A Hidden Unicorn with 8 Million MAUs: How This Overseas Live-Streaming Social App Took the World by Storm with Gamification!

——How niche dark horse WePlay leveraged “gaming + social” to capture the global market

一、Data Showcase: The Growth Miracle Behind 8 Million MAUs

1.User Scale

• According to DianDian Data, starting from Q4 2024, WePlay’s MAUs surged from 5 million to 8 million, with a quarter-on-quarter growth rate exceeding 60%. The main growth came from Turkey (accounting for 20% of revenue), Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia.

• Compared with top competitors: Bigo Live’s MAUs stood at 40.3 million in the same period, but with a growth rate of only 14%. WePlay ranked first in growth in the niche track, emerging as a top player among non-headliners.

2.Monetization Capability：

• In Q1 2025, WePlay’s English version achieved monthly revenue of $800,000(up 78% from $450,000 in 2022). Male users accounted for over 75% of paying users, with ARPU in the Middle East leading globally.

二、Gamification: WePlay’s “Breakthrough Code

1.Mechanism Design: Turning Social Interaction into an Immersive Game

• Task System：Users earn virtual coins by completing tasks like “team up for gaming” or “answer questions in live rooms” to redeem limited-edition skins.

• Ranking Competition：Introduced Werewolf Kill ranking matches, where hosts and audiences team up to compete; victories unlock exclusive live room effects.

• Social Fission：Inviting friends to form teams earns “double experience cards,” driving 35% of organic new users.

For example, Turkish users log into WePlay daily to complete the “3 Werewolf Kill games” task, exchanging virtual gifts to tip favorite hosts, forming a closed loop of “play - tip - socialize.”

2.Localized Gameplay: Deeply Binding Cultural Scenarios

• Middle Eastern Market：Launched “Ramadan Night Werewolf Kill Tournaments,” aligning event times with local peak hours.

• Southeast Asian Market：Embedded “TikTok-style” short video challenges, where users creating funny gaming clips receive traffic recommendations.

三、Survival Strategy to Avoid Giants: Differentiation + Precision Penetration

1.Targeting “Social Deserts”

• Focused on regions with insufficient social supply like the Middle East and North Africa: Saudi Arabia, with 95.56% mobile internet penetration and high user reliance on online socializing.

WePlay entered with “low-threshold voice rooms + lightweight games,” avoiding direct competition with TikTok in short videos.

2.Technology Empowerment: AI-Driven Personalized Experience

• Smart Matching：Recommends teammates based on game win rates and language preferences, improving matching efficiency by 40%.

• Virtual Avatars：Users can customize 3D avatars to interact via expressions and movements during live streams, enhancing immersion.

四、2025 Trends: Three Growth Drivers of Gamified Socializing

1.VR/AR Integration:

WePlay has tested “virtual live rooms,” allowing audiences to embody characters in Werewolf Kill scenarios, with a full launch expected in 2026.

2.Cross-Ecosystem Collaboration:

Cooperate with the mobile game “PUBG MOBILE” to synchronize player team data to WePlay social profile page, two-way guidance。

3.AI Creation Tools：

Users can generate game commentary short videos with one click, with automatic subtitles and effects, lowering content creation barriers.V.

五、How Can Niche Apps Replicate This Success?

WePlay’s growth formula = Gamified Mechanisms × Cultural Adaptation × Technological Leverage

• Mechanisms：Replaced traditional tipping with tasks and competitions to reduce psychological barriers to payment.

• Culture： Middle Eastern users prefer voice socializing; Southeast Asians love short videos — localized strategies are key.

• Technology：Innovations like AI matching and virtual avatars continuously boost user stickiness.

Blue Ocean Opportunities in a Red Sea Market

While giants like TikTok and Bigo Live compete for existing users in the red sea of short videos and live streaming, WePlay carved a path with “gamified socializing,” opening up a high-stickiness incremental market in giants’ blind spots. Its 8 million MAUs validate the potential of the “gaming + social” integration track, but the true blue ocean opportunity is more than simple substitution — according to Xiaguang Think Tank (2025), the global gaming social market will exceed $12 billion, driven by value innovation through technological redefinition of demand.