Petition Against Dragon
The Battle Cats, a Japanese mobile game by Ponos with over 100 million downloads worldwide, is known for its extremely quirky characters. For Lunar New Year 2024 in Korea and Taiwan, we launched a campaign that questioned a long-standing injustice: why do the zodiac animals exclude cats, yet celebrate a creature that doesn’t even exist—the dragon?
To protest this “cat discrimination,” we created a petition site demanding that the Year of the Dragon be changed to the Year of the Cat. Players were invited to sign, and the more signatures we collected, the more in-game currency (“cat food cans”) we gave away.
We also took the fight directly to pro gamers born in the Year of the Dragon. If they failed to clear certain stages in the game, they were forced to sign the petition. This playful mechanic highlighted the game’s core nature: behind the cute characters lies a surprisingly strategic challenge, one tough enough to make even pro gamers yield.
The results were remarkable: over one million new gamers joined, 702,000 lapsed players returned, average player spending rose by 11%, and the campaign generated $3.6 million in in-game revenue. What started as a tongue-in-cheek protest became a genuine business success—and a Happy Meow Year indeed.
Nyanko Nyaward
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of The Battle Cats in Korea, we launched the Nyanko Nyaward, a Hollywood-style awards campaign honoring the game’s quirky cast of over 1,000 characters.
Players’ favorites were categorized and celebrated, with their unique abilities highlighted in simple terms that even beginners could understand. This nostalgic yet accessible approach not only re-engaged many lapsed players but also attracted a wave of new users.
The results were remarkable: 760,100 lapsed gamers returned, 307,856 new gamers joined, and in-game revenue increased by 207% compared to the same period the previous year.
