Case Background
"Ninja Must Die" is a battle parkour game published by Xiao Bai Studio that integrates innovative gameplay. Its unique ink-style ninja theme has attracted a large following in China. After nearly a decade of success domestically, Xiao Bai decided to expand Tuke, launching in regions such as the US, Japan, and South Korea at the end of 2022. As a new game being promoted Tuke for the first time, "Ninja Must Die" hoped to gain significant exposure during its launch phase to build a solid user base and lay the foundation for long-term conversion.
Solution
To achieve large-scale exposure and rapid user acquisition during the Tuke marketing launch phase, "Ninja Must Die" chose TikTok as the key launch platform for the US and Japan. Xiao Bai Studio hoped that TikTok could fully leverage the advantages of its short video content format, using a rich variety of creative styles, higher-frequency reach, and native content presentation to help the game reach a diverse and active group of high-value players.
At the same time, in order to make a strong first impression, the TikTok for Business team conducted research on the target markets for "Ninja Must Die," summarizing market insights such as local users' preferences and acceptance of ninja culture-related content. This helped the game find the most suitable localized angle for entry, enabling targeted Tuke promotion and resonating with more local players, thereby enhancing the game's appeal. For example, to break into the heroism-valuing US market, "Ninja Must Die" used "BE A NINJA HERO" as its promotional theme to drive strong exposure for the game.
When selecting the advertising product mix, the TikTok for Business team recommended a combination of TopView splash ads and Reach & Frequency in-feed ads based on the specific situation of "Ninja Must Die." The aim was to leverage the synergy between branding and performance to boost bidding volume and reach more high-value users, thereby reducing conversion costs. Simply put, this approach captures the characteristic tags of high-quality audiences and maps them to a larger user traffic pool, seeking target groups with the same tags to achieve precise and efficient reach to the advertiser's target audience, while also solving the core issue of traffic bottlenecks during major promotion periods.
Marketing Results
Upon its Tuke launch, "Ninja Must Die" immediately attracted a large number of players' attention, and its performance on TikTok was also very encouraging. Based on the TikTok for Business team's recommended advertising strategy, the game's ad click-through rate (CTR) increased by 106%, achieving tens of millions of impressions in the US market and reaching the TOP10 of free adventure game charts in multiple countries and regions in Europe and America. In addition, by targeting high-value brand audiences, the subsequent bidding increment for "Ninja Must Die" was very significant, with particularly outstanding cost reduction and efficiency improvement: ad conversion rate (CVR) increased by 31%, cost per acquisition (CPA) decreased by 61%, and return on ad spend (ROAS) increased by 57%.
