作者：Dean Takahashi

EA因为在Facebook上发行了《模拟人生社交版》而“一夜窜红”。这款模拟人类生活的社交游戏很快超越了《FarmVille》并逐步逼近Zynga最受欢迎的游戏《Cityville》。Raptr（游戏邦注：服务于玩家的社交网络）最近发布了关于《模拟人生社交版》玩家的一些有趣数据。正如我们所猜想的，该款游戏的许多玩家都来自于Zynga的游戏。

根据Raptr针对于1千万名用户的调查数据，《模拟人生社交版》大多数的用户都曾玩过Zynga游戏。EA自己的社交游戏玩家以及《模拟人生3》玩家只占《模拟人生社交版》玩家的15%，而Zynga游戏的贡献却高达50%。还有30%是来自于其它社交游戏的玩家，而5%来自《魔兽世界》。

the top 20 other games(from raptr)

据AppData数据显示，《模拟人生社交版》是现今Facebook上排行第二的游戏，拥有6千6百万的MAU（游戏邦注：《CityVille》MAU是是7千6百万）。如果说这款游戏有将近一半的玩家来自Zynga，那么粗略算来也有3千3百万人了。当然了，并非这3千3百万人都放弃了Zynga游戏而专心于《模拟人生社交版》。但是《CityVille》减少了1千万的用户却是个不争的事实。

值得关注的是：《模拟人生社交版》虽然以势不可挡的气势直逼《CityVille》，但是最近这股气势却慢慢平缓下来了。来自AppData的最新数据显示，《CityVille》最近仍保持其强劲发展势头。

根据Raptr的分析，EA的第一大策略便是向其现存的玩家宣传这款游戏，包括《模拟人生3》的1千万玩家以及其它社交游戏的3千6百万玩家。如今有超过 30%的《模拟人生3》玩家以及超过60%的《Restaurant City》和《Pet Society》玩家在玩《模拟人生社交版》。这着实是个让人惊羡的转换率，并且对于已经卖出1亿4千多万份《模拟人生》的EA来说也并未造成任何不好的 影响。

loss of total playtime(from raptr)

与几个月前相比，EA现在的MAU整整翻了两番，已经超过1亿。但是自从他们在8月份发行了《模拟人生社交版》之后，旗下其他游戏的用户每周游戏时间均有所下降。《模拟人生3》的用户游戏时间下降了50%，PopCap的《宝石迷阵闪电战》下降了20%，而《Pet Society》也下降了50%。与之相比，《CityVille》用户的游戏时间降幅仅为10%，而《FarmVille》和《Empires & Allies》为25%。

在发行《模拟人生社交版》之前，EA在社交游戏领域的表现并不理想。在2010年，EA以高达4亿美元的价格收购了Playfish，帮助EA在挺近社交游戏领域时提供了更多丰富的经验，《模拟人生社交版》便是明证。如今EA的用户粘性以及玩家投入游戏的时间等方面都有不错的成绩。

gameplay behavior of key social games(from raptr)

平均来看，用户每次玩《模拟人生社交版》的时间是4.95分钟。他们平均每天会玩8次，一周19次，一个月39次。与此相比，Zynga玩家每次玩游戏4.95分钟，一天玩8次，一周玩20次，而一个月玩34次。EA有许多社交游戏是基于其掌机游戏的产品（游戏邦注：如《Dragon Age Legends》和《Madden NFL Superstars》），此类游戏的用户体验时间较长，但用户回访率较低。

hard core game's conversion to social games(from raptr)

在《FIFA 11》这款足球类硬核游戏中，只有5%至24%的玩家转变成Facebook游戏《FIFA Superstars》的玩家。只有24%的《Dragon Age 2》玩家去玩社交游戏《Dragon Age Legends》。但却有34%的《模拟人生3》玩家选择玩《模拟人生社交版》。这就是为何EA那些基于硬核作品的社交游戏只有1百万至4百万月活跃用户的原因了。

PopCap's gamers play social games(from raptr)

EA现在有更多的机会，而且他们也获得了PopCap游戏的优势（以至少7亿5千万的价格收购了PopCap）。PopCap旗下有很多休闲游戏可以便转变成Facebook社交游戏。大约有59%至79%的PopCap休闲游戏玩家也在玩Facebook上的社交游戏。将近60%的《植物大战僵尸》玩家也在玩社交游戏。如此看来，PopCap的玩家更容易从休闲游戏玩家转变为社交游戏玩家。Raptr总结道，有了PopCap，相信EA在《模拟人生社交版》之后还将会给人们带来更多大作。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

EA’s The Sims Social has stolen millions of players from Zynga

Dean Takahashi

Electronic Arts came out of nowhere when it launched The Sims Social on Facebook. The social game that simulates human life took off like wildfire, surpassing FarmVille and closing in on Zynga’s most popular game, CityVille. Now Raptr, the social network for gamers, has revealed some interesting data about just who is playing The Sims Social. As suspected, many of the players came from Zynga.

The majority of The Sims Social’s user base are Zynga players, according to data collected from 10 million people on Raptr’s gamer social network. EA’s own social games and The Sims 3 accounted for only 15 percent of the total players of The Sims Social. Zynga players, on the other hand, account for 50 percent of all of The Sims Social players. About 30 percent came from other social games, and 5 percent came from World of WarCraft.

The Sims Social is now the No. 2 game on Facebook with 66 million monthly active players, compared to 76 million for CityVille, according to AppData. If roughly half of those players came from Zynga, we’re talking about close to 33 million users. Of course, not every single one of the Zynga players has quit playing a Zynga game in order to play The Sims Social. But CityVille has dropped from more than 100 million players.

Worth pointing out: The Sims Social has gained quickly on CityVille, but the rate of gain has slowed down dramatically recently. The latest Appdata information in recent days shows that CityVille is holding strong now.

The first trick in EA’s playbook, according to Raptr’s analysis, was that it successfully marketed the game to EA’s existing fans, including 10 million players of The Sims 3 game and 36 million social game players. More than 30 percent of The Sims 3 players are playing The Sims Social. But more than 60 percent of EA-Playfish fans of Restaurant City and Pet Society are also playing The Sims Social. That’s an impressive conversion rate, and it doesn’t hurt that EA has sold more than 140 million Sims games.

EA is enjoying a lot of success, now that it has more than 100 million monthly active users, more than double what it had just a few months ago. But EA is also cannibalizing its own social games. The average percent loss of total play time per week since the launch of The Sims Social in August has been heavy. The Sims 3 has seen its play time drop by 50 percent. Bejeweled Blitz from PopCap has declined 20 percent, and Pet Society has declined 50 percent. CityVille play time, by comparison, is down only 10 percent, while Zynga’s FarmVille is down around 25 percent and Zynga’s Empires & Allies is down about the same.

Prior to the launch of The Sims Social, EA had a terrible record in social games. In 2010, it purchased Playfish for as much as $400 million. That gave EA access to a team with proven expertise in social games. They applied their skills to The Sims Social. Now EA’s numbers are looking pretty good in terms of engagement, or how much time users spend in the game.

On average, users play The Sims Social for 4.95 minutes a session. They play eight sessions per day, 19 sessions per week, and 39 sessions per month. Zynga players, meanwhile, play 4.95 minutes per session, eight sessions per day, 20 sessions per week, and 34 sessions per month. EA’s social games that are based on console franchises (such as Dragon Age Legends and Madden NFL Superstars) have longer play sessions but fewer return sessions.

In fact, only 5 – 24 percent of EA’s players for its FIFA 11 hardcore soccer game converted to play FIFA Superstars on Facebook. And only 24 percent of Dragon Age 2 players converted to play the social game Dragon Age Legends. That is far below the 34 percent of The Sims 3 players who converted to The Sims Social. That’s one reason EA’s social games based on hardcore franchises only had about 1 million to 4 million monthly active users.

EA has a lot of new hope now that it has acquired PopCap Games (for at least $750 million). PopCap has a number of casual titles that can be converted to social games on Facebook. About 59 – 79 percent of the players for popular PopCap casual games are also playing social games on Facebook. Roughly 60 percent of Plants vs. Zombies players — a big PopCap franchise — are also playing social games. So PopCap’s audience  should be easier to funnel from casual web site games to social games. With PopCap, Raptr concludes, EA is poised to have strong follow-ups to The Sims Social.（source:venturebeat）