In October 2006, the PC version of Xin Stars officially launched. At a time when smartphones were not yet ubiquitous, the primary gateway to online gaming was still a desktop computer—either at home or in an internet café.
Two years later, Taiwan’s online gaming market surpassed NT$10 billion for the first time. A 2008 survey by the Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (MIC) of the Institute for Information Industry found that Taiwanese players had been playing online games for an average of 4.8 years, but had typically stayed with any one game for only about 1.5 years.
The figures captured a long-standing challenge for the gaming industry. As the market expanded and new titles arrived one after another, players were constantly moving on to the next source of entertainment.
Against that backdrop, a game that survives for 20 years is worth examining.
From 2006 to 2026, Xin Stars has navigated the transition from PCs and web games to Facebook gaming, smartphones, the app economy and, more recently, the rise of short-form video. Throughout those shifts, the game has adapted to changing patterns of digital entertainment.
In July 2026, the brand officially dropped “Online” from its name, returning to the market simply as Xin Stars.
The rebranding gives the company a new identity, but it also raises a question that has long confronted the gaming industry: In a market where companies are constantly chasing the next hit, what allows a game born in the PC era to survive for two decades and remain part of players’ everyday routines?
From Chasing Hits to Building a "Forever Franchise"
The gaming industry has traditionally been driven by a cycle of new releases. Cutting-edge graphics, expansive worlds and novel gameplay mechanics draw players in. Once the excitement fades, the next title takes its place.
That model remains an important part of the business. But as games have evolved from one-time entertainment products into long-running, live-service experiences, the industry has embraced another approach: continually evolving the same game and allowing both the product and its players to grow over time.
Zynga Poker, launched in 2007, is one prominent international example. The game initially built its audience on Facebook before shifting its strategic focus toward mobile devices as social-platform traffic and player behavior changed. Zynga has used the term “forever franchises” to describe long-running game brands that extend their lifespans through data analytics, ongoing content updates and continuous engagement.
DoubleDown Casino, launched in 2010, and Slotomania, launched in 2011, followed similar paths. DoubleDown expanded beyond Facebook to Apple, Google and desktop environments, while Slotomania moved across the web, Facebook and mobile platforms. Both have maintained player engagement through regular updates.
What these games have in common is not that they have remained unchanged for more than a decade. Quite the opposite.
What they have preserved is the core entertainment experience. Around that foundation, their devices, interfaces, content, events and points of interaction with players have continued to evolve with the market.
For evergreen games, longevity is not about never changing. It is about knowing what should remain familiar—and what needs to evolve.
The Advantage of Evergreen Games: Familiarity, Not Age
Slot machines, bingo, fish arcade games and card and board games all have an inherent long-tail advantage. Their fundamental rules existed long before digital gaming.
Players do not need to absorb an elaborate storyline or spend hours learning the basics before they can begin. Each round offers a relatively self-contained experience, while sessions can be short or extended, making these games well suited to the fragmented moments of everyday life.
For a new game, one of the first challenges is teaching players what the game is and how it works.
Evergreen games have the opposite advantage: Players already understand the basic rules, account systems and controls. The challenge for operators is therefore to strike the right balance between familiarity and freshness.
Xin Stars illustrates that approach. As of August 2026, the platform featured 189 game halls, along with a scratch-card title called “Xin Stars Scratch Good Luck,” with regular updates scheduled every Wednesday.
Players can keep their existing accounts, controls and familiar ways of playing while being introduced to new machines, events and promotional collaborations.
Long-running titles such as the slot game Robin Hood (Prince of Thieves) and the fish arcade game Shark Big demonstrate the appeal of that model.
Players do not necessarily want an entirely new set of mechanics every time they return. An experience that is easy to understand, easy to repeat and familiar enough to pick up again at any time can sustain long-term appeal.
For evergreen games, then, the challenge is not to reinvent the wheel with every update. It is to introduce enough new content to keep players interested without forcing returning players to relearn the entire experience.
That balance—evolution within familiarity—is at the heart of long-term game operations.
Wherever Players Go, the Game Must Follow
Xin Stars’ 20-year history also mirrors the evolution of how people in Taiwan consume digital entertainment.
The game entered the market with a PC version in October 2006, followed by a web-browser version in September 2010. As smartphones became mainstream, the Android version launched in July 2011, followed by iOS in October 2012.
The shift coincided with the rapid adoption of smartphones and the broader movement of players from desktop PCs to mobile devices.
In October 2013, WANIN International acquired the global operating rights for Xin Stars and subsequently took over its product and market operations.
For a long-running digital game, keeping pace with changes in devices and platforms can be critical to survival.
Many classic games disappear not necessarily because players lose interest, but because the players move to new devices, operating systems or ways of consuming entertainment while the game fails to move with them.
Even when demand for the underlying gameplay remains, a game tied to an aging operating system, browser or distribution channel risks losing contact with its audience.
Keeping a game alive therefore requires more than updating its content. It also means ensuring that players can continue to access a familiar experience as they move to new hardware.
The launch of the WEB Hall in July 2023 marked another step in that evolution.
Unlike the discontinued legacy browser version, the current WEB Hall serves as a content-integration platform, bringing together titles from different game vendors.
With its presence across PC, mobile and WEB Hall, Xin Stars has evolved from a single game into a broader entertainment platform capable of hosting a wider range of content.
Today, Xin Stars operates across PC, Android, iOS and web environments. When players replace their phones or computers—or simply change how they consume entertainment—they can continue using their existing accounts and familiar routines.
Platform migration is therefore more than a technical upgrade. It helps ensure that relationships built with players over many years are not abruptly disrupted by changes in hardware or technology.
Beyond 5 Million Members: Player Habits Are Harder to Replicate Than Games
Xin Stars has accumulated more than 5 million registered members, with approximately 300,000 monthly active users (MAUs). Most are between the ages of 30 and 60.
The cumulative membership figure represents the platform’s reach over two decades, while the MAU figure reflects its current level of active engagement.
Taken together, the numbers highlight an important distinction between evergreen games and new releases.
New titles must acquire players quickly. Long-running games, by contrast, build value through years of accumulated engagement.
When engagement is measured in years rather than weeks or months, what players accumulate goes well beyond progress within a single game.
It includes their accounts, control preferences, familiarity with events and rhythms, and even their understanding of how customer service works.
After 20 years, the hardest asset to replicate may not be the game itself, but the habits players have built around it.
Those habits become an important part of the relationship between a platform and its audience.
But a larger and more established member base also brings greater responsibility.
Account security, transaction processes, information transparency, fraud prevention and protections for minors are no longer merely backend operational concerns. They become fundamental parts of the user experience.
In August 2022, Xin Stars voluntarily raised its rating to 18+ and introduced measures including mobile-phone account binding and playtime reminders.
Players can also view return-to-player (RTP) statistics based on machine payouts, as well as daily score leaderboards for themselves and their friends, directly within the game.
For a short-term hit, traffic and player acquisition can quickly determine whether a game succeeds or fails.
But when a platform is built to operate for decades, security, transparency and service quality become part of the product itself.
Trust is rarely built through a single announcement. It accumulates through every update, policy and interaction with the user experience.
When Brand Outgrows Product, "Online" Has Fulfilled Its Mission
In 2020, Xin Stars launched its first IP collaboration with Neon Genesis Evangelion. In 2025, it brought in Lee Da-hye as a brand ambassador.
Then, in July 2026, the company launched “Xin Stars Brand Month” and formally shortened the name from Xin Stars Online to Xin Stars.
Twenty years ago, “Online” represented a relatively new form of entertainment. The word signaled that players were no longer limited to a standalone machine. Instead, they could enter a continuously connected digital environment through the internet.
Today, the internet is simply part of everyday life. Being “online” is no longer a technological novelty that needs to be emphasized.
Dropping the word from the brand name therefore represents more than a simple exercise in naming.
As a brand reaches its 20th year, its value is no longer tied entirely to one device, one game or one access point. The natural next question becomes: Where else can two decades of player trust and brand recognition be applied?
From IP collaborations and celebrity endorsements to video, social-media content and offline events, Xin Stars’ recent initiatives have increasingly extended beyond gaming content itself.
For a two-decade-old brand, the strategic question shifts from how to keep players playing a particular game to where else a 20-year relationship with players can go.
That thinking is behind Xin Stars’ broader vision of “Pan-Entertainment” following the removal of “Online” from the brand name.
From its PC debut in 2006 to the Xin Stars brand of 2026, the past two decades represent more than the survival story of an aging game.
In a market driven by short-lived hits, evergreen games follow a different formula.
They preserve the core experience players already understand while continually refreshing the content around it. They move with players as hardware and platforms change. And as membership and engagement accumulate over the years, they expand their focus beyond the game itself to include account security, service and trust.
True longevity is not about remaining unchanged for 20 years. It is about knowing what must remain constant—and what must evolve.
Twenty years ago, “Online” marked Xin Stars’ entry into the digital entertainment market.
Two decades later, removing the word signals a new phase.
When a brand grows beyond a single device, game or portal, it is no longer simply competing for the next hit.
It is competing for something broader: where players will choose to spend their leisure time in the years ahead.
