In 2026, this top-tier Tencent game decided to "reinvent itself"

Recently, *Dungeon & Fighter: Origin* (the DNF mobile game) received a major Lunar New Year update and, thanks to its outstanding market performance, surged to the No. 2 spot on the best-seller charts.

At the same time, the organizers held a hybrid event combining online and offline activities in Xi’an, the ancient capital with a history spanning over a thousand years. Not only did they use a drone formation within the Tang Dynasty Peony Garden to spell out the giant slogan “Heroes, log in! See you in the dungeon!”, but they also illuminated a massive 35-meter-long Celia blessing lantern, presenting all players with a grand lighting ceremony.Furthermore, they brought various familiar elements from the game—blending traditional culture with the rich history of Chang’an—directly into the real world, creating a delightful cultural feast.

Taking this opportunity, the teahouse was invited to participate in the event and had a good chat with Jie San, the producer of the DNF mobile game. In his view, Chinese players have a strong affinity for traditional culture, and precisely because there hasn’t been much of this in the past, it creates a sense of novelty. He also noted that 2026 will mark the beginning of a major shift in the core development philosophy of the DNF mobile game; the development team’s goal is to turn the game into a top-tier product that can be operated long-term for ten years or more, just like the PC version.

01

Deep Integration of Online and Offline Experiences: Using Cultural Essence to Resonate with Players’ “Emotional Connection”

It was a cold night, with temperatures hovering around 4 degrees Celsius. After standing there for just a moment, you could feel the bone-chilling cold seeping into every part of your body, but even that couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the DNF Mobile players.

At around 8:00 p.m., an array of drones slowly took off from one side of the Datang Furong Garden, forming iconic images in the sky—including the Celestial Beast, Selia, and the DNF Portal—before finally illuminating the massive 35-meter-long Selia Blessing lantern below.

Soon, slogans such as “Log in, warriors—see you in the dungeon” and “2026 is also a year full of hope” appeared in the sky. The relatively small open space was packed with people in layer upon layer of crowds, all pulling out their phones—which were emitting puffs of steam—to capture this meaningful moment.

Xie San told me that one of the main reasons Xi’an was chosen as the host city for this DNF Mobile offline event is that, as a millennium-old capital, its rich cultural heritage and authentic “Chinese New Year spirit” are a perfect fit. This is not merely about showcasing the city’s charm, but also about conveying to all Warriors the purest festive atmosphere and sentiment rooted in traditional culture.

To this end, the DNF Mobile development team visited Xi'an last October to gather inspiration. They ultimately chose the iconic Tang Dynasty Peony Garden as the venue, meticulously designed the space, and invited traditional artisans specializing in intangible cultural heritage to organically blend the game’s content with traditional culture in a unique way.

To be honest, I really did sense a different atmosphere at the event. You could see Celia’s exquisite paper cutouts, as well as chibi clay figurines of various characters. Of course, the most popular attraction was the sugar art—the traditional Chinese zodiac animals had been replaced by all kinds of weapons from the DNF mobile game, and the line of players stretched as far as the eye could see.

For a game rooted in Korean-style elements, the fact that it manages to incorporate so many traditional Chinese elements without feeling out of place actually gave me a sense of novelty and familiarity unlike anything I’ve experienced before.

In Jie San’s view, this is a direct expression of DNF Mobile players’ sense of identity and cultural belonging.

In the past, DNF has hosted countless offline events, which have greatly enhanced players’ sense of identity. However, for the DNF Mobile development team, another issue worth considering is how to better serve Chinese players by integrating online and offline experiences and deeply embedding them into the game, while incorporating the unique features of the Chinese server to create a truly immersive experience for players.

He explained that while the topic might sound abstract, the DNF mobile game is actually trying to make it happen.In addition to the offline collaboration events for this campaign, players entering Selia’s room in-game will notice distinct “changes” that haven’t been seen before. For instance, various NPCs are dressed in elegant Tang-style attire, the background music takes on a different “flavor”—featuring elements and rhythms from the traditional classic “Jasmine Flower”—and the entire Chang’an scene has even been directly integrated into the game, becoming an integral part of the gameplay experience.

Xie San candidly remarked, “Many players have a deep-seated connection to and love for traditional Chinese culture. Although *DNF Mobile* is a Korean game, since we’re serving Chinese players, we definitely need to incorporate more content that appeals to them. So, we’ll continue to deliver content inspired by Chinese aesthetics and traditional culture.”

Behind all of this lies a shift in the operational philosophy of the DNF mobile game development team. On the one hand, the team is placing greater emphasis on the unique characteristics of the Chinese server. This is evident in the content released this year, which clearly shows that there are now differences between the content launched on the Chinese and Korean servers. This is also a message of confidence that the development team hopes to convey to players: they have both the willingness and the determination to make distinct investments in the Chinese server ecosystem.

On the other hand, the development team has placed significant emphasis on innovative interpretations of traditional culture. For example, this event featured a Celia-themed roly-poly doll and a giant maze at the center of the venue. In addition to traditional poetry, there were also many acrostic poems incorporating elements from *DNF*. These are all commendable efforts. The team believes that traditional culture should not be conveyed through mere preaching or forced indoctrination; instead, it should be subtly integrated into the gaming experience to resonate with players, which is a key consideration for the development team.

Speaking of which, I suddenly recalled something that struck me on the night of the event. When Celia was taking questions on the main stage, she had originally intended to invite a female player to come up. However, once this “female player” took the stage, she immediately clarified that she wasn’t a player at all, but a family member of a player. Later, during the group photo, she not only asked if a male player could join them on stage but also brought her son up to be in the picture.

Xie San, on the other hand, finds this perfectly normal. As the younger generation of players grows up, starts families, and builds careers, they naturally want to share the things they love with their children. However, he also noted that this serves as an implicit incentive for development teams, pushing them to figure out how to make better games and cater to a wider range of players.

He gave me a simple example: many players today face significant pressure in their real lives—including stress from work, family, and society. So you can’t expect them to work at the office during the day and then come home at night only to keep working in the game; that kind of experience defeats the whole purpose.Therefore, for them, even if it means sacrificing some short-term metrics, they need to adjust the pace. When it comes to fun, having just one main course clearly isn’t enough; there needs to be more variety (in gameplay, elements, and culture) to accommodate both new and existing users. So, they value not only gameplay content but also a wider range of themes and cultural elements.

New Event in Collaboration with Datang Never-Sleeping City

Therefore, in Jie San’s view, this offline event is more of a new experiment—not simply an event for the sake of holding one, but rather an opportunity to explore how, building on the existing foundation, the game’s mechanics can be reimagined to create a deep integration with the traditional culture beloved by the general public. This vision has also received strong support from the local cultural and tourism community in Xi’an; the combination of official endorsement and in-depth collaboration has made this offline event particularly significant.

In their general view, Chinese players identify with traditional culture, and precisely because such content has been scarce in the past, it evokes a sense of inexplicable novelty. Whether it’s the game’s setting, world-building, music, character designs, or other elements, once they interact with traditional culture, they can spark an emotional connection among players—which is exactly the outcome the development team hopes to achieve by increasing their investment.

02

Transforming our core philosophy to create leading products that “define the future”

Regarding the future and outlook for the DNF mobile game, Producer Xie San also revealed to me that the team views 2026 as a “year full of promise” and the beginning of a major shift in the game’s direction. The goal is to establish the game as a top-tier title with a long-term operational lifespan of ten years or more, just like the PC version. To achieve this goal, Tencent will deepen its collaborative R&D partnership with Neople to address previous shortcomings in iteration speed and strategic direction.

When it comes to the transformation of the product’s core philosophy, Xie San summarizes it as “main course, signature dish, and side dish”—three core levels of content.

First and foremost, the main course must be well-executed and stand on its own. In his view, the core content of DNF can be divided into two dimensions: action gameplay and RPG progression, and the development team still has significant room for improvement in both areas.

For example, when it comes to classes, different classes in DNF have distinct roles and require their own unique playstyles. To prevent classes in the DNF mobile game from becoming too homogeneous—and thus losing their original charm and appeal—the development team may emphasize class characteristics through adjustments to stats, skills, and test scenarios.

The all-new Male Cleric class

When it comes to combat—which is equally important—Xie San hopes the rules and mechanics can be more diverse. He mentioned that, just as PC games have a resilience system, combat logic wouldn’t be one-dimensional; in addition to dealing damage with major skills, minor skills and status effects would also have their place. By combining level design, class playstyles, and strategic depth, the game aims to truly establish its core action gameplay.

In addition, he pointed out that in the current version of DNF Mobile, the emphasis on numerical progression is somewhat excessive, which has prompted the development team to re-evaluate the progression system.With the goal of maintaining economic balance and combating the black market, the game’s economic system was designed to be somewhat conservative in its early stages. This has, to a certain extent, limited the vitality of market circulation, resulting in a lack of short-term mechanisms—beyond the long-term stat-building through enhancement and buffs—that could stimulate the market or increase the value of grinding for in-game currency. Therefore, in the future, the economic system will be developed to be more robust and impactful.

Current main sources of income from bricklaying

Compared to the core content of the main dishes, the "featured dishes" are more focused on exploring new gameplay mechanics. Beyond traditional raid and disaster instances—which tend to emphasize numerical progression—we can make bold experiments in both social and competitive gameplay. For example, if the current game lacks social interaction and has inefficient economic circulation, we might prioritize launching "featured dishes" that significantly enhance these experiences. Such content can provide long-term enjoyment and even create self-sustaining gameplay loops.

Antun Hard Mode: The All-New "Strike Command" Gameplay

At the same time, however, he emphasized that players won’t need to grind excessively to access this content; some optional achievements will remain. This means that casual players can stop at around 70–80 percent completion without falling too far behind top-tier players, thereby reducing anxiety about progress.

Only after confirming that both of the above are in order, and if there is still time and resources available, might the development team turn their attention to lighter, more casual content. This content may have absolutely no connection to the main storyline; it is simply an exploration and experimentation with certain entertaining gameplay mechanics.

The popular "Chang'an Horse Racing" event

Aside from gameplay, content updates are also a major focus for players. This is especially true for MMOs, where content consumption is virtually an unavoidable challenge; effectively addressing this issue inevitably hinges on the team’s productivity and efficiency.

Over the past year, the pace of updates for *DNF* Mobile has improved significantly. Surprisingly, however, during my conversation with He Jian, he still felt that more needed to be done, and a rare candor shone through his words.

He said with great sincerity, “In the past, when we released content, our main consideration was to keep players motivated to keep playing.In my view, the most important driving force for the DNF mobile game is the progression system. The problem is that if we release too much content, players find it exhausting to keep up; if we release too little, a lull in activity sets in quickly. This was especially evident during last year’s Spring Festival, when the development team noticed a strong demand from players for new content, yet the Invisible Equipment update wasn’t released until March.”

An equipment system that makes character progression more linear

"The problem was that, at the time, we couldn’t be sure whether the content we released would be enough to keep players engaged during that period. However, certain design flaws meant that neither the Intangible Gear nor the 70B Gear served as a sustained draw for players."

Fortunately, however, after a full year of continuous updates, the issues regarding content and gameplay have been largely addressed. In particular, as communication and cooperation between Tencent and the Korean team have become closer and more efficient, we can expect to see even more concrete actions this year.

On the one hand, the progression system will reduce the emphasis on randomness. Since the first three seasons have been dominated by the Abyss, many players have found it difficult to reach endgame content. Therefore, the addition of some linear elements will help mitigate the uncertainty caused by randomness to a certain extent.

On the other hand, the upcoming Season 4 will feature some adjustments. Typically, a full season lasts eight months, but the development team will make adjustments to the content of the preceding and following seasons in four-month cycles. For example, the secondary progression track set to launch in four months will include the Hard mode for raids.

The newly released Antaeus Hard Mode

In addition, there will be significant changes in content between the two seasons. In particular, next season will no longer feature progression-based content that requires everyone to keep up; instead, the choice will be returned to the players. In terms of the overall experience, the development team hopes to create a sense of "ebb and flow," giving players the opportunity to take a break.

It is worth noting that Xie San specifically emphasized that at least two major new game modes will be launched in the DNF mobile game this year—exclusive content not yet seen in the PC version or the Korean server. As for new classes, updates will follow last year’s pace, prioritizing and frequently introducing the classes most requested by players to meet the needs of the majority.

Conclusion

Toward the end of the interview, we discussed our views on players and how to communicate with them. While this is a rather sensitive topic for most developers, Jie San was still very candid in sharing his thoughts with me.

“In terms of operational strategy, DNF Mobile has undergone a fundamental shift. In the past, players often viewed the developers as cold, authoritative figures, but in reality, we now approach our work from a perspective of looking up to the players and serving them. That’s why we’re constantly finding ways to create more opportunities to interact with everyone face-to-face, including this collaboration event in Xi’an, where Charlie was surrounded by players offline and subjected to a barrage of questions.”

"Of course, we also regularly organize meetings with player representatives—such as streamers, content creators, and guild leaders—and listen to player feedback through live streams and forum posts. We want to convey a clear message to our players: even if we can’t resolve issues immediately due to production constraints, we will openly share our official plans and timelines with them. This timely feedback demonstrates our commitment and sincerity."