in China requires heavy localization or dramatic changes to the core game. Based on your experience, where do those assumptions fall short?
During the development process, we often heard claims like that and even believed them ourselves for a while, but looking back from our current experience, we see that overhauling everything for China is a risky stereotype to build your work around.
Attempting to completely remake a game for a new market is no different from trying to rebuild a working game from scratch for your current market. You don't know how to make it better because you are Western developers, not local Chinese developers. You might think you understand the market, but you don't, and redesigning a working game without testing is a massive, unjustified risk that most often leads to negative consequences.
Of course, Chinese players have a unique cultural background, and the game does require specific adjustments. However, the core mechanics and core gameplay can, and should, remain intact.
How did working with a Chinese publishing partner shape the launch and ongoing operation of War Robots? What did that partnership help you understand about player behavior, market expectations, and operating rhythm?
Working with a partner taught us how crucial it is to clearly separate where to trust yourself and where to rely on them. You will always know your game better than any partner, no matter how prominent they are, because they don't have your unique experience of operating this specific product. Any advice from a partner regarding gameplay, features, and economics must be approached with caution and filtered through the lens of your own experience and data.
On the other hand, a local partner is absolutely indispensable when it comes to cultural nuances, local community specifics, legal regulatory requirements, and compliance checks. This is where a partner is vital in preventing major cultural missteps and helping present the product properly to the audience.
What were the biggest differences between running War Robots globally and running it in China, especially in areas like content cadence, monetization, events, community feedback, or player onboarding?
The biggest difference lies in the lifecycle stage of the audience. On our global servers, we operate a 12-year-old project with a mature base of loyal players, whereas in China, running the game felt like operating a brand-new project from scratch, where every single player was a newcomer just starting their journey.
We also faced a completely different seasonality. On a daily level, peak online hours are very pronounced in China, where players log in en masse during specific evening hours, and matchmaking can noticeably empty out during the rest of the day.
Weekly spending and activity gaps between weekdays and weekends are also much wider in China. Annually, while December is traditionally the primary sales and activity period for the global version, everything in China revolves around Lunar New Year and other national holiday weeks when people have time off and are more willing to spend.
As for monetization and events, our ultimate goal now is to align both versions as closely as possible so that content releases in China run in parallel with the global ones.
War Robots succeeded in China without being built around a local IP, anime franchise, or major Asian entertainment brand. How did you communicate the game's identity and appeal in a market where many successful titles have strong IP familiarity?
To be honest, we didn't really overthink it or construct any elaborate strategies. Over many years, War Robots had already established its own visual identity, deep lore, and distinct universe, which you can see in our artbook on the website. It's not just a casual mobile shooter where you log in, shoot, and leave – the deeper you dive into it, the richer it becomes.
So when entering the market, we didn't launch massive brand awareness campaigns. We simply presented the game as is, showcasing the universe built over 12 years, and started user acquisition with our partner just like we do everywhere else. And it worked.
What did the China launch teach Pixonic about the parts of War Robots that are truly universal, such as mech fantasy, tactical combat, progression, competition, or visual design?
The launch proved once again that the core features of War Robots are truly universal worldwide. We have a favorite running joke (which is not really a joke) that War Robots is a uniquely international game because we have installs from literally every country on Earth; we even have at least one installation in the Vatican.
Its success in China was simply another confirmation that tactical gameplay, the fantasy of combat mechs, and competitive drive work equally well for players regardless of region.
For 80 Level's audience of developers and studio leaders, what advice would you give to Western teams considering China? What should they understand before assuming their game either "needs everything changed" or "can launch unchanged"?
Our advice might sound a bit cliché, like typical business coaching: believe in yourself and your project. But behind those words is hard-earned practical experience bought with real sweat and tears.
When expanding into new markets, your primary anchor should be your own accumulated experience, your A/B test results, your analytics, and your community feedback. No external partner knows how to make your game better than you do.
Keep a clear division of responsibilities: let your partner handle cultural compliance and regulatory requirements, but don't let anyone overhaul your core product. Stick to what you already know how to do and what has proven to work.
