Recently, a fishing game called Fishing Master soared to the top of the free games chart on the U.S. iOS App Store.
The publisher, Ark Game Limited, links this game to another fishing game that went viral in China a few months ago—欢乐钓鱼大师. It turns out that these two are indeed the same game.
According to the loading screen of 欢乐钓鱼大师, the software copyright belongs to a company called 在线途游（北京）科技有限公司(Tuyoo Games).
When visiting the Ark Game Limited website, you can see that it shares the same website icon as the official website of Tuyoo Games, suggesting that Ark Game Limited is a publishing account under Tuyoo Games.
欢乐钓鱼大师 might still be fresh in many Chinese players’ memories. Besides breaking into the top ten of China's iOS game revenue chart and maintaining that position for nearly a month, the game's marketing strategy also left a lasting impression.
During that time, the game launched a significant number of marketing videos on short video platforms, highlighting "motion-sensing fishing" as the main selling point.
These videos featured actors performing exaggerated and humorous portrayals of fishing enthusiasts deeply immersed in the game, successfully generating high levels of engagement on platforms like 抖音 and 快手.
The buzz around 欢乐钓鱼大师 continued to grow, with related topics on 抖音 alone surpassing 7 billion views.
On one hand, the fishing community in China is becoming younger. According to the China Fishing Association, there are about 140 million fishing enthusiasts in China, with 12% under 18, 10% between 18 and 24, and 46% between 25 and 44—together accounting for 68% of the total.
On the other hand, the influx of younger people has accelerated the creation of "fishing meme" culture, which has been widely spread across various media platforms, further amplifying the visibility of the "fishing enthusiast" image.
With the rise of short video platforms, more young users are participating in related content creation. It can be said that 欢乐钓鱼大师's domestic success was largely due to Tuyoo Games’ keen understanding of its audience and the ecosystem of the community.
But how did Fishing Master manage to break into the overseas market?
01How Fishing Master Broke into the Top of the U.S. Market？
The global market has no shortage of high-quality and influential fishing games, from PC games like Russian Fishing to mobile games like Fishing Clash.
In the mobile gaming space, Fishing Clash, released in 2016, remains the dominant force in this niche. As Fishing Master enters the overseas market, it inevitably competes with Fishing Clash, particularly in the U.S., which has been a significant revenue source for the latter.
According to AppGrowing, Fishing Clash, which has established a solid foothold in multiple international markets, adopts a balanced approach in terms of ad placement across different regions, with little variance in the number of ads placed.
In contrast, Fishing Master exhibits a strong regional focus, clearly targeting the U.S. as a key market. Over the past month, ad placements in the U.S. have significantly outnumbered those in other regions.
Beyond resource allocation, the content of the ads also shows differing approaches between the two games.
Based on data from AppGrowing, Fishing Clash’s most exposed ads mainly showcase how different choices of rods and bait affect fishing results, as well as the variety of fishing scenes and fish species available.
On the other hand, Fishing Master’s popular ads focus more on the "fishing" process itself. For example, one ad features a first-person perspective, displaying the entire process from casting the line, the fish biting, reeling in, and finally successfully landing the fish.
During the fight with the fish, flashing effects are added around the screen, along with the fish darting around and the character's hands gripping the rod, conveying the tension and excitement of battling the fish to the audience.
Most of Fishing Master’s popular ads follow this approach. This strategy not only differentiates it from Fishing Clash but may also be tied to the gameplay of Fishing Master itself.
Fishing Clash simplifies the fishing process, where after casting the line and waiting for a bite, players just need to repeatedly tap the screen to keep a progress bar in the optimal zone until the fish's stamina is depleted.
Fishing Master, however, offers a more complex experience. It includes a motion-sensing mode to simulate real casting and introduces actions like hooking and fighting the fish.
When a fish bites, players can strike at the right moment to significantly reduce the fish's stamina. During the struggle, prompts appear on the screen to maneuver the rod, allowing players to accumulate energy points by moving the left joystick. Collecting three energy points enables a burst skill, rapidly depleting the fish’s stamina.
By incorporating these actions, Fishing Master adds a greater sense of ceremony and involvement during gameplay, enhancing the immersion in simulated fishing and providing a differentiated gameplay experience.
As for results, Fishing Master performed well even during its pre-registration phase. According to AppGrowing, the game topped the iOS game pre-registration chart in July and later climbed to the top of the free games chart on the U.S. iOS App Store, even surpassing Fishing Clash in sales at one point.
However, Fishing Master still has a way to go before it can rival Fishing Clash at its peak. Whether Tuyoo Games can replicate its domestic success by identifying and capitalizing on key marketing points in the overseas market remains to be seen.
02The Transformation Journey of Tuyoo Games
Those who have experienced Fishing Master likely recognize the quality of the game and might be surprised that a company known for card games could develop such a high-quality product.
In fact, Tuyoo Games began its transformation journey some time ago, and it's clear that the label of a "casino game company" no longer fully captures its identity.
Tuyoo Games was founded in 2013 by 郭子文, a former 360 employee, with major shareholder 李建良, a former vice president of 昆仑万维. Perhaps due to this background, the company received investment from 360 early on.
After its establishment, Tuyoo Games focused on the casino game sectors. The period from 2016 to 2018 marked a phase of rapid growth for Tuyoo Games.
According to 360's financial reports, the company's net profits during these three years were 40 million, 85 million, and 140 million RMB, respectively, nearly doubling each year. However, changes in the external environment posed unexpected challenges.
In 2018, the gaming industry faced a "license freeze," with new licenses halted for most of the year and only resuming issuance in late December. Notably, the number of licenses issued for casino games dropped dramatically.
Looking back, this batch of licenses was not an anomaly. A search for casino game licenses on the China Press and Publication Administration's website shows no approvals after March 2018.
Despite maintaining its position in the industry, largely thanks to the strong market performance of 捕鱼大作战, Tuyoo Games had to adapt to the changing environment.
This led to a shift towards diversification and expanding into overseas markets. Before gaining renewed attention due to the success of its mini-games, Tuyoo Games had already achieved some success in the mid-core sector.
In 2021, Magnum Quest, a 3D idle RPG developed by an internal team, was launched overseas and received prominent recommendations on both the U.S. App Store and Google Play due to its polished quality.
郭子文 revealed in an interview that Tuyoo Games’ R&D investment exceeded 1 billion RMB in 2021, with annual R&D spending increasing by more than 50% over the past few years. They even used Unreal Engine 4 to develop a fishing game. For a company once known for card games, such investment clearly demonstrates its determination to transform.
In addition to bolstering its R&D capabilities and betting on the mid-core idle RPG sector, Tuyoo Games also set its sights on mini-games. In the first half of 2023, Tuyoo Games’ 次神：光之觉醒 successfully entered the top three of the WeChat mini-games revenue chart. In April this year, Tuyoo Games launched 流浪超市, which quickly climbed to second place on the WeChat mini-games revenue chart.
But even before these achievements became evident, Tuyoo Games had already started investing in the mini-games sector back in 2018.
郭子文 mentioned during the Greater Bay Area Unicorn Forum that in 2013, the success of WeChat's 经典飞机大战 brought many people who had never played games before into gaming. When WeChat opened up its mini-game ecosystem in 2018, many people started sharing games, once again attracting non-gamers to this scene.
Perhaps recognizing this potential, Tuyoo Games began its active layout of the mini-games sector early on. That year, they initiated the development of a mini-game version of 胡莱三国 and also acquired a controlling stake in the company behind 次神：光之觉醒.
After the mini-game explosion overseas, Tuyoo Games also began actively pushing its products into international markets. In February this year, they released the overseas version of 次神：光之觉醒 in North America, Singapore, and Australia. In May, they expanded it to the Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan markets.
The overseas release of 次神：光之觉醒 was more like a trial run, but with Fishing Master, Tuyoo Games took a significantly bolder step by adopting a global simultaneous launch strategy, which has yielded relatively positive results.
As mentioned earlier, it is no longer sufficient to label Tuyoo Games as just a gaming company focused on casino games. This is a company that places a strong emphasis on research and development while actively exploring new market opportunities through diversification.
With the rising trend of mini-games expanding into international markets, the key question now is whether Tuyoo Games can leverage its accumulated experience in the domestic mini-games sector to establish a competitive advantage abroad. This is something we will continue to watch closely.
