Lilith Games, recognized as one of the "Four Dragons" of Shanghai's gaming industry alongside miHoYo, HyperGryph, and PaperGames, has become a representative enterprise in Shanghai's gaming sector.

Recently, Lilith Games launched the global open beta for their heavily invested shooting game "Farlight 84". The game required 6 years of development with an investment of up to 1 billion yuan, but has shown mediocre performance since the open beta launch. Not only did the iOS version quickly drop out of the top 200 rankings, but the game has also received mixed reviews. On TapTap, numerous players have criticized the game for "copying Super People" and "imitating Apex Legends mobile".

For shooting games, fairness is paramount. Investigation reveals that third-party platforms like Xianyu currently host numerous sales of "Farlight 84 tech" cheats. Sellers claim these cheats can provide core functions like wall penetration, auto-aim, and target locking, while noting that the game's anti-cheat management is not strict. These cheats are priced as low as 5 yuan.

Furthermore, industry insiders reveal that "Farlight 84" faces numerous issues in both game quality and product positioning, closely related to previous changes in the core development team and major game engine modifications. They describe the game as a "patchwork monster" unable to compete with rivals like Tencent.

**Dismal Data and Rampant Cheating**

As a tactical shooting game, many players on social platforms mention that "Farlight 84" bears high similarity to the previously popular "Apex Legends" and "Super People" in gameplay mechanics.

Both games center on 3-4 person squads, with victory heavily dependent on coordinated teamwork, and each character having specific skills. Even detailed shooting mechanics, such as sliding and wall-jumping actions from "Apex Legends", can be seen in similar designs in "Farlight 84".

However, such gameplay is not popular in today's shooting game market that favors "loot, fight, extract" mechanics. In fact, "Farlight 84" had been operating in overseas markets for over two years before its August global open beta. During its peak period, the game attracted considerable players due to its similarity to "Apex Legends" and distinctive art style.

According to Steam Database statistics, the game peaked at over 40,000 concurrent players during peak hours. However, after official large-scale promotion and the global open beta launch, the Steam concurrent peak is only 5,000+, nearly one-tenth of its previous high.

Statistically, it cannot match "Apex Legends'" peak of nearly 200,000 concurrent players, let alone Tencent's "Delta Force", placing it in an extremely awkward position.

Additionally, according to FoxData statistics, since "Farlight 84's" August global open beta launch, the game's estimated iOS downloads total 367,000, with estimated revenue of $29,000 (approximately 200,000 yuan). Such revenue performance appears insignificant compared to Lilith's massive investment.

Industry insiders reveal that after a 1 billion yuan investment, the game's current performance is clearly failing. They noted: "Lilith's concept was fine, but they gradually deviated from their goals during strategic breakdown and execution. The first version was actually decent, but it got worse with each revision."

Furthermore, searching "Farlight 84 assist tech" on third-party platforms like Xianyu reveals numerous game cheats for sale, priced from 5 to 28 yuan. One seller stated that game cheats can achieve wall penetration and auto-aim in games, claiming many players use them without getting banned, making "ranking up as easy as drinking water."

Such rampant game cheating leads to poor player experience and has become a major point of player complaints. Lilith official was contacted regarding game revenue data and cheating issues, but no response was received by publication time.

**Internal Turbulence and Development Struggles**

"Farlight 84's" current situation is largely related to Lilith's constant wavering on the project.

Insiders reveal that "Farlight 84's" internal progress was not smooth, with the development team undergoing multiple changes and core gameplay receiving major revisions multiple times. The game evolved from initially wasteland punk style to hero battle royale mode, then to current "Apex"-like gameplay. Due to the need to accommodate both PC and mobile platforms, "Farlight 84" undoubtedly presented greater difficulty than other games Lilith had previously developed, resulting in a "patchwork" game lacking innovative experience.

Moreover, "Farlight 84" underwent major adjustments switching game engines from Unity to UE. The insider noted that significant technical architecture adjustments, major gameplay content changes, and constant core team turnover were the primary reasons for escalating development costs. Therefore, many people experience the game and feel it doesn't resemble a game made with 1 billion yuan and 6 years of development.

One player mentioned, "You can see shadows of 'Apex Legends', 'Palworld', 'PUBG Mobile' and other games, seemingly having its own characteristics but actually appearing 'neither fish nor fowl'. Fun elements like jetpacks were removed from the game, making it hard to say the game listens to player feedback." Other players noted that game optimization is inferior to "PUBG Mobile" and "Delta Force", with disconnection and lag issues still needing resolution.

The aforementioned insider stated that Lilith's core advantage lies in overseas markets, particularly excelling in SLG categories, fully demonstrated in games like "AFK Arena" and "Rise of Kingdoms". However, when undertaking the "Farlight 84" project, Lilith clearly lacked sufficient experience.

"Because shooting games and SLG games have enormous differences in gameplay, user demographics, and market competition patterns. When Lilith entered this field, they didn't fully consider their own experience deficiencies, causing this battle royale game to not only arrive late, missing the optimal market window, but also failing to intersect with the currently popular 'loot-fight-extract' mechanics, unable to attract players seeking novel gameplay," he pointed out.

As a gaming company focused on overseas markets, Lilith is typically an enterprise closely associated with its founders' style. Its three founders Wang Xinwen, Yuan Shuai, and Zhang Hao all previously worked at Tencent's Aurora Studio on the MMO game "Legend of Xuanyuan" project team. After starting their business, Lilith once faced turbulence due to intellectual property disputes.

The most recent controversy occurred in November 2024, when Lilith's "Party Animals" project team encountered problems. Four months after the game entered non-deletion testing, the project team underwent massive layoffs. Coincidentally, "Party Animals'" product attributes had too large a gap from Lilith's expertise in card and SLG mid-to-hardcore categories, becoming the most discussed issue externally. Industry personnel point out that current "Farlight 84" resembles last year's "Party Animals" project replay.

**Surrounded by Strong Competitors, Unable to Bear Heavy Pressure**

In recent years, Tencent has continuously invested heavily in shooting games. Its 2024 release "Delta Force" immediately attracted massive player attention upon launch. In Tencent's recent second-quarter financial report, Tencent disclosed that "Delta Force" daily active users exceeded 20 million, with revenue ranking in Tencent Games' top three. "Valorant Mobile", officially launched on August 19, leveraged its PC version popularity and Tencent's promotional capabilities to gain extremely high attention even before launch.

Under the pincer attack of these two heavyweight Tencent shooting games, Lilith's "Farlight 84" appears powerless to resist. Industry analyst Zhang Shule believes that "Apex Legends"-style shooting games are difficult to master. Although there have been quality titles previously, no true blockbusters have emerged. This conflicts with domestic game development approaches that emphasize artwork over storylines.

In his view, Lilith as a gaming newcomer, despite excelling in SLG games, tends toward artwork packaging but lacks expertise in shooting games. This caused "Farlight 84's" positioning to change repeatedly, ultimately becoming Lilith's habitual trendy "patchwork monster". Notably, Lilith's product line has always had a habit of chasing market trends, but this approach succeeds more by chance. Ten years of sword forging requires persistent goals; otherwise, changing tools mid-forging might result in ending up with scissors - neither fish nor fowl and weak in lethality.