不论是社交网络，手机应用还是游戏中心，全球各地的用户们都沉浸于各种游戏体验之中。然而，与过去不同的是现在的大部分玩家不再热衷于单机游戏，而是更享受在社交环境中体验各种品牌游戏。当然，不同的游戏之间也存在差距，因此品牌在进驻游戏之前必须进行一定的分析。

近年来，休闲游戏领域的年收入大约为20亿美元，并预计以20%的增长率稳步上升。

FarmVille & Mcdolands

对此，Fastpoint Games公司首席执行官Kelly Perdew认为现在人们已经十分适应于游戏机制。而Facebook社交网络和社交游戏的出现更是优化了游戏体验。Perdew指出游戏机制不仅可适用于游戏，还可与奖励程序，教育元素，培训项目等相结合。游戏机制可以影响表现，而现在很多大型组织也深深体会到这一效用。用户们被多姿多彩的游戏内容所吸引，一旦他们发掘其中乐趣，也就更不可自拔。

运用游戏的这一功能，品牌公司可以利用游戏吸引客户，开发多种盈利渠道。Perdew指出现在部分玩家已经习惯于在游戏中使用微支付。这种“免费增值模式”较之预付模式带来了更大的利润。尽管微支付的金额仅为预付金额的1/20，在游戏过程中，游戏开发公司收获的利润很高。

因此，实行免费游戏是所有品牌进军游戏领域时应该考虑的策略之一。另外，品牌公司还要了解玩家进行游戏的平台，根据各种设备的不同进行调整。

Perdew表示，虽然很多人认为好的品牌应该可以在手机设备的游戏中开发出如同笔记本电脑一样的游戏体验，事实上这是两个完全不同的平台。因此，开发商应该区分出手机游戏玩家的需求，而不是将整部游戏搬到手机平台上。

Perdew认为，随着智能手机使用率的提高，手机将成为一个更加广泛的游戏前沿。“用户总希望可以随时满足自己的需要。如果他们想玩游戏，那么希望马上玩到游戏。”。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，转载请注明来源：游戏邦）

Whether on social networks, mobile apps or gaming hubs, consumers around the globe are engaging with games. But, unlike the past, most gamers aren’t playing solitary games, they are playing branded games in social atmospheres. Not all games are created equally, however, so brands need to know what works and what doesn’t before they log on.

Casual games brings in more than $2 billion each year with an expected annual growth rate of 20%.

“I think that more people are comfortable with game dynamics, the engagement with Facebook and the social games inside is building that comfort level even more,” said Kelly Perdew, CEO of Fastpoint Games. “Game mechanics are applicable over more than just games. We’re looking at more sophisticated rewards programs, educational elements, training programs. Gamer mechanics drive behavior and large organizations are seeing that now. Content hooks [consumers] and once they see the fun factor, they become even more involved.”

What’s more the theory behind gaming can be translated to work within a number of other revenue streams by sending branded messages through a game to engaged consumers.

Fastpoint Games is the leader in fantasy sports games with users averaging 9:40 and just over 10 pageviews per visit. The company has launched 57 games for 15 clients across 21 sports/entertainment seasons over the past 14 months.

“Right now people are becoming very comfortable using micro-payments to play games,” said Perdew. “We have seen that ‘freemium’ models actually generate more revenue than revenue from people playing premium models. Even though [gamers] are making payments that are 1/20th the amount [of premium players], over the course of the game play, we are getting more revenue.”

So, allowing gamers to play for free is one thing brands need to consider while they are in the game creation phase. Another tip, think about where consumers will play, and make allowances based on screen size.

“A lot of people think that Brand A can create the same feel from a desktop [ game] in a mobile device, but mobile is a different place,” said Perdew. “Efforts need to be focused on the things that mobile users want to do on their mobile device – not on the whole game, because putting an entire game on a mobile screen isn’t feasible and won’t transfer.”

Perdew suggests that mobile will become a bigger playing on the gaming front as smartphones become more widespread.

“Users want what they want when they want it. If they want to play a game, they want to play at that moment and not later on,” said Perdew. （Source：bizreport）