Zhengtu 21st Anniversary Event in Dunhuang Reveals New Circle Feature
The Zhengtu (征途) franchise closed out its 21st anniversary offline celebration in Dunhuang, China, gathering invited players from across the series alongside members of the various product development teams. The event was built around a “Sandbank Family Banquet” theme and framed by the tagline “twenty-one years of good brothers, riding the same road to escort cargo again.” Over the course of a single day, attendees moved from face-to-face feedback sessions with designers to real-world versions of the MMORPG’s signature activities, before closing the night with a bonfire gathering and several announcements about the franchise’s future.
On the day of the gathering, invited players and developers met under open sky for a direct exchange, extending the franchise’s long-running “co-create Zhengtu” development principle from the game into an offline setting. Players raised ideas on daily experience, gameplay optimization, welfare events and future versions, and brought accumulated questions and suggestions straight to the designers. Organizers said the developers listened closely and that which experiences should be preserved and which details still needed improvement were discussed in concrete terms. Ten veteran players, including well-known community figures and commanders, later took the stage to share memories spanning escort runs, national wars and guild life.
Attendees went through a live version of the game’s character creation flow, passing through a 21st anniversary themed server, choosing a nation, drawing a guild and unlocking a personal character name before forming teams for a “trial Zhengtu” run. At Qingyuan Village, the familiar NPC Wen Guang greeted players with quiz challenges and a brick-carrying activity; at Longgang Mountain, teams used dart-throwing to take down a “Mountain King” boss and won in-game gifts, while a ring-toss station let them pick a preferred warhorse. The centerpiece was the escort sequence: players took a contract from Escort Chief Zheng, rode camels across the dunes, joined robbery interactions and photo checkpoints, swapped cargo through an arm-wrestling challenge, and finished with a desert off-road vehicle charge.
The Zhengtu IP officially announced a long-term collaboration with the Dunhuang Art Museum, introduced through a video explaining the origins of the partnership. Over the coming months, flying apsaras and other Dunhuang cultural elements will be added both inside and outside the game. A lottery for a “Flying Apsara Honor Collection Award” offered Luo Xinchun’s painting “Dunhuang Mogao Caves Musicians Flying Apsaras” as the prize. Giant Network vice president and Zhengtu franchise head Xiaojian then joined ten honored players to launch a star cluster naming ceremony, handing out naming certificates, and revealed three upcoming anniversary tournaments. The night’s biggest reveal was Zhengtu Circle, a “play, watch and share” sidebar feature that will roll out across multiple Zhengtu titles. For a franchise this old, anchoring the anniversary in a real cultural partnership and a built-in sharing hub looks like a practical way to keep long-time players connected.
