The Long-Term Success of Naruto Mobile: Fandom Performativity and the Reconfiguration of Narrative World

Previous discourse centered on “reproduction fidelity” often fails to fully account for the decade-long vitality of Tencent's Naruto Mobile. This study challenges such text-centric perspectives, positing that the game's longevity derives not from a static transplantation of the original IP, but from a dynamic “reconfiguration of meaning” orchestrated through the interplay between fandom performativity and game mechanics. Synthesizing Mikhail Bakhtin’s Carnival theory, Ian Bogost’s Procedural Rhetoric, and Roland Robertson’s Glocalization, this research illuminates how the game effectively reconfigures four critical dimensions: space, power, ethics, and ontology. Specifically, the fandom space has transitioned from a static “Archive” to a dynamic “Performative Square,” fostering a “Digital Carnivalesque” where users enact playful resistance against the developer. In response, the developer has demonstrated strategic flexibility by assimilating this resistance into commercial vitality through “Hegemonic Incorporation.” Internally, the game’s mechanics function as pro-cedural rhetoric; high-difficulty gameplay compels players to physically embody the ethical narratives of sacrifice and perseverance, thereby bridging the gap between user and character. Furthermore, the potential exhaustion of the original narrative is circumvented through the fusion of Intangible Cultural Heritage and a Multiverse setting. This approach transcends mere localization, operating as an ontological expansion that constructs a new “Textual Actual World” and offsets cultural discount. Ultimately, this study demonstrates that the sustained success of IP games relies on the continuous renewal and expansion of the worldview, driven by the active performance of subjects rather than the preservation of the original text.