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Android手机游戏开发者需考虑的营销战略

发布时间:2011-06-16 18:35:10 Tags:,,,

作者:Chris

游戏邦注:本文发稿于2009年3月20日,所涉时间、事件和数据均以此为准。

本文主要探讨手机游戏的营销战略及其所虑之事。某些想法或许有助于为某种产品或某个想法找到完美的营销组合。Android Market和iPhone Store等市场或许是最具革命性的销售渠道,开发者可以直接面对数百万潜在用户而无需腾出营销资金,最终使独立开发者脱离对发行商或赞助商的依赖。

android-games(from digitaltrends.com)

android-games(from digitaltrends.com)

目标市场

首先,你必须决定软件要进入的市场区隔。软件主要分为三种类型,每种都有着自己的机遇和挑战。

1、免费游戏。多数此类游戏并不简单,这些游戏有着真正的概念和新型用户互动方式。这个区隔并不一定需要公司作为支持或进行融资。开发时间从1周到2个月不等。简单的游戏想法只需一个开发者和一个设计师即可。免费游戏的盈利方式包括广告、可下载内容和品牌授权等。

2、付费游戏。此类游戏通常无法在1个月左右的时间内开发完成,需要技艺精湛的开发者和艺术师组成团队,视觉效果和音效制作、开发、测试和营销等过程需要大笔资金。积极发布免费和限制版是必不可少的步骤,这是关键的营销工具。如果此版本能激起用户兴致,他们就很有可能购买完整版。

3、开发工具。这个市场区隔中都是为其他开发者和新手提供便利的软件,如快速物理引擎、3D游戏引擎、微付费系统和多人游戏解决方案等。

目标用户

据调查Android用户多数为男性(游戏邦注:比例超过70%),年龄介于20至40岁之间。大部分用户以英语为母语(游戏邦注:此类用户比例逾80%),属于社会中上阶层的人。查看产品目标用户与Android用户分布的契合度如何,满意用户度是衡量你是否成功的标志。多数Android手机在美国、英国、澳大利亚和新加坡出售,上述国家都把英语作为官方语言。尽管手机在印度、中国、巴西等拥有数十亿潜在用户的国家发布或许会改变现状,但目前可能还没有将应用本地化的必要,除非你所开发的应用较为特殊。开发者可以使用Android Market中的功能来选择只在某些国家发布应用。

用户忠诚度

用户忠诚度是电脑游戏不断获得成功的关键因素。如果某个用户喜欢《火爆狂暴:沥青都市》这款游戏,他很可能会去尝试续作《火爆狂飙:复仇》。你在为游戏起名时必须考虑到这个方面。同时,这种做法也有风险,用户很可能在尝试续作时觉得不甚满意,从而影响其忠诚度。

可移植性

在多个平台发布游戏是盈利的关键点之一。用Jeff Vogel的话来说,游戏移植会带来意外之财。如果你的软件在某个平台卖得很好,就有可能在其他平台也取得同等佳绩,所以应该在时机成熟时将Android游戏移植到iPhone上(游戏邦注:将iPhone游戏移植到Android上亦可)。保留自软件开发之初的所有模块,拆分平台专有代码,使其能够轻易移植至其他系统上。手机游戏公司Glu Mobile就曾将其制作的《Bonsai Blast》等热门游戏同时投放到Android和iPhone上,投入少许精力便使盈利翻倍。

多种盈利模式

尽量创造多种盈利模式,游戏内置广告、赞助、付费游戏、额外内容、网站流量等都可以带来收入。(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

Marketing Strategies for Android Games

Chris

This is the first of a series of posts about marketing strategies and considerations for mobile games in general and android games in particular. Some of the ideas may help picking the perfect “marketing mix” for a certain product (or an idea). Perhaps the most revolutionary aspect of distribution channels like “Android Market” and “iPhone Store” is the direct access for developers to millions of potential users, without the need for financial resources for marketing, finally freeing independent developers from their dependency on publishers and/or sponsors.

Target Market

First of all it’s necessary to determine which market segment you want your software to enter. There are three main software categories, each of which provides it’s own opportunities and challenges.

1. Free Games. Mostly rather “simple” games, implementing genuine concepts and innovative user-interaction. This segment does not necessarily require company backup or financing. Development time might range from one week to two months with a developer and a designer (for simple ideas). Ways to profit from free games include advertisements, downloadable content and branding, amongst others.

2. Commercial Games. Typically the kind of game that can’t be done in a month or so, but require teams of skilled developers and artists and larger amounts of financial resources for visuals, sound, development, testing, marketing, etc. Absolutely, positively release a free and limited version, as this is your key marketing tool. If it manages to get users excited, that is a strong motivation to buy a full version.

Developer Libraries. This market segment is all about making life easy for other developers and startups, for example with a fast physics engine, a 3d game engine, micropayment systems, multiplayer solutions, etc.

Target Audience

The average Android user is male (> 70%), between 20 and 40 years old, mostly speaking English as native language (> 80%) and in the social middle or upper class. Examine how much your product’s target audience matches with the average android user, as the number of (satisfied) users is the measure for your success. Most Android phones were sold in USA, UK, Australia and Singapore, all of which have English as official language. Thus it may not be necessary to localize an application at the current moment (except you are developing something specific), although that might change as soon as a phone is released in countries like India, China, Brazil, etc. with billions of native speakers. A feature the “Android Market” offers for developers is the option to publish apps only in selected countries.

User Loyality

User loyalty is a key factor for continuous success with computer games. If a user likes the game “Burnout: Asphalt” he will be likely to try a sequel called “Burnout: Revenge” and you should consider that when choosing a title! On the other side, that bears the danger that unsatisfied / frustrated users are very unlikely to give a sequel a try.

Portability

Releasing a game on multiple platforms is one key for profitability. In the words of Jeff Vogel, “Porting games is free money”. If your software sells well on one platform it has good chances to do likewise on others as well, so be prepared to release your Android game on the iPhone (or vice versa) if the time is right. Keep your software modular from the beginning and detach platform-specific code from the game logic so it can be easily ported to another system. The main competitor on the Android market is Glu Mobile and their top games like Bonsai Blast are published for both Android and iPhone, basically doubling their revenue with very little extra work.

Multiple Revenue Streams

Create as many revenue streams as reasonable (possible). They may include in-game ads, sponsorings, paid games, extra content, website traffic that could be monetized, etc. A recent article at GamaSutra titled “Where’s The Cash For Flash?” explains that in a very compelling manner. (Source: 4 Feet Software)


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