作者：Travis L. Ross

PopCap由中途退学者John Vechey和他的三位好友联合举办，Vechey曾在GDC Online的演讲中介绍了PopCap在2005年后的发展历程，表示曾有公司出价约7000万美元欲收购PopCap，以及PopCap是如何从只有20名雇员的工作室发展演变成拥有400名雇员且同EA达成合作关系的大型工作室。

Vechey在演讲中阐述了一系列他认为对公司于2005年后的成功至关重要的关键点。我将在下文中列举出他的建议。对于那些有志于自行创立公司并发展的人来说，这些建议应该会很有用。

2005年的收购提议迫使PopCap重新考虑今后的发展之路。他们意识到，自己只是个小开发商，没有其他可持续运作的合适商业模式。此外，当时游戏行业和商业模式都正在发生转变。PopCap必须找到自己在这片领域中的发展道路。

为了提升自己开发和发行游戏的竞争力，PopCap开始进行商业运作扩张。在公司原本20个雇员的团队中，只有1人负责公司的全部商业事务（游戏邦注：包括HR、营销、金融和法务）。经过调整后，公司将40%的人力投入其中。这种措施可以确保公司从中发现能够帮助公司达成交易的人才。

John-Vechey(from inc.com)

PopCap通过两个战略性收购来强化自己的商业运作：

首先，他们收购Sprout Games，使公司进入主机市场。

其次，他们收购旧金山社交游戏开发商ZipZapGames。

这些收购不仅仅是为了获得IP。公司增添了新的人才，使之可以将业务扩张到新市场中。成功进行这两次收购后，Vechey发现了许多重要的东西，将其纳入PopCap的公司文化。

创立专注团队

利用从这两次收购中获得的人才，PopCap创立了专注于主机和社交游戏开发的团队。起先，公司准许不同团队保持不同商业模式。随着游戏行业使用的商业模式逐渐改变，他们逐渐开始吸纳各种商业模式。PopCap很幸运，带领团队的副总裁都很愿意同公司其他人分享自己的想法。比如，当社交游戏团队解散时，PopCap整个公司都理解和接受了社交游戏商业模式。

2005

SpoutGames创始人之一Ed Allard创立团队，专注于为PopCap制作主机游戏，由他亲自负责。

2010

ZipZapGames主管John David创立了社交工作室。该工作室专注于制作社交游戏。公司中只有少数人进入这个工作室，因为多数人并不适应商业模式的改变。

技能多样化

在这两次交易中，公司都获得了拥有各种技能的人才。PopCap可以将各个团队隔离开来，让他们保持自己的商业模式，但是公司必须不断培养和多样化技能。有时他们选择培养内部的员工，令其掌握新技能，但是有时通过收购来获取人才似乎更有意义。

2005

主机和手机游戏开发，UI设计需求大量增加，需要更多制作人。

2010

服务开发者，IT，盈利设计师，数据分析。

获得新信息

优秀设计不一定来源于优秀的数据分析，但是数据分析确实是件很好的设计工具。就商业中的各个层面来说，拥有及时更新的分析数据都是很重要的。

2005

引进月盈利预测方法，改变商业运转方式。

2010

引进社交游戏分析方法，对游戏玩法、盈利和用户反馈参数进行分析。

采纳新技术

PopCap要获得成功，就必须在开发中采用新技术，开发者也必须学习如何将新技术用于自己现有的工作方式中。

2005

所获主机游戏开发新技术：本土化、多平台编排和共享代码库。

2010

所获社交游戏开发新技术：可扩展分享服务及数据分析整合等。

果断行动

从本质上来说，PopCap的行事方式较为保守。但是，当他们决定开展行动时，就会勇往直前。认真思考很重要，但一旦你决定做出行动，那就不要犹豫，全力将其做好。

不断改变

所有公司都会不断改变。这种改变通过重复设计、重复战略、组织变迁和实验性产品开发而实现。在开发商之路上，PopCap总是越变越好。

下个变迁

公司的下个阶段便是同EA的合作。这给公司带来的改变不仅仅是金钱，还在于构建起长期合作关系并创作优秀游戏。这个阶段很重要，因为这样PopCap既可以提升开发团队的经验，也能够利用EA对行业大局的掌握来推广游戏。

游戏邦注：本文发稿于2011年10月12日，所涉时间、事件和数据均以此为准。（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）

GDC Online Keynote – John Vechey founder of PopCap Games

Travis L. Ross

The GDC Online Keynote speech was presented by John Vechey, a hyper-successful college dropout who founded PopCap games with his three friends. Vechey’s backstory is really cool, and if you like success stories you can read it here. For those of you who are familiar with the business world, the notes from this keynote may seem rather obvious. That said, I think it is always interesting to hear from someone who has been very successful.

Vechey’s presentation focused on growing PopCap after 2005, a point in time where they were offered around 70 million to sell the company. The story starts immediately after turning down the offer, and it focuses on how they took PopCap, a studio with 20 employees, to a studio with 400 working in collaboration with Electronic Arts.

Vechey offered a series of key points that he thought were important to the success of the company post 2005. I’ll lay out his advice below. For anyone interested in starting their own company and growing it. This is useful advice.

The 2005 offer forced PopCap to reconsider how they were going to make it on their own. They realized that they were just a small developer and didn’t have the business structure in place to continue to publish games on their own without changing their business model. In addition, this was a time when games and business models were changing. PopCap had to figure out how to navigate this space.

In order to compete as a developer/publisher PopCap began expanding business operations. They moved from having 1 of their 20 employees focusing on the business aspects of the company (HR, Marketing, Finance, Law), to having about 40% of the company working in this role. Doing this made certain that they would find the talent that was required to make the transition successfully.

PopCap made two strategic acquisitions to aid them in their business:

First, they acquired Sprout Games, which would aid them in the console market.

Second, they purchased ZipZapGames, a social games developer out of San Francisco.

These acquisitions were not simply IP grabs. They brought PopCap talent that allowed them to expand their services into new markets. Vechey identified a few key things tied to the corporate culture of PopCap that made these acquisitions successful. Here they are:

Creating Focused teams

Using the talent from their two acquisitions PopCap created focused teams for console development and social games development. They built walls – walled gardens – around these groups to insulate those in the company who were comfortable with change, from those who were not. Most were not. As the business models used for games changed, they started to rip down the walls they constructed. PopCap was fortunate that the VPs that placed in the lead roles for teams were willing to step down and share ideas with the rest of the company. For instance, when the social games team was dissolved, PopCap moved the company as a whole to a social games business model.

2005

One of the founders of SpoutGames, Ed Allard, started a group focusing on creating console games for PopCap. He did this by creating a leading a “Console” team.

2010

John David, a manager from ZipZapGames started what was known as the social studio. This studio focused on social games. Only a few people moved over to this studio as most were uncomfortable with making the change.

Diversify Skill Sets

In both transitions new skills had to be learned. PopCap started by creating walled gardens and insulating the company from change, but it became necessary to diffuse skills into the company. Sometimes they could cultivate this talent and skills internally, but sometimes it made more sense to acquire talent.

2005

Console and mobile development, highly increased UI needs, need for producers

2010

Service developers, IT, monetiziation designers, metrics and analytics

Acquire New Information

Good design does not come from good metrics, but metrics are a good tool for design. Having up-to-date analytics is important in all aspects of business.

2005

Introduced monthly revenue forecasting and changed the way that the business operated.

2010

Introduced social gaming analytics – gameplay analytics, monetization, user metrics.

New Technology Foundation

For PopCap to be successful they had to develop in new technologies and the developers had to learn how to couple those technologies into their existing work style.

2005

New technologies required for console development: localization, multiplatform compiling, and a shared code base.

2010

New technologies required for social development: scalable shared services, flash clients, and metrics integration.

Baby Steps, Baby

PopCap is conservative by nature. However, when they act, they act boldly. It is important to think carefully, but if you make the call to do something, then do without hesitation and do it right.

Always Transitioning

Companies are always transitioning. This happens through iterative design, iterative strategies, organizational changes, and experimental product development. PopCap is always getting better at being a developer.

What is the next Transition

The next transition is working with EA. This transition is not just about money. It is about building a long lasting legacy, creating great games, and partnering with a winner. It is an important step because it allows PopCap to leverage the experience of many other development teams and EA knows how to work at a very large scale. (Source: Motivate Play)