What is a voice chat app

A voice chat room is an online community where you can talk with other users in a private setting. This type of room can be used for a variety of purposes, such as meeting with clients, or resolving issues with business partners. Many online communities have voice rooms where users can communicate about anything from scheduling meetings or seminars, to discussing product and service updates and news.

What is the Yalla voice chat app

Yalla Voice Chat App is an app that aims to connect groups of users, providing a source of connection for those who want to make friends from different corners of the world, have fun voice calls, play games!

Application Name	Yalla Voice Chat app
Launch Year	2020
Headquarters regions	Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)
Countries	50+
Apkpure ratings	6.3/10
Revenue	63.5 million
Primary income source	In-app virtual item purchases, premium membership upgrades.
Integrations	Google Drive, Dropbox Business, Mailchimp, Google Analytics, Evernote Teams, Freshbooks, Zapier, Google Calendar, Adobe Campaign, CallTrekkingMetrics, Visual Visitor

Why is Yalla so popular

Reviewing the growth and development of Yalla, the company was established in 2016 and launched its first voice group chat product named after itself in the same year. As the first pure voice social product in the Middle East and North Africa, Yalla quickly established a foothold in the Middle Eastern voice chat market with highly localized content and product design. Products like Yalla Chat also rapidly gained market recognition in a short period.

After acquiring a substantial user base through social products, Yalla began to venture into lightweight games. Launched in 2018, “Yalla Ludo” marked the beginning of Yalla’s gaming business and was the first Ludo game to integrate voice chat room functionality. To date, this product still generates over $9 million in monthly global revenue, firmly becoming the core revenue generator for Yalla’s gaming business.

Seeing the immense potential brought by the combination of Ludo and voice chat rooms, Yalla subsequently launched other products such as “Yalla Parchis” in South America, “Yalla Baloot” in Saudi Arabia, and “101 Okey Yalla” in Turkey, which integrate voice chat rooms with local games. However, in terms of revenue and product performance, these products have not reached the heights of “Yalla Ludo.”

From left to right: Yalla Parchis, Yalla Baloot, 101 Okey Yalla

“Merge Kingdoms” is the first SLG game to incorporate a voice chat room system.

In fact, for hardcore SLG players, real-time communication is a significant service requirement. During alliance battles, there is often a need for long and intensive communication, and players might typically use third-party apps like Discord or TT for real-time communication. However, running multiple apps can sometimes affect stability. Integrating a built-in voice room is arguably the most “direct” approach.

Merge Kingdoms Voice Chat Room

Starting with the gameplay of “Merge Kingdoms,” newcomers are first introduced through a tutorial lasting about 5-10 minutes. The game adopts the mainstream COK-Like gameplay of the Middle East and has been significantly simplified to suit the preferences of big spenders in the region.

Specifically, “Merge Kingdoms” shares similar gameplay mechanics with “Top War” (Pocket Soldiers), utilizing a sliding synthesis gameplay style. It eliminates the tedious steps of collecting resources, upgrading buildings, and troops, and includes features like “2x speed battle” and “skip,” allowing players to simply click on buildings to gather resources, drag to merge, and enter battles.

Beyond the COK gameplay, “Merge Kingdoms” also incorporates a hero development system. In battles, heroes attack before soldiers, and higher-level and higher-grade heroes can inflict more damage, further shortening battle durations.

Looking solely at the gameplay design, “Merge Kingdoms” is indeed lightweight and extremely easy for newcomers, fitting well with players’ expectations for SLG games. However, it’s undeniable that overly simplified gameplay might reduce player retention in the later stages. Nevertheless, the addition of voice chat rooms effectively helps counter potential fatigue.

By clicking the small house icon on the bottom left of the main interface, players can enter the voice chat room. Besides the first “Alliance Room,” players are free to enter any other chat room.

In addition to individual voice chat rooms, Yalla has also integrated a gifting system, leaderboards, mini-games, and music playback into the voice chat rooms—common features in live streaming. In the voice chat rooms, if you’re interested in a topic, you can instantly become a “room host” to start the discussion, and other users can join the conversation and express their feelings through gifts. If you prefer to play the game while chatting, you can use the “hang up” feature, and the voice chat room will appear as a small widget on the side of the main interface.

With its comprehensive features, even users who prefer chatting and social interactions can use the voice chat room of “Merge Kingdoms” as a standalone app, adding the game as another topic of discussion. During the experience, the chat content in multiple rooms is very diverse, covering game strategies, daily life, and other topics.

The game itself acts more like a tool to attract users, while the voice chat room is the core point for converting target users. In the course of the game, users enter the voice chat room for purposes such as making friends or seeking game strategies. Through interaction, they gradually develop more social needs. Ultimately, most users who prefer social interaction may return to the functionality of the voice chat room, while gaming users are likely to use the voice chat room as a voice device during alliance battles.

Understanding the Founder’s Vision

Advising new business ventures is filled with complexities, from understanding a founder’s vision to guiding them through financial, market, and operational hurdles. However, by building strong relationships, staying informed, and focusing on practical solutions, advisors can make a significant impact on the success of a startup.