Can’t handle boobs? You can fuck right off says Japanese staff workers for Snowbreak: Containment Zone.
In our last discussion about the free-to-play action gacha game “Snowbreak: Containment Zone,” we noted its dramatic resurgence after shifting focus to cater to male audiences with fan service content.
This pivot saved the game from termination and allowed developers to consider reinvesting in English dubbing. However, many voice actors refused to reprise their roles due to the game’s new fan service-centric nature, leading to the discontinuation of English voices from version 1.4 onwards.
“Snowbreak: Containment Zone” brought itself back from the brink by essentially reinventing itself. The developers at Seasun Games Pte accomplished this revival by removing male NPC characters and replacing them with female ones.
Unlike games made by companies like miHoYo, which include attractive male characters as both NPCs and playable characters—leading to a toxic fanbase that often criticizes male players who prefer female characters, gacha games such as “Blue Archive,” “Azur Lane,” and “Goddess of Victory: NIKKE” exclusively feature beautiful female characters.
These games often portray the player as, or imply them to be, a male protagonist, allowing men to self-insert and enjoy a “harem” environment surrounded by beautiful ladies.
In addition to gender-swapping male characters in “Snowbreak: Containment Zone,” the developers focused on the design and costumes of female characters, making them more voluptuous, attractive, and revealing. These changes have significantly impacted the game, resulting in a surge in downloads and substantial income for its developers, effectively reviving the game and saving it from shutdown.
Since being listed on Steam in December 2023, “Snowbreak: Containment Zone” struggled, barely reaching a thousand concurrent players. However, by April 2024, its concurrent player count seemingly quadrupled, peaking at over 2,800 players. As of June, this number has stabilized at around 1,600 concurrent players.
Commenting on the game’s recent performance, a Japanese producer for Snowbreak Containment Zone highlighted during an interview with Automaton which was also published on the official Snowbreak website as part of a news wire, that the recent rise in popularity is significant and well-reflected in the numbers, with sales increasing and daily active users rising by over 50% on average.
According to the producer, the main contributing factor to this success was the management and development teams’ decision to steer the game towards prioritizing fan service for male audiences.
Essentially giving players what they want.
In Snowbreak’s case, this meant catering to the largest available demographic: men. Both men and women appreciate attractive characters in video games, sometimes even more than the gameplay itself, according to Capcom’s own survey. With men making up over 80% of gamers, they certainly aren’t shy about showing their appreciation when developers produce a product that caters to their preferences.
“Snowbreak: Containment Zone” features a male protagonist surrounded by attractive women, whose outfit designs have become increasingly daring.
Recently, the game introduced seductive secretary skins for the character Katya, offering players a choice between fishnets or stockings. This update follows the highly popular Nurse outfit for the character Enya, which includes interactive features through the in-game dorm system, allowing players to poke and prod her.
“Snowbreak: Containment Zone” has undergone a transformation, now focusing on catering to male audiences with increased fan service. This shift has raised its age rating and potentially alienated players who were less invested in the game. Embracing a more alluring aesthetic with seductive designs and provocative elements, Snowbreak is experiencing newfound relevance and profitability.
The shift towards enticing outfit designs in “Snowbreak: Containment Zone” wasn’t a quick decision but a gradual process.
“The R&D team never gave up on “Snowbreak: Containment Zone”, even when things got tough. By focusing on the needs of our core players, they’ve done everything they can to make comprehensive improvements to the main story, character design, gameplay, and more, which are all extremely vital factors.”
Older users who have been playing “Snowbreak: Containment Zone” since launch should be able to tell that the style in the first few versions was pretty different. Our R&D team went through a lot of trial and error, testing several designs and ideas for the game before finally determining that our current strategy of highlighting the charm of the characters, focusing on their bond with the Adjutant, and increasing intimate interactions with the characters could improve “Snowbreak: Containment Zone” and increase its popularity.
The feedback provided by our players, along with the data, has made the result very clear to us.
The producer admitted that the game wasn’t performing well initially, with male NPC characters and modest female character designs. Despite this, the players continued to support and encourage the developers.
The producer stated, “We realized we had to serve our loyal users, get closer to our players, and listen to their needs. It was the only chance for ‘Snowbreak: Containment Zone’ to gain new life.”
These are significant words, especially considering the radical changes the game has made, ditching masculinity for femininity and doubling down on attracting audiences and their wallets through seductive designs.
These changes brought new life to the game, with the producer noting that many new players have joined since the updates, drastically improving the game’s performance.
The producer also mentioned that Seasun Games Pte is rather understaffed, with their efforts stretched thin. Due to the game’s poor performance at release, several team members left for various reasons, resulting in a diminished number of individuals handling the global operations for “Snowbreak.”
Speaking of global reach, the producer has a rough estimate of which countries, in particular, are bankrolling “Snowbreak: Containment Zone.”
“Since this is a global project, the list of specific countries and regions is quite long, so we usually divide it up by language. English players make up the bulk of our playerbase, with about 60%. Japanese players account for around 20%, while Traditional Chinese and Korean players make up the remaining 20%. Japan is our best-performing country in terms of revenue, making up about 30% of the total. We’d like to thank our Japanese players for their continued support.”
Unsurprisingly, the game has been performing well across all regions since these changes, with Japan being the most profitable, likely due to fewer servers stationed there. However, English-speaking players account for almost 60% of their revenue. Considering that Snowbreak deploys servers in America and European regions, it’s understandable why they might not generate as much profit compared to Japan. These numbers, however, do not include mainland China.
The producer also emphasized the importance of staying true to the game’s audience, highlighting how the new focus on fan service has breathed new life into “Snowbreak: Containment Zone.”
I’d also like to mention that some people who aren’t “Snowbreak: Containment Zone” players have made some criticisms of our game and the creative direction we’re taking. But rest assured, we know who “Snowbreak: Containment Zone” is really meant to serve.
If there were a microphone, it should certainly be dropped after such a comment. Games of this nature are often vilified on social media or by game journalists who decry the depiction of attractive women in gaming as mere sexism. However, anyone with half a brain cell understands that sex sells; it always has and always will.
Rest assured, the developers of “Snowbreak” won’t bow to the raging cries of Twitter. They know their target audience and simply don’t care about the objections of anyone else.
For instance, the interviewer directly questioned the Japanese producer about the controversy surrounding Snowbreak Containment Zone and its heavy catering to the “male gaze.” The producer responded by highlighting the achievements the game has made, thanks to the passion and support of its current players.
The producer emphasized that these cries of sexism and misogyny won’t change their course. Given how well-received (and profitable) the interactive scene with Enya’s nurse skin were, they intend to release more enticing character outfits and interactive content in the future.
These distractions won’t do anything to shake our original goal. We still want to listen to the needs of our players and fulfill their needs. We believe that our sincere, hard work will elicit a positive response from players. So we prefer to not comment on any outside opinions, and I believe no one has the right to decide what is right and wrong in creative endeavors.
This statement is damning and undeniably true. In Western culture, there’s a growing trend among puritans to demonize the portrayal of female sexuality in gaming.
The mainstream games industry is undergoing a financial push towards Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)/Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), aiming to replace attractive female designs with more masculine and ugly creations.
Western activists and games journalists often criticize the depiction of attractive women in gaming, advocating for censorship, while simultaneously celebrating the sexualization of male characters, reflecting their personal preferences.
We’ve witnessed similar controversies in the past, such as the uproar over Solid Snake’s ass being censored in Fortnite, and the official XBOX Twitter account celebrating Dragon’s Dogma 2’s expanded options for customizing a man’s ass cheeks with “More.”
In today’s society, it often feels like being heterosexual is frowned upon, with straight individuals facing deliberate scrutiny and targeting. There’s a pervasive notion that being gay is socially acceptable, while being straight is not.
Games like Snowbreak face criticism from sensitive activists and their allies in games journalism who advocate for banning and censoring such content. Meanwhile, corporations worldwide, especially those supporting ESG/DEI initiatives, openly favor the vocal minority of homosexuals.
There’s a double standard where it’s deemed acceptable to admire a man’s physique, but doing the same toward a woman is often labeled as creepy, sexist, and wrong.
Anyway, I’m really glad that Snowbreak Containment Zone has found success after pivoting away from male characters and focusing on fanservice content, as seen clearly in their trailers.
Looking ahead, the developers intend to explore new possibilities for combat and multiplayer experiences. Coupled with future updates and enhanced interactive features, this trajectory promises to make their game even more popular in the future, with ample room for growth.
