1）手机游戏公司Gameview宣布旗下的《Tap Fish》登陆Android平台后，在18天中实现了50万次下载量（游戏邦注：该游戏在App Store已突破1000万次下载量）。更为惊人的是，该游戏的Android版本用户留存率高达85%，用户每天访问游戏时间超过了3次，他们共访问好友鱼缸100万次。该公司产品副总裁John Hwang表示，Android平台具有极大的社交游戏发展潜力，他们将《Tap Fish》移植到Android平台的原因在于，不少用户在好友的iPhone上看到或者在网上听说了这款游戏，所以Gameview就应这些用户的请求，推出该游戏的Android版本。

Tap Fish

2）App Store将限制“下载奖励”广告手段的消息令Tapjoy等不少第三方广告服务大为不满，但ModotM这家以“安装奖励”业务为主的公司却力挺这项苹果决策。该公司推行的是让用户自主点击无奖励的广告条幅这种运营模式，所以苹果这项决策不会对他们造成影响。ModotM的业务发展总监Rodney Witcher称苹果这项措施有利于杜绝App Store应用下载量的不健康竞争现象，重新规范应用排名的游戏规则，他表示条幅广告有利于促使真正的用户购买更多内置付费功能，并称他们感谢苹果的这项变革，期待更多开发者通过这种服务获得更多高质量的用户。

Zombie Farm

3）针对苹果或将取缔App Store应用非自然下载现象一事，iPhone免费游戏《僵尸农场》开发商The Playforge总经理兼副总裁Thomas Chung的看法是，他们理解苹果的做法，但这种政策并不能解决iOS生态圈中的应用曝光率问题。需要指出的是，《僵尸农场》采用的就是Tapjoy提供的服务，并因此在iPhone平台实现了1100多万下载量，成为苹果2010年iPhone综合免费游戏冠军。Thomas Chung称Tapjoy是免费应用开发商可使用的少数有效提高曝光率的工具之一，在多数用户并不付费玩游戏的情况下，Tapjoy的服务就成了他们重要的营收来源，因为比起常规的条幅广告，这种“下载奖励”服务可为开发商创造更多收益。

capcom beeline

4）Capcom公司成立了一家子公司Beeline Interactive，主要针对亚洲地区开发和发行手机社交游戏，打造一个Capcom原来的视频游戏业务截然不同的品牌。与此同时，Capcom还将其在北美的Capcom Interactive公司分别更名为Beeline Interactive USA和Beeline Interactive Canada。这家新公司的长期目标是为Capcom创造第二个稳定可靠的营收渠道，其地位与Capcom原传统掌机、PC游戏业务一样重要。据Capcom所称，这家新公司的海外社交游戏将通过其欧洲和北美公司发行，其运营方式会与Capcom传统的视频游戏项目非常不同。

install base

5）据Asymco数据预测，Android手机操作系统的安装基数将在一年内超过iOS。苹果iOS手机平台在4年中积累用户达1.91亿，而Android也在登台后的31个月中斩获8300万用户，按照这个增长率来算，Android安装基数将在今后12个月中超过iOS。

Pocket Legends

6）为庆祝MMO手机游戏《口袋传奇》诞生一周年，Spacetime Studios工作室宣布推出为期两周的大规模免费促销活动，向玩家免费派送原来的付费内容。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，转载请注明来源：游戏邦）

1）Gameview’s Tap Fish enjoys half a million Android installs in 18 days

It’s now assumed that successful iOS releases will attempt to mirror their performance on Android.

Gameview’s Tap Fish, which has already enjoyed 10 million downloads on the App Store, has just made the leap to Android Market.

And 18 days since launch, the firm claims installs are already over the 500,000 mark.

Tapping up success

“The Android platform holds tremendous opportunity for social mobile games,” said products veep John Hwang.

“Consumers have clearly embraced it, and there are several key distribution and monetisation opportunities that make it very appealing to us as developers.

“But the biggest reason we ported Tap Fish over to Android was the sheer volume of requests we got from consumers who had seen the game on their friends’ iPhones or heard about it online and simply had to have it for their Android devices.”

Such demand has lead to Tap Fish topping the free casual games charts and hitting the number five spot in the overall free games run down.

More impressive perhaps, the seven day retention rate for the Android version is over 85 percent, with users logging on more than three times a day and collectively registering 1 million visits to neighbour’s tanks. （source:pocketgamer）

2）Eliminating incentivised installs is great for iOS ecosystem says MdotM’s Rodney Witcher

The fall out from Apple’s decision to start rejecting updates to games using app incentivisation systems such as Tapjoy’s continues to fascinate.

One company operating in the same paid install space, but not using the same method, is US outfit MdotM.

Its business development director Rodney Witcher says he’s pleased with the changes Apple has made.

“Eliminating incentivised installs is great for the ecosystem,” he argues.

“Incentivised pay-per-install, which has from the beginning been 100 percent about gaming the App Store rankings, is unhealthy.”

For love, not money

This view is based on the company’s business model, which uses installs generated by people clicking on in-game advertising banners, without any incentives being offered.

“Banner pay-per-installs is about finding quality users who click on a banner because they’re interested in the content,” says Witcher.

“This change means freemium developers who have done very well with incentivised pay-per-installs will have to shift to banner installs, which is great for platforms like MdotM that excel at delivering real users who will do in-app purchases.

“Banner CPMs will go up for all, margins for freemium game developers will go down a little, users will do more in-app purchases, and users will see non-gamed [App Store] rankings.

“We thank Apple for making this change and are looking forward to working with developers to drive quality users to their applications.” （source:pocketgamer）

3）Playforge’s Thomas Chung on why Apple’s incentivisation rejection doesn’t solve iOS discoverability

It’s a worrying time for Tapjoy, and the iOS developers and publishers that use its incentivisation per-install model.

One such is iPhone freemium game Zombie Farm.

But despite the uncertainty, Thomas Chung, veep and general manager of developer The Playforge, says he can see why Apple would move to stop the business.

“It doesn’t want anyone gaming the system, because it leads to a diminished consumer experience,” he explains.

“The consumer experience is something Apple cares a lot about and it’s something developers such as The Playforge care about too. From that angle, we’re not looking to bite the hand that feeds, so ultimately we’re in favor of actions that create a better consumer experience, which will lead to a stronger long term ecosystem.”

One less tool

However, this feeling is tempered by the fact that Tapjoy’s service has been important for Zombie Farm, which has been downloaded over 11 million times on iPhone, and was the only top grossing freemium games in Apple’s 2010 iPhone list.

“It’s one less tool developers have to get their content discovered,” he says, of Apple’s decision to reject updates to games that use Tapjoy’s incentivisation scheme.

“It can also be a significant source of revenue for developers trying to monetise the vast majority of their user base who aren’t paying users.”

This is because developers who host such offerwalls in their apps earn more than if they just had standard banner ads.

Give me a spotlight

In addition, Chung argues the rise of popularity of such systems merely underlines the ongoing problem of getting your app or game noticed.

“There are some fundamental issues with discoverability on the App Store which don’t have an elegant solution yet,” he says.

“Obviously, Apple has done a lot of good things compared to the old mobile carrier models; now listing the top 300 apps on the App Store instead of just the top 50 is a move in the right direction, but it doesn’t fundamentally change the problem that only a very tiny percentage of a very, very large and very, very quickly growing library of applications is getting enough attention to make Apple’s ecosystem viable for developers.

“I think there’s plenty of room for companies to do something innovative to solve that problem, but it’s looking like Apple has decided that even though this issue hasn’t been solved, incentivised installs isn’t the best answer.”

The real issue now is that the only alternatives tend to play to the strengths of well funded publishers, who can afford large advertising campaigns, have access to brands or other marketing initiatives, or already have a network of millions of active users to whom they can cross promote.（source:pocketgamer）

4）Capcom sets up second key business unit Beeline to target social mobile games

Though its implementation of in-app purchases might have courted controversy, Capcom has enjoyed an undeniable amount of success and cash since it made social smartphone development a priority in 2010.

In particular, the company has made significant inroads on the North American and European markets with key mobile releases – Zombie Cafe, Lil’ Pirates and Smurfs’ Village collectively amassing downloads of more than 15 million.

Indeed, it’s made so much money the company is now setting up what it calls “a second brand for the development and distribution of original mobile content outside of the company’s celebrated intellectual property.”

Significantly, the new venture – called Beeline Interactive – won’t bear the Capcom name.

Second string

Instead Capcom will rebrand its US and Canadian Capcom Interactive operations as Beeline Interactive USA and Canada, also setting up a new Asia outfit.

“The market for video games has undergone dramatic changes in recent years,” the company said in a statement.

“The pace of change has been particularly fast in the mobile game market. Advances in the performance of cell phones along with the emergence of social networking services have attracted users in all areas of the world who had never before played a video game.”

Capcom believes the key to achieving the level of growth required is to focus specifically on the mobile social market.

Making a Beeline for success

One major target for Beeline will be targeting Asian markets.

But this is no token gesture – Beeline’s long term aim is to give Capcom a solid, second revenue stream, and a major hand in the smartphone market of equal priority to its existing, traditional console and PC gaming business.

“The content and target markets of these overseas social games, distributed mainly by subsidiaries in Europe and North America, are very different from Capcom’s conventional video game operations,” the company added.

“As a result, the overseas social game business must be differentiated from the Capcom brand. Capcom believes that this brand will help better appeal to the desired target market and help maximise the earnings of the entire Capcom Group.”（source:pocketgamer）

5）We’ve seen our fair share of reports and studies over the last year which show Android’s market share on the rise.  With each quarter that passes another survey comes out telling us that our favorite platform is doing better than the competition.  At some point all this Android momentum has to catch up and push the install base beyond Apple, right?  According to Horace Dediu of asymco, this could happen within a year.

Using data that starts from the launch of both Android and iOS platforms, Dediu plotted the known activations across each quarter.  Four years in, Apple has around 191 million cumulative users whereas Android is at 83 million after 31 months.  Factoring in the impressive growth rate and doing a bit of math, the Android install base should overtake Apple at some point in the next twelve months.

To be fair here, this takes everything as it is today and assumes nothing changes.  We have no idea what either company or platform will be doing six months from now, nor what sort of options are available to customers.（source:androidguys）

6）Pocket Legends Celebrates Anniversary By Setting All Premium Content Free for Two Weeks

Spacetime Studios is celebrating the one year anniversary of their popular MMO game, Pocket Legends, with a terrific promotion.  Starting today and running through May 4th, new and existing players can access all main premium areas at no cost. At three million downloads and counting, we can imagine lots of you guys running around places like The Ancient Swamps and Balefort Sewers over these next two weeks. Further, Spacetime Studios has also spruced up each town with anniversary decorations with items such as balloons, streamers, and of course, birthday cakes! As as excited as we are about the news, we can’t help but think that founder and Chief Vision Officer Cinco Barnes is a tad more amped up. Hit the break to watch Cinco LOCO in a clip that hearkens back to those 80′s commercials where ‘everything must go’!（source: androidguys）