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独立工作室成功经验:IP控制权至关重要

发布时间:2011-08-30 17:37:36 Tags:,,,

作者:Martin Pichlmair

过去几年来,独立游戏领域涌现众多成功故事。先是2D Boy的《粘粘世界》,接着是Jonathan Blow的《时空幻境》,然后是Rovio的《愤怒的小鸟》,再来是Mojang的《Minecraft》。

World of Goo from speedyshare.com

World of Goo from speedyshare.com

这些成功存在哪些共性?它们(游戏邦注:除《Minecraft》,其情况有些复杂)的预算相差无几。各款游戏都使用定制引擎。所有游戏都瞄准多个平台,或者计划瞄准多个平台,通过转移市场延长游戏寿命期限。

此外,他们还存在一个共同之处:制作这些游戏的工作室始终掌握游戏IP控制权。

坚持不懈的战斗者

若你想走Rovio路线,有些许经验值得借鉴。首先最重要的一点是:制作大量游戏。Rovio成立6年才发行《愤怒的小鸟》,期间陆续推出50多款游戏(其中主要瞄准移动平台)。凭借丰富经验,Rovio不惮在在App Store刚问世时期就发行自己的IP,例如。此外,该公司保留游戏IP,仅将首版《愤怒的小鸟》发行权出售给Chillingo。

Rovio还有自己的工具链和内部技术。工作室创收后,就立即开始围绕游戏创建社区,建立忠实用户基础。该公司快速将产品转换成服务和品牌,向新社区传播新鲜游戏内容,通过发行游戏衍生版本和出售周边商品创造品牌价值。

该工作室通过合理投资,将《愤怒的小鸟》移植至各个平台,防止抄袭者通过盗版内容分割市场。该公司还快速成立法律部门,但具体内容我了解不多。

总之,这些都是Rovio、2D Boy或Mojang值得我们学习的经验:

* 保留IP支配权

* 创建自身技术(基于开放性平台)

* 创建自身社区

* 活跃于各个平台,保持灵活性

* 聘请律师

但不要把这当作成功要诀。有很多工作室遵照上述各要点,但依然未能成功。此列表不过是呈现所有成功独立工作室存在的共性。

转投发行领域

Minecraft from kejicenter.cn

Minecraft from kejicenter.cn

Mojang是另一有趣例子。该工作室以制作克隆作品发家,但很快开始开发自己的作品,超越原有模仿对象。Mojang同Rovio存在众多共性。该独立工作室持有游戏IP,借助自己的技术,擅于创建社区。

Mojang最近宣布公司将发行首款第三方游戏《Cobalt》,若你已超越新公司单一IP阶段,这是个有趣发展路线。转做发行商并不适合所有独立开发商,但若你有强大社区,雄厚营销实力,同时充分了解游戏制作流程,不妨尝试发行其他独立作品。

创建游戏世界

Mojang和Rovio的共同之处是他们都深知品牌组成要素。我觉得他们并未把品牌当作“品牌”,而是把它们当作服务玩家的“世界”。他们知晓构成游戏世界独特风格的元素(游戏邦注:不论是图像语言,还是玩法)。他们快速而出色地将这些知识转换成新产品,不论是营销赠品,还是游戏衍生版本。

Rovio无疑是走迪斯尼路线,但Mojang也建立起自己的强大地位。Mojang的坚持不懈表明发展并不意味着放弃自己的价值标准。这亦是其游戏世界的组成要素。

Mojang的Kellee Santiago一直提醒我,这和谁握有IP无关,谁支配IP才是关键。

或者,你也可以选择和大型平台所有者合作,依托该平台谋求发展。当然这要取决于你的IP、工作室,还有关系网络。(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

Opinion: Learning From Indie Studio Successes

by Martin Pichlmair

[In this reprinted #altdevblogaday-opinion piece, Broken Rules' Martin Pichlmair points out the similarities between indie game studios that have gone on to become huge successes, like Angry Birds creator Rovio and Minecraft maker Mojang.]

There has been a disturbing number of success stories in independent gaming in the last years. First there was 2D Boy with World of Goo, then Jonathan Blow’s Braid came along, then Rovio introduced the whole world to Angry Birds, and at last, Mojang made Minecraft – or the other way around.

What do all these success stories have in common? They all (except Minecraft, where it’s a bit more complicated) had about the same budgets. Each of them uses a custom engine. All of these games came to many platforms, or are in the process of doing so, extending their shelf lives infinitely as they hop from marketplace to marketplace.

Plus there’s one more thing they have in common: The studios that made those games still own the IP’s of the games.

Be A Fighter

If you want to go down the Rovio route, there are a couple of things you can learn from the studio. One of the most important ones is: Make tons of games. The company was in the business for six years when itreleased Angry Birds, having released more than 50 – mostly mobile – titles. It dared to launch its own IP when the time was right for new IPs, i.e. when the App Store was still young. Also, the developer kept its IP and just sold the distribution rights for the first Angry Birds game to Chillingo.

Rovio had its tool chain and in-house tech in place. Once the studio struck gold, it immediately started building a community around its game, creating a loyal customer base. The firm was quick in switching the product to a service – and a brand, drip-feeding its newly created community with fresh content and monetizing the brand by launching spin-offs and selling merchandise.

The studio wisely used its money to bring Angry Birds to each and any platform that pops up, lest an impostor grabs a marketplace with a clone. I’m also quite sure that it was quick in setting up a legal department, but I don’t know that for sure.

In short, these are the lessons you can learn from Rovio, or 2D Boy, or Mojang, for that matter:

* Keep control over your IP

* Build your own tech (based on open platforms)

* Create your own community

* Get agile and hop from platform to platform

* Have a lawyer

Don’t take this list as a recipe for success, though. There’ve been tons of studios that ticked all the boxes and failed. It’s more a list that tells what most successful indie studios have in common.

Be A Publisher

Mojang is another interesting case. The studio built its fortune on something that started off as a clone but quickly got into its own and grew far beyond any inspiration. Mojang shares a lot of properties with Rovio. The indie outfit own its IP, uses its own tech, and is an expert in creating a community.

Mojang recently announced the first third-party game its going to publish, Cobalt, which is an interesting road to go down once you’ve outgrown the single-IP stage of a new company. Turning into a publisher might not be the right direction for every independent game producer out there, but if you’ve got the community, the marketing power, and the understanding of the production process for a game, you might as well publish other indies.

Build A World

What Mojang and Rovio have in common is that they have a deep understanding of what constitutes their brands. I’d love to see them as not regarding their brands as “brands” but as “worlds” they are building for their players. They know what constitutes the unique style of their game worlds, from the graphical language to the gameplay. And they quickly and convincingly translate that knowledge into new products, be they marketing give-aways or spin-offs.

While Rovio walks the Disney road without too much controversy, Mojang has certainly built a strong studio identity. Mojang proves every day that growth does not mean that you’ve got to compromise your values. And that’s also part of the world they’re building.

Kellee Santiago of thatgamescompany keeps reminding me that it is not about who owns an IP, but about who has control over an IP.

Or strike an excellent deal with a big platform holder and grow from there. Depends on your IP, your studio, and your connections.(Source:gamasutra

 


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