游戏邦：不少中国社交游戏开发商只有在海外市场才能成功盈利，有人称这一点与国内SNS平台开放性、平台与开发商分成比例、用户付费意愿关系紧密，Kabam为何在中国组建游戏工作室？在你们看来，中国市场的最大发展机遇是什么（用户规模或开发人才）？

李伟宁：我们之所以成立北京办事处，不仅仅是出于成本或用户方面的考虑，而主要是因为我们认为中国的的游戏开发人才资源非常丰富，在某些情况下人员的招聘工作比起在硅谷来也要更加容易；在硅谷，我们需要与许多诸如谷歌、Facebook和Twitter这样实力雄厚的大型企业以及其它一些社交游戏创业公司竞争。中国在免费游戏以及MMORPG（大型多人在线角色扮演游戏）市场上领先于世界其他地区，这里的劳动力供应状况非常适合我们所开发的游戏产品类型。

李伟宁（Andy Lee）

游戏邦： Kabam一向擅长开发锁定硬核用户的社交游戏，也有不少行业观察者看好这类游戏的发展前景，认为它比一般的休闲类社交游戏更容易创造收益，而Kabam游戏玩家的付费意愿也相对更高，能否举例谈谈你们的看法？（例如Kabam游戏的MAU、付费转化率等）

李伟宁：这真的需要你去了解受众群的构成以及他们希望获得哪种游戏体验。硬核玩家是那些从小接触内容丰富、玩法引人入胜的游戏而长大的群体。但我们看到，但针对这一群体的Facebook游戏市场仍然有待开发，所以就利用这一契机，开始针对硬核玩家设计符合他们需求的游戏体验。Kabam的所有游戏都结合了大型多人在线策略和角色扮演游戏引人入胜的玩法，同时又植入了社交游戏的交互性。另外，Kabam的游戏还具有同步功能，让玩家可以结成联盟，实时与世界各地的千百万其他玩家合作或对抗，获得持续性的游戏体验，而非短时间的“休闲”社交游戏体验。我们的游戏产品更加重视战略和竞争元素，确实是更受硬核玩家青睐的类型。

当游戏更具粘性时，玩家投入其中的时间也会更长，付费意愿也会更高。虽然我们不能透露具体营收数据，但可以告诉你的是，我们最近针对Kabam用户和一大批社交游戏玩家展开的一项调查表明，Kabam玩家体验游戏的频率更高，时间也更长—— 我们的用户中约70％的人每次都会花一个小时以上的时间玩游戏，几乎是其他非Kabam游戏玩家的三倍。这说明游戏的用户粘性很高，我们的项目运营很乐观。

游戏邦：您认为Kabam游戏能否在中国的SNS平台复制在Facebook上的成功？原因是什么？

李伟宁：就目前来讲，这一点还很难说，因为我们仍在研究中国社交游戏市场的情况。在用户游戏习惯、游戏公司向用户推广游戏并与其互动方面，中国SNS市场与Facebook非常不同。此外，目前社交游戏平台仍未发展成熟，这意味着，它们还需要一段时间才能为游戏开发商创造一个开放而公平的竞争环境。但中国网络游戏和在线策略游戏已凭借众多高保真游戏，发展成为一个相当成熟的市场。综上所述，我们乐观地认为，中国SNS游戏生态系统最终将经过不断发展，支持像Kabam这样的公司进军这一市场并获得成功。

游戏邦：Kabam进军中国市场可有遇到障碍？你们怎么解决这些问题呢？

李伟宁：在中国，我们是一家外国公司，所以我们在中国的运营会受到一些限制。大多数外国公司解决这一问题的方法是选择与当地企业合作，通过他们发行产品，组建合资企业或投资/收购一家本地公司。

游戏邦：能不能介绍下Kabam中国工作室的发展情况？Kabam中国工作室主要负责对公司游戏进行本土化处理以投放中文市场，还是打算针为国内用户量身打造更具本土特色的Kabam社交游戏？

李伟宁：我们的中国工作室成立于2010年5月，到2010年12月底，成员数量已经增加到40名，并迁入了更大的新办公室。目前我们的员工数量已经超过80人，并正在装修更大的办公空间。我们在全球各地的工作室，包括我们的北京办事处，会考虑进入中国市场以及其他主要亚洲国家的市场。

游戏邦： 针对中国用户付费意愿偏低的问题，Kabam有什么对策吗？你们的游戏如何才能获得相对可观的收益？

李伟宁：我们一般不发表与营收有关的评论，但我们的游戏锁定的并非那些所谓的休闲社交游戏玩家，而是那些青睐更具深度和可持续性游戏体验的硬核玩家。

游戏邦：Facebook要求平台游戏开发商在今年7月1日起统一绑定Facebook Credits作为游戏虚拟货币系统，Kabam开始采取行动了吗？这种情况会对Kabam游戏产生哪些影响？

李伟宁：Kabam也将按照7月1日的最后时限绑定Facebook虚拟货币，以保证玩家的利益不受损害，这也是Kabam最为重视的一点。Facebook为其货币系统提出了一个宏大的市场构想，这将提高所有游戏开发商的微交易总量——相信在未来12个月，整个业界都会看到这一进程的发展结果。但我们目前还没有与Facebook Credits相关的数据或经验，所以暂时无法深入评价此事。

游戏邦：据称社交游戏最近开始出现向传统游戏看齐的趋势，比以往更加重视游戏质量和用户体验，一些社交游戏已开始要求用户玩游戏前，先安装一个插件以保存数据并缩短加载时间，比如Zynga旗下的《FrontierVille》最近就正在测试类似的功能，你们对此有何看法？Kabam游戏也会采取同样的行动吗？

李伟宁：我们的游戏产品与Zynga的休闲游戏有很大的不同，实际上，我们在业内是以为用户提供高品质、富有深度的游戏体验而闻名。我们的侧重点是创新和取悦用户，所以我们持之以恒地寻求打造新一代、具有高度娱乐性的游戏体验。这一工作包括在开发过程中融入现实主义艺术、各种新功能和具有竞争力的游戏设计，这就像我们在《全球战争》（Global Warfare）中引入MMO游戏的制作和战略资源的准则一样，同时也很重视提高图形质量和游戏保真度。

global-warfare(from thedisruptor.wordpress.com)

游戏邦： Kabam最近推出的《Global Warfare》颇受好评，它的风格极像即时战略游戏，但同时又是一款异步社交游戏，能不能详细介绍这款游戏的社交机制，以及你们对它的项目延伸计划？

李伟宁：我们所有的游戏都是同步的，没有“异步”，这也是它们不同于农场、宠物、水族馆或城市建设等休闲类异步游戏的一点。

• 《全球战争》是业界第一款将MMO游戏和军事/现代战争主题引进社交网络的社交游戏。

• 与其他的社交游戏——包括Kabam之前的MMSG（大型多人在线社交游戏）相比，其主题和功能系列又有一些改进。

• 采用了更强大的游戏引擎 ，并根据Kabam过去的游戏和MMO游戏的相关经验，提升游戏功能和玩家体验。

• 利用MMO基本元素，扬长避短地设计《全球战争》。

- 制造功能 —— 让玩家始终保持游戏兴趣。

• 激发玩家的创造力。

• 为玩家提供入侵领土的理由。

• 支持用户制作实用的战斗道具。

- 战略资源 —— 高价值的地图切块，激发各个联盟之间的活动（避免“turtling冷场”）—— 这一点对玩家控制战略资源和创造先进武器来说十分重要。

- 联盟战役 —— 让各个联盟能够整合资源，进行规模更大的、更宏伟的战役。

- 新的战斗系统 —— “石头、剪刀、布”机制。

• 增加挑战性，更加重视战略（不只是蛮力）。

• 扩展游戏玩法，因为每场战役都有所不同。

- XP vs.Power —— 分成两个独立的元素。

• XP：测量游戏进度；与你已经到达的等级直接相关（它会随着你不断进步而上升）。

• Power ——它会反映你与其他玩家决斗，以及训练部队时的军队战斗力波动情况。

• 这两者的分离会加剧战斗与攻击；玩家会“输掉”力量，但绝不会失去已经取得的游戏进度。

《全球战争》的一个重要社交机制很大程度取决于联盟这一要素。游戏支持多达100名的玩家组成一个联盟，并通过实时聊天功能交流并协调小组活动。玩家可以邀请自己社交关系圈中的好友加入联盟，但我们发现，大多数人实际上总会通过我们的游戏建立新的人际关系，扩大自己的社交关系圈。

这个联盟功能也是《全球战争》游戏玩法的一个重要组成部分 —— 在持续性的游戏世界中，玩家若要寻找、征服其他玩家联盟并保卫战略资源，就必须高度依赖于集体行动的力量。联盟聊天室中的同步交流，将进一步增强玩家的游戏体验。他们可以在这里制定战斗策略、防务战略、分享情报或进行一般地聊天活动。玩家可以通过一种社交方式，与真人玩家进行实时竞争与协作。我们计划在未来推出“联盟对联盟”的战斗，这势必将《全球战争》的战斗体验提升到一个新高度。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com专稿，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Questions from Gamerboom

1．Many Chinese social game developers can only be successfully profitable in overseas markets. Some people claim that this is closely related to the openness of domestic SNS platforms, the sharing ratio of incomes between platforms and developers as well as the user preference on paid games.  Why does Kabam set up a game studio in China? In your view, what is the largest opportunity for development in China market (the target user or the local talent)?

We set up a Beijing office not just because of cost or consumer considerations, but mainly because we felt that the talent pool for game developers is very strong and in some cases easier to recruit than in Silicon Valley where we compete with many strong companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter and other social gaming start-ups.  China has pioneered the free-to-play, MMORPG market for the rest of the world and this work force is a great fit for the types of games we make. 

2. Kabam has been good at developing social games for hard-core users. Many industry observers are optimistic about the development prospects of such games and think that these games are more profitable than casual social games. And Kabam gamers also have relatively high willingness to pay for games. Can you talk about your views about the reason for this through some examples? (For example, the MAU and payment conversion rate of Kabam games, etc.)

It really has to do with understanding your audience and what kind of experience they are looking for.  Hard core gamers have grown up playing deep, immersive, rich games that are competitive in nature and highly engaging. We saw this group as an unaddressed opportunity on Facebook, and set out to design games that provide the experience these core gamers seek and enjoy.  All Kabam games combine the deep, immersive gameplay of massively multiplayer online strategy and role-playing games with the social connectivity and interaction of social games.  They also feature synchronous play that allows players to form alliances and compete with and against millions of other players worldwide in real time, and are designed to sustain extended gameplay rather than short bursts of play like “casual” social games.  With a greater emphasis on strategy and competitiveness, our games are really much more the type of game a core gamer likes to play. 

When you are enjoying yourself and are more engaged, you play longer and are more willing to pay for the experience.  We don’t share financial figures, but we can tell you based on a recent survey we fielded among Kabam game players and a broader population of social gamers, people playing Kabam games are playing more frequently and for much longer play sessions.  The average play session length for our players is much greater than the norm – roughly 70% of our players average play sessions of more than one hour every time they sit down to play, which is almost three times as great as the broader non-Kabam sample.  That’s a lot of engagement, and it translates to good business.

3. Do you think Kabam games can replicate its success on Facebook to China’s SNS game platforms? And what is the reason?

It is difficult to say at this point because we are still studying the China social gaming market.  China’s SNS market is very different from Facebook in terms of how users play games and how game companies market to and interact with them.  Also, social platforms are still in the process of maturing, which means there is still some time for them to create an open and level playing field for game developers.  China’s market of web games and online strategy games are considered quite mature with many high fidelity games.  That all said, we are optimistic that China’s SNS gaming ecosystem will eventually evolve to enable companies like Kabam to enter and succeed.

4. What obstacles may Kabam encounter when entering China market? How do you solve these problems?

We are a foreign company in China so we are subject to standard restrictions that restrict us from operating in China.  Most foreign companies solve this by partnering with local companies by publishing through them, forming a joint venture or investing / acquiring a local company. 

5. Can you introduce us the development of Kabam’s studio in China? Will the China studio be responsible for the localization of the company’s games to put them into China market or intend to develop Kabam social games especially for the Chinese users?

Our China studio was founded in May of 2010, by the end of December 2010, we grew to 40 staff and moved into larger offices.  Currently we are over 80 people and renovating additional office space to accommodate this growth.  All our studios worldwide, including our Beijing office, will have an opportunity to consider market entry into China and other key Asian markets.

6. As for Chinese users’ low willingness to pay, what measures will Kabam take for this so that your games can get relatively substantial earnings?
We generally do not comment on financial matters, but our games do not target these casual SNS gamers you mention, but instead we serve hardcore gamers who prefer deeper and more sustainable gaming experiences.

7. Facebook requires that all game developers should bind with Facebook Credits as the game virtual currency system starting from July 1 this year. Has Kabam started to take actions for this? What impacts will this bring to Kabam games? 

Kabam will be implementing FB Credits in line with the July 1 deadline to ensure a smooth transition for our players.  Our players’ welfare is of paramount concern to us.  FB has a big vision of a liquid market for their currency that will raise aggregate micro transaction for all game developers – the industry will see how this plays out over the next 12 months.  We have no data or experience with Credits, so it’s hard to comment beyond that.

8. It was said that social games recently begin to simulate traditional games and pay more attention to quality and user experience than before. Some social games have begun to require that before users begin to play games, they should first install a plug-in to save data and shorten the loading time. For example, Zynga’s “FrontierVille” recently is testing similar features. What are your views on this? Will Kabam games also take the same action?

Since our games are very different from Zynga’s casual games, we actually are known in the industry as providing a high quality, deep game experience for our users.  Our focus is on innovation and delighting users so we are constantly looking to create the next generation, highly entertaining experience.  This includes working to incorporate realistic art, new features and competitive game designs, as we did by introducing MMO principles of crafting and strategic resources in Global Warfare, as well as raising the quality of graphics and game fidelity levels.   

9. “Global Warfare” that Kabam recently launched was well received. Its style is very much like a real-time strategic game, but it is also an asynchronous social game. Can you describe in detail the social mechanism of the game and your outreach programs for it?

All our games are SYNCHRONOUS, not asynchronous, which makes them different from the casual, asynchronous farming, pet, aquarium or city building games. 

• Global Warfare is the first social game to bring MMO style game and military / modern warfare theme to social networks.

• theme and feature set offers a number of advancements vs. other social games, including previous Kabam MMSGs

• features an enhanced game engine and applies learning from past Kabam games and MMOs to improve features and player experience.

• designed Global Warfare utilizing MMO fundamentals to address shortcomings and/or take advantage of identified opportunities we’ve observed in other games

- Artifact Sets/Crafting – provides on-going interest for gamers (avoid getting bored)

• engenders creativity for gamer

• provides reason to attack territories

• allows users to craft functional combat items

- Strategic Resources – High value map tiles encourage activity (avoid “turtling”) between alliances – importance of controlling strategic resources and creating advanced weapons engenders competition, conflict and battle

- Alliance Battles – Enables alliances to combine resources, resulting in bigger, more epic battles

- New Combat System – “rock-paper-scissors” mechanic

• Increases challenge, places greater emphasis on strategy (not just brute force)

• Extends the gameplay because every battle is different

- XP vs. Power – split into two separate components

• XP: Measures game progression; directly related to the stage you’ve reached (goes up as you make progress – and stays there)

• Power – a snapshot of your military might will fluctuate as you battle other players and train troops)

• Splitting encourages/enhances combat and attack; can “lose” power but never the progress you’ve made in the game

One of the key social mechanisms of Global Warfare is largely based around Alliances.  Up to 100 players can band together in an Alliance, with the ability to communicate and coordinate group activity via real time chat features.  Players can invite people in their current social graph to join their alliance, but we have found that most people actually are building new relationships and adding to their social graph via our games.

This Alliance feature is also a key part of playing Global Warfare — the ability to find, conquer and defend strategic resource tiles against other player alliances in the persistent game world requires strength and abilities highly dependent on group play.   The social experience is further enhanced as players synchronously meet and communicate in their Alliance chat room.  This is where they can plan battle maneuvers, defense strategies, share intelligence and engage in general chat.  Players are competing and collaborating with real players in real time…and doing so in a social manner.  In the future, we plan to introduce alliance vs. alliance battles, which will take the Global Warfare combat experience to a new level.