66RPG

Beijing Liuqu Network Technology Co., Ltd., operating as 66RPG.com and more prominently as Cheng Guang (橙光), functions as a user-generated interactive fiction platform. The company's origins trace back to 2005, when Liu Xiaoyu (柳晓宇), then a student at Tsinghua University and a passionate independent game developer, created the 66RPG.com forum. Initially, it served as a community hub for Chinese RPG Maker enthusiasts to share game design tutorials, assets, and their creations, gaining early traction with Liu's own game, "Legend of the Black Sword" (黑暗圣剑传说).

After graduating and working as a product manager for three years, Liu Xiaoyu decided to pursue his vision of games as an artistic medium. In 2012, he formally established Beijing Liuqu Network Technology Co., Ltd., evolving the initial forum into a commercial enterprise. The business pivoted from its RPG Maker roots after observing a significant trend: the immense popularity of palace intrigue games, spurred by shows like "The Legend of Zhen Huan." This revealed a large, underserved market for female-oriented games. Consequently, the platform transitioned to focus on text-based, interactive visual novels, particularly catering to a female audience, which now constitutes about 85% of its users and creators.

The company's core offering is the "Cheng Guang Game Creation Tool," a user-friendly editor that allows individuals to create interactive, choice-driven stories with text, images, and music without needing to code. This has cultivated a self-sustaining ecosystem where players become creators. The platform operates on a freemium model, with most revenue generated from end-users (B2C). Players can purchase in-game items or unlock content, and the revenue is split between the platform and the contracted authors, a model that has enabled some creators to become full-time developers. A secondary but growing revenue stream is the monetization of intellectual property (IP). Successful games on the platform, such as "Counterattack of the Star Path" (逆袭之星途闪耀) and "A Lonesome Fragrance Waiting to be Appreciated" (好色千金), have been licensed for adaptation into TV dramas, web series, and comics, with the company and original author sharing the benefits.

Keywords: interactive fiction, visual novels, game development platform, user-generated content, online games, mobile games, female-oriented games, Chinese gaming, Beijing Liuqu Network Technology, Cheng Guang, Liu Xiaoyu, IP licensing, game creation tool, interactive storytelling, text-based RPG, visual novel maker, otome games, online community, digital content