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开发商谈免费游戏在授权市场的机遇与挑战

发布时间:2011-06-24 09:09:13 Tags:,,,,

作者:Paul Hyman

Gamasutra对话CrowdStar、 Bigpoint 和Gazillion三家游戏公司,谈论将授权改编内容整合进免费游戏的机会与必要性,及如何在竞争激烈的授权游戏市场立足。

免费游戏和授权改编?直到最近都没有人看好这二者的结合(儿童游戏例外)。但一些曾经坚信游戏的王道就是原创的游戏开发者们,现在也动摇了当初的立场。

独立游戏开发公司Three Rings就是其中之一。该公司长期以来都是原创游戏项目的忠实拥护者(游戏邦注:代表作有《Puzzle Pirates》、 《Spiral Knights》和《Corpse Craft》等),现在居然在开发一款改编自BBC长篇科幻电视节目《Dr. Who》的免费MMO版本的游戏,且将在年底发行。

到底是什么契机使然,原本信誓旦旦的游戏开发公司来了个180度的大转变,开始了游戏改编的处女航?

Three Rings的CEO Daniel James对此保持沉默。

然而在这场改编热潮中,有人低调了,就必然会有人高调。德国汉堡的游戏开发商Bigpoint迫切地需要一款轰动的游戏攻入美国市场,因为这些游戏的利润比在德国发行的非授权改编的免费游戏(如《Zoomumba》和《Farmerama》)来得高。

考虑到这样一个事实:2008年, NBC环球公司(是美国的一家大型媒体集团)掌握了Bigpoint公司70%的控制权,所以开发环球工作室出品的电影《Battlestar Galactica》和《木乃伊》(《The Mummy》)的免费游戏版本都是自然而然的事。

根据Bigpoint的创办人兼CEO Heiko Hubertz所言,一旦游戏玩家因没什么可尝试而不喜欢某款F2P游戏,这款游戏就难免很快被抛弃的命运。

Heiko Hubertz 认为:“开发者必须让玩家相信在游戏中多呆5分钟、再玩一点、给这个游戏一个机会,就能发现非常多可玩的地方了(这样商家才有可能向玩家收取更高更多的费用)。我们的办法是与第三方授权品牌合作,而所谓的第三方品牌可能是玩家早已熟知的。对人物和故事的熟悉会使玩家对游戏也产生信任感,从而给予该游戏更长远的发展机会。”

Battlestar Galactica Online(from gamasutra.com)

Battlestar Galactica Online(from gamasutra.com)

Hubertz解释道,以《太空保垒卡拉狄加OL》(《Battlestar Galactica OL》)为例,熟悉Cylon文明的玩家或忠实粉丝,知道不同的空间飞船、听得出萦绕在游戏中的原声音乐,他们可能会迫不及待地想知道改编成的游戏会是怎么样的。

结果是,太空战斗MMO成了Bigpoint有史以来最叫好的游戏类型——三个月内创下两百万的注册量。

Hubertz强调,多亏了原作的授权,否则Bigpoint也没可能打开美国的网页游戏市场,除非最初进军美国市场的游戏就有着相当于游戏机游戏的高品质和专业级画面,才能达到美国玩家的对游戏的一惯高要求。

“所以我们在技术上下了血本;我们将Unity作为开发引擎;我们在游戏的外观和感觉上也投入了非常大的努力。好在功夫不负有心人,市场最终是打开了。”Hubertz为此感到欣慰。

Bigpoint选择《Battlestar Galactica》作为首次特许改编的对象,部分是看中了其早期的成功;另外也是因为从《黑暗轨迹》(《Dark Orbit》)中得到了科幻游戏开发的经验。开发商挑中《木乃伊》接下一棒,主要是因为玩家统计分析显示该作的目标受众性别组成是男女五五对半分。

Hubertz 补充道:“我们意识到女性不仅喜欢玩免费游戏,而且愿意在上面花钱。所以我们决定,在确立男性向游戏后,也要在全向游戏的拓展方面做一番努力。特别是,《木乃伊》在亚洲和欧洲都有不俗的影响力。另外,在《木乃伊 OL》这类幻想游戏中,虚拟商品特别好卖。”第三人称等角免费动作冒险MMOG计划在今秋开始发行。

Bigpoint打算趁热打铁争取2012年再推出几款改编游戏,其中,《环球怪兽》(《Universal Monsters》),这款第三人称多人动作RPG游戏现在已进入初步开发阶段。该作的标志性元素有吸血鬼德拉库拉、弗兰肯斯坦的怪物、狼人和其他环球专属的怪物种类。Hubertz还指出,Bigpoint的授权改编不会只局限于未来主题游戏。

位于加利福尼亚的MMO游戏开发公司Gazillion Entertainment打算专注于与授权伙伴Marvel Entertainment合作。四月,Gazillion完成了儿童导向型MMO游戏《超级英雄小队OL》(《Super Hero Squad Online》)的开发制作工作,并且打算至少在一年内发行一款免费的《惊奇宇宙》(《Marvel Universe》)MMO游戏。

“一般来说,随着游戏市场的拥挤程度一步步赶超三四年前,授权确实成了生存的利器。特别是在Facebook平台,授权改编确实更容易吸引到用户。如果你有一个很棒的品牌搭档,即在游戏基调和玩法上都相益得彰的作品,那么,沟通潜在用户就更容易了。”Gazillion 的发行副主管Dan Fiden表示。

Fiden认为,授权改编PC游戏和掌机游戏经常因为拙劣的品质而招来骂名,这是因为这两类游戏为了与某部卖座的电影上映的日期同步,不得不匆匆忙忙赶工,而授权改编的免费在线游戏就是一个完全不同的概念了。

他解释道:“当下的免费游戏总是不断更新,并且发行方式往往与零售包装游戏不同。例如,我们不会发行工作与最新的电影系列《X战警》挂钩。我们从事授权开发工作不是为了迎合某个特定的日期,否则目光就有些短浅了。”

“授权项目俯拾皆是,所以在游戏投产和运营后,大量的电影、电视或者漫画世界中的元素或者Marvel事件的利用根本不在话下。我们耽误之急不是赶在某个截止日期之前,而是保证基本的游戏和基础的服务达到我们的期望标准。”

Fiden猜想,随着越来越多的免费游戏开发商将目光投向授权领域,以便使自己的游戏在茫茫市场中脱颖而出,但造成的结果就是,这种优势很快转变成一种“扎堆”现象。然后,为了追求高利润、争夺最讨喜的原作授权,游戏开发商之间的竞争会不断升级。

他还预测开发商将认识到采用“模糊授权”的机遇,这种手法虽然众所周知,但对于尚未形成明显规模,更不用说创意地运用了。例如,Fiden曾在博彩领域工作,那时比较流行的是《Top Gun》游戏,而事实上《Top Gun》这个电影品牌与老虎机并无多大关联。

Fiden表示:“玩家深刻地记住了电影《Top Gun》,然后制造商顺势利用这个品牌生产了一些基本能与消费者产生共鸣的商品。我认为游戏开发商也能从中找到一线生机吧。”

他还预见从事部分授权改编的开发商数量将会持续走高,这不同于完全改编授权。局部授权的趋势在韩国非常盛行。

“你在免费游戏中可能有一辆车,你能够用现实中的物品将其修饰一番。如,你可以通过微程序将火石 (游戏邦注:这是美国一家著名橡胶轮胎公司的产品)轮胎安到你的车上。我认为一些开发商可能打算借此盈利。”

CrowdStar的CEO Peter Relan确实认为,相比于争取到完全授权所付出的高昂费用,部分授权改编好比悬挂在枝头上的果实,因为位置低,显然更容易够着(投资费用相对低)。

他解释:“我不是部分授权的粉丝,也不是完全授权的拥趸。但是因为授权改编的投资回报可能高出原创项目的四倍之多,所以我们现在也参与部分授权改编的开发工作,不过改编的都是相对简单易懂、开发所需时间较少的作品。完全授权改编还未列入我们的发展蓝图,但以后我们会对此进行调研。”

部分授权打造的成功典范之一是CrowdStar旗下的《It Girl》与老海军(美国人气休闲服装品牌)的结合。在《It Girl》中,玩家的挑战目标就是通过参观商店然后搜遍衣架子找流行服装,最后成为整个游戏世界的某些活动中最时髦的人。

CrowdStar在《It Girl》游戏世界中开张了老海军品牌服装店,玩家可以从中购买老海军的品牌牛仔裤,而不是购买一些没牌子的普通牛仔裤。超过950万的玩家涌入商店,搜遍750成个衣架,使用虚拟货币,购买550万件服装,向好友赠送了30万件老海军礼物。

Bon Jovi主题墙纸(from gamasutra.com)

Bon Jovi主题墙纸(from gamasutra.com)

与此类似,在CrowdStar游戏《快乐水族箱》(《Happy Aquarium》)中,开发者引入邦乔维乐队(Bon Jovi,重金属摇滚乐队)主题的墙纸、吉他和成套鼓,玩家可以购买这些东西来装饰各自的水族箱。

Relan 认为:“找到合适的品牌与我们的F2P游戏相结合,这是我们不能间断的努力。”

他补充说明:“同时,CrowdStar的想法是,只打算围绕一个品牌创造一整个游戏”。当然,前提是“这个品牌与游戏设计技术和玩家管理技术相适应。投入可能比较高,但如果我们认为风险不大、又相当肯定有办法从玩家那里获得收益、有信心连本带利地得到回报,那么我们就会放手去做。目前,我们还没发现与品牌携手的增效作用,但显然,来自时代华纳的投资为我们提供了丰富的品牌资源以供选择。”

确实,甚至是Bigpoint 和Gazillion这样积极参与完全授权改编的公司也意识到,打造自己的原创游戏项目而不必与品牌持有人分成的优势所在。并且,如果开发商的原创游戏项目获得了广泛的成功,他们可以借助项目的杠杆作用,拓展多样化的业务。

Fiden称:“《FarmVille》就是一个典型,这款游戏确实已经成为Zynga的摇钱树。”

Bigpoint的Hubertz认为,开发商面临的底线是,即便授权品牌作保,他们仍不免从选择授权开始就面临巨大风险。

“如果你选择了一个确实‘小众’或者粉丝基础不够扎实的原作,你可能会使玩家失去兴趣,然后不想玩那款游戏,无论你的游戏多么有趣也无济于事。这确实是一种碰运气的行当,只靠改编授权作品,并不能保证游戏成功,也不能保证有付出就有回报。授权改编也许甚至比原创更有风险——你不仅要付授权费、保证金和版税等等,同时还要接受授权人对游戏开发进程的监督,从而增加了工作中的困难。我们计划明年发行几个授权游戏,但成功与否,这得看我们怎么挑选授权作品。只有时间才能证明一切吧。”(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

The Next Wave of Free-to-Play: Licensing

by Paul Hyman

[In this feature, Gamasutra speaks to CrowdStar, Bigpoint, and Gazillion about the opportunities and, in their opinions, increasing necessity to incorporate licensed content in free-to-play games, as a way to build engagement in a competitive marketplace.]

Free-to-play games and big licenses? Until recently, no one would have thought them a good marriage with the exception, perhaps, of kids’ games. But some developers who once swore the only way to go was with original IP are having a change of heart.

Indie developer Three Rings, for instance — a long-time proponent of original IP like its Puzzle Pirates, Spiral Knights, and Corpse Craft — is working on a free-to-play online multiplayer version of the long-running BBC sci-fi TV show Dr. Who for release later this year.

What would make a developer swing 180 degrees and sign up for its first licensed IP?

Three Rings CEO Daniel James chose not to comment for this story.

However, in Bigpoint’s case, the Hamburg, Germany-based developer needed a few blockbuster titles to penetrate the U.S. market… something with higher profiles than the non-licensed, free-to-play games it had released in Germany, like Zoomumba and Farmerama.

Given the fact that the company had been 70 percent-acquired by NBC Universal in 2008, developing F2P versions of “Battlestar Galactica” and “The Mummy” — both Universal properties — seemed like a natural.

According to Bigpoint founder and CEO Heiko Hubertz, gamers often abandon F2P games quickly if they don’t like them immediately since they have paid nothing to try them.

“The developer needs to convince the gamer to stay longer than five minutes, play a bit, and give the game a chance which then makes the likelihood of converting them to a paying user later on much, much higher,” he says. “The way we do that is with third-party franchises which the gamer may already know, he’s familiar with the character and the story, he trusts in the IP, and he gives the game a longer shot.”

In the case of Battlestar Galactica Online, for example, says Hubertz, people who are familiar with and are big fans of the franchise already know the Cylon civilization, they know the different spaceships, they recognize the original music score which is used extensively, and they may be anxious to know how the game plays out.

As it turns out, the space combat MMO became Bigpoint’s best launch of all time, with two million registered users in under three months.

Hubertz stresses that, franchise aside, Bigpoint would never have been able to crack the U.S. browser market unless its premier American game had the high-quality and professional look of a console game, which is what U.S. gamers are used to playing.

“So we invested a lot of money in technology, we pegged Unity as our developer engine, we put a lot of extra effort into the look and feel and, in the end, it was well worth it for us,” he says.

While Bigpoint chose Battlestar Galactica as its first license partially because its earlier hit, Dark Orbit, gave it some sci-fi gaming experience. The developer chose The Mummy as its second license mainly because it perceived user demographics to be 50/50 male/female.

“We were aware that females not only like to play F2P games but they also spend money on them,” Hubertz adds. “So we decided that, after beginning with a male-oriented title, we would expand to something everybody might enjoy. Especially since The Mummy is also well-known in Asia as well as Europe. It’s also much easier to sell virtual items in a fantasy game like The Mummy Online.” The third-person isometric action-adventure F2P MMOG is scheduled to launch this fall.

Bigpoint plans to come out with several additional licensed games in 2012, including Universal Monsters, a third-person, multiplayer, action RPG now in early development that features Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, the Wolf Man, and other Universal-owned creatures. But, says Hubertz, Bigpoint won’t restrict future titles to licenses.

On the other hand, San Mateo, CA-based MMO developer Gazillion Entertainment plans to concentrate on its licensing partnership with Marvel Entertainment. In April, it completed development of its kid-focused Marvel MMO Super Hero Squad Online and “in at least a year” it intends to release a F2P Marvel Universe MMO.

“Generally speaking, licenses help in a really crowded market — and this is a space that is a lot more crowded than it was three or four years ago,” says Dan Fiden, Gazillion’s VP of publishing. “On Facebook in particular, licenses certainly are helpful in allowing developers to more easily acquire customers. If you have a great brand partner — something that evokes the kind of game in either tone or gameplay that you’re offering — it’s an easier way to communicate with your potential customers.”

While licensed PC and console games often earn their reputation for poor quality because they often need to be rushed in order to be released day-and-date with, perhaps, a high-profile movie, licensed F2P online games are a different beast, says Fiden.

“The current F2P games are constantly being updated and frequently don’t launch in the same way that a package goods game launches,” he explains. “For example, we’re not tied to the release of the latest X-Men movie. Tying directly to a specific date isn’t the reason we’re working with this license; that would be a little short-sighted.

“This is a broad license that allows us to take advantage of lots of opportunities and Marvel events in the movie, TV, or comic world after the game is up and running. Our biggest priority isn’t meeting a certain deadline; it’s making sure the basic game and basic service are as good as we want them to be.”

Fiden suspects that as more and more F2P developers turn to licensing so that their games will stand out in the crowd, the preponderance of licenses will ironically create a “crowd of licenses.” The competition will then heat up for the most high-profile, most “well-loved licenses.”

He predicts developers will recognize the opportunity to use “non-obvious licenses,” ones that are well-known but may not be obvious choices for gaming — and then employ them in creative ways. For instance, he says, when he used to work in the casino gambling space, one of the more popular titles was a Top Gun game — not a brand one would immediately associate with slot machines.

“But people remembered the movie fondly and the game manufacturer was able to use the brand to create something that ultimately resonated with customers,” he recalls. “I think developers will be seeking out those sorts of opportunities.”

He also foresees an increase in the number of developers doing in-game licenses rather than licensing the entire game, which is something that’s very popular in Korea.

“You might have a car in the F2P game and you’ll be able to modify it with an item that actually exists in the real world,” he says. “For example, a mini-transaction might enable you to put, say, Firestone tires on your car. I think some developers might want to generate revenue that way.”

Indeed, at Burlingame, CA-based CrowdStar, CEO Peter Relan sees in-game licensing as “lower hanging fruit,” and, at the moment, prefers the smaller investment it involves compared to more expensive full-game licensing.

“I’m neither a fan nor am I not a fan of licensing an entire game,” he explains. “But because the investment can be four times the magnitude higher, we are currently involved only in in-game brand integrations which is better understood, is less complex, and requires less development time. Full-game licenses are not on our drawing board but it is something we are investigating for the future.”

One of the developer’s more successful in-game licenses involves the Old Navy brand and CrowdStar’s It Girl game in which users are challenged to become the most stylish person at cool events around the world by visiting stores and searching racks for fashionable outfits.

CrowdStar created an Old Navy store in It Girl where, rather than buying generic jeans, users could make in-game purchases of Old Navy jeans. Over 9.5 million users visited the store, 7.5 million racks were searched, 5.5 million garments were purchased with in-game cash, and 300,000 Old Navy gifts were sent to friends.

Similarly, in CrowdStar’s Happy Aquarium, the developer introduced Bon Jovi-themed wallpaper, guitars, and a drum set that gamers could purchase to decorate their fish tanks.

“This is an ongoing effort on our part to find just the right brands to license and incorporate into our F2P games,” says Relan.

Meanwhile, CrowdStar would only entertain the idea of creating an entire game around a brand if “the brand has a natural fit to our sort of game design skills and our audience management skills,” he adds. “The investment may be high, but we might go for it if we feel the payoff isn’t that risky, if we are pretty sure we can monetize users, and if we’re confident we can get our investment back and make a good return on it. So far we haven’t found that sort of synergy, but obviously our recent investment from Time Warner has given us a huge library of brands to sort through.”

Indeed, even Bigpoint and Gazillion — which are actively engaged in full-game licensing — recognize that there are advantages to creating your own original IP, like not having to split revenue with an IP holder. And, if a developer’s original IP is wildly successful, they can leverage that IP to build multiple businesses.

“An obvious example is FarmVille,” says Gazillion’s Fiden, “which has become really valuable IP for Zynga.”

The bottom line, says Bigpoint’s Hubertz, is that even with licenses, there are considerable risks that begin with license selection.

“If you choose a license that’s really nichey or that doesn’t have a huge fanbase, you may turn off gamers who might not want to play your game regardless how much fun it is,” he advises. “This is a real hit-or-miss business; just because you have a license doesn’t mean your game will be successful or that you’ll get your money back. Licensing may be even riskier than creating your own IP — you have to pay a license fee, a guarantee fee, royalties on your revenue, and so on. And you have a license owner looking over your shoulder which makes game development that much more difficult.

“We plan to launch a couple of licensed games next year,” he says, “but whether they will be successful, well, that depends on how well we’ve picked the licenses. Only time will tell.”(source:gamasutra


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