As F2P Open-World RPG Roco Kingdom Enters Closed Beta, Here's What We Learned

You could say creature-collecting video games are having a moment, but for some reason, no established studio with major financial backing is taking on the actual RPG subgenre where it all started. Roco Kingdom is already changing that in China, and it’s now entering its closed beta period ahead of a full launch in the West.

The franchise has been around for 16 years now, starting with a browser game that led to more games and several books, films, webtoons, and TV cartoon series. The Western crowd might not be familiar with it, but this is essentially China’s own massive brand all about colourful cartoon creatures (called Jinies) that go on adventures with human-like elvish pals.

Entertainment giant Tencent is backing the project, which is developed by Morefun Studios, the developer behind other hit online games like Arena Breakout and Arena Breakout: Infinite. At first glance, you might consider it another online RPG with impressive production values but sadly tied to gacha mechanics that make its F2P model unfair and frustrating, but that’s not the case, even if it still very much needs some sort of microtransactions (cosmetics) to stay afloat.

During a hands-off preview and roundtable Q&A event ahead of the game’s closed beta for the Western territories, we were able to ask narrative director Xiaoye about the fresh vision for a big-budget creature-collecting RPG that can be fully played in co-op, how it sets itself apart from another anime-inspired online games making waves, and what the studio’s stance on generative AI is. We’ve collected the most interesting bits below:

On the game’s free-to-play model and monetisation plans:

We focus on a more consumer-friendly monetisation model. We don’t want players to feel a huge pressure into spending money to keep up. We don’t want players to grind… Roco Kingdom’s primary monetisation comes from cosmetics and battle passes. The cosmetics are themed around Jinies and the (player) characters.

On Roco Kingdom’s full release’s tentative release window:

We’re aiming at around mid-next year. We need to see the actual results from these closed betas to see if there are any changes.

On what sets Roco Kingdom apart from other similar games:

There isn’t a real turn-based creature-collecting RPG with an open world and high-quality graphics and live-service right now out there. You see a lot of similar games in the genre that are either not using turn-based combat or their art style isn’t as anime-inspired. We’re also not aiming for the MMORPG experience of grinding for stuff. It’s a less stressful and cozier environment.

On how often the game will be updated with new content:

If you’ve played the Chinese version before, you’ll know the game is being constantly updated. But after launch, we’re aiming to sync up this version with the Chinese one in around two to three months. After that, everyone in the world will be playing the same version in terms of content. Still, the Chinese server will be separated from the global one. There’s going to be a new season every two months, and roughly around six months, a new major expansion update. We’re aiming to add new big regions in the world too, so we’re putting a lot of effort into making sure it’s being constantly updated.

On ranked seasons and leaderboards:

For each season, there’s a ranked PvP leaderboard. Besides that, we’re not doing many leaderboard-style gameplay or systems… But yes, we have a rank system for PvP that’s refreshed every two months for new seasons.

On the required changes for the global release:

The main thing is localisation. We need to see if we did localisation properly with this test. It’s one of the big parts that we are going to tweak and modify. For example, the names of Jinies; some players might find certain names not as good. And secondly, we could be looking for UX problems. We’re going to keep a close eye on player feedback on that front because whatever works for the domestic market might not work for global players.

On the game’s housing system:

We already have a housing system in the Chinese version. You can go to your special area, go into your house, and decorate the interior. You can find different furniture, put Jinies in your house, and they even can breed. We look forward to you finding out more about it in the actual game.

On Morefun’s stance on generative AI and whether any of it is in the final game:

I can never trust a generative AI to design these creatures and characters. I’ve seen it doing similar stuff, and they’re ugly. Chinese players and community members are using it to create stuff based on our characters, and while they’re having fun with it, I think designs made with human hands are still best.

On possible connections to the rest of the franchise and Roco Kingdom as a fresh start:

We pay a lot of homage to previous works, but not directly. It’s not like this story starts directly after a certain movie or game plot. It’s more like a reimagination. For anyone that’s new, it’s a completely fresh start. For the Chinese audience, we also know many players haven’t touched the original game 16 years ago, so we design everything taking that into consideration.

Roco Kingdom’s closed beta is live now and expected to last until the end of November. Access is limited, but those interested can sign up for updates here. The global release is set to hit PC (Steam, Epic Games Store & Xbox on PC), PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Android, and iOS.