作者：Tami Baribeau

我曾发表过有关为何不能将Facebook作为唯一游戏平台的文章。近期Facebook游戏领域的裁员事件足以显示出该平台目前的情况。在Facebook中遭遇一系列失败之后，RockYou在2011年11月份裁员40%。在《Diner Dash》等品牌塑造失败后，PlayFirst也在12月份也裁撤了大量员工。许多公司的裁员并没有见诸报端，如果要我做出预测的话，我猜想下个需要裁员的便是迪士尼的Playdom。

但我要澄清一点，上篇博文的主要观点并不是说Facebook上的社交游戏已濒临灭亡，开发商需要完全撤离该平台。在这个多变的社交游戏市场中，跨平台战略是个较好的业务方向。所以我的想法是，如果你只想选择进入单个市场，那么iOS可能是较好的选择。

iphone-games(from technetspark.com)

游戏多样化

Facebook上流行的多为模拟装饰类游戏，而App Store中的游戏类型更为丰富。诸如《无尽之剑》及其续作之类的硬核游戏经常出现于排行榜前列。手机设备上最为流行的游戏为平台和动作游戏。免费模拟类游戏和付费游戏都有其存在的空间。手机上流行的隐藏物品游戏不止两款，而是多达数百款。而且，市场中还有射击游戏、经典8位RPG游戏、卡牌游戏、解谜和文字游戏。以今天的情况来看，App Store排名位居前20的免费游戏有移植自其他平台的游戏（《镜之边缘》）、运动游戏（《Field Goal Frenzy》和《Archery World Cup》）、解谜游戏（《宝石迷阵闪电战》和《Words with Friends》）、无尽奔跑游戏（《翼飞冲天》和《Temple Runner》）和模拟类游戏（《Bakery Story》）等。

曝光率

此外，对这些游戏来说，苹果有着健全的分类和推荐机制。这是iOS设备的优势之处，平台上有各种不同的用户和游戏题材。你可以浏览应用商店，根据游戏的星级评分和发布时间来寻找你自己感兴趣的游戏。你可以看到游戏推荐。你可以看到所有进入App Store的最新游戏。上升最快游戏榜单让玩家可以看到多数人喜欢购买的游戏。你可以根据免费和付费应用类别来选择游戏。苹果会推荐他们认为很棒的游戏，这对你来说又是个推广渠道。而Facebook却完全移除了网站上的应用索引。

与大品牌同台竞争

对于较大型的品牌来说，进军iOS是无需多虑的选择。现在，拥有顶级应用的大型盈利品牌包括：《The Price is Right》；《蝙蝠侠：阿甘之城》；《使命召唤》；《Scrabble》；《游戏人生》；《Uno》；《Risk》；《大富翁》；《NBA Jam》；《俄勒冈之旅》；《疯狂美式橄榄球》；《NBA 2012》；《汽车总动员2》；《Sonic the Hedgehog》；《FIFA》；《模拟人生3》；《战地》；《Boggle》；《吃豆人》。在Facebook上，大型品牌多半失败了。

这听起来似乎很不可思议。为什么要进入这个需要同如此多大品牌竞争的领域呢？最大的原因便是游戏平台的合理性。iPhone和iPad上的游戏足够休闲，可以满足所有Facebook目标用户的诉求，同时《使命召唤》等硬核游戏依然有成功的可能，这已是行业公认的事实。iPhone不只将非游戏玩家转变为游戏玩家，而且还能够满足那些已经算是游戏玩家的用户的需求。它既能够让那些愿意购买IAP的用户感到满意，也能够让不断寻找和体验新游戏的用户感到满意。

但是，iOS平台的强大之处还不止如此。许多较小的公司也能够开发或发布某些非常出色的游戏。《Words With Friends》的开发商Newtoy是个只是个23人的小公司，Zynga花费5300万美元将其收购。Playforge（游戏邦注：本文作者工作的公司）完全靠《Zombie Farm》支撑，这款游戏是由单人（游戏邦注：Playforge首席执行官）开发完成。我们的游戏在2011年上升最快iOS游戏榜单上位列第3，在上升最快免费游戏中位列第2。研究过App Store，你就会发现位于榜单前列的付费和免费游戏中，有许多出自规模远小于Zynga、Playdom、EA、Wooga和RockYou的初创公司之手。App Store甚至创造了《愤怒的小鸟》等大型跨平台品牌。

尽管如此，我同样不认为将iOS作为惟一业务平台是个绝佳的想法。我认为，相对Facebook而言，这个平台更适合独立开发者，而且在试验和进行创意开发方面显得更为灵活。但是，用户获取成本依然十分昂贵。与2011年早期相比，现在的手机游戏玩家获得成本至少增加了1倍。但是，质量门槛同样有所提升。要在iOS上实现病毒性传播，要么制作出很棒的游戏（这不是件简单的事情），要么为同其他开发商开展的CPC活动和广告平台支付巨额资金。但是，我认为现在的手机游戏市场尚未达到鼎盛时期，而Facebook平台已经开始出现下滑趋势，2012年便可见分晓。我坚信，Facebook作为社交网络，其病毒性本质是人们在该平台上玩游戏的主要原因。当Facebook开始逐步削弱这个社交游戏功能，我们就可以看到整个社交游戏市场的DAU开始下滑。iOS游戏并非构建于病毒性之上。这个市场的基础是各种优秀的游戏和设计精巧的大众市场设备，而这个设备的制造公司并不会时常改变其与游戏开发商的关系。

游戏邦注：本文发稿于2011年12月9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）

iOS is a more sustainable business strategy (pt 2)

Tami Baribeau

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about how Facebook games are unsustainable as a sole business strategy. The article was picked up in various places including PocketGamer.biz and also Gamasutra. I’m glad that my message got out there because everyone was thinking it, although it wasn’t met without opposition. I received many emails from people who are in the business of making Facebook games who were not pleased at my dooming of their careers. Interestingly enough, the only opposition came from designers, creative directors, and people who work at the top companies (EA, Zynga mostly). No producers, execs, PMs, or business people in charge of financials. Unsurprising, really.

The latest string of layoffs in the Facebook game space lends more examples about the struggling nature of the platform right now. RockYou laid off 40% of staff last month after a string of Facebook flops. PlayFirst had a large layoff this month after their attempts to bring successful brands like Diner Dash failed. There are more unannounced layoffs incoming, and if I had to make predictions I’d guess that Disney’s Playdom is next.

I also mentioned at the end of my article that I feel that iOS is a better bet right now. I have to commit a blogging faux pas and revise my statement a bit. The main point of my post was not that social gaming on Facebook is dead and companies should pull out entirely. It was that a good business position in this volatile social gaming market requires cross platform strategy. So I don’t necessarily want to make a blanket statement about iOS being a better place to be, although I do believe that if you’re picking just one market you should head to iOS. I also believe Facebook has peaked as a gaming platform.

Title Diversity:

Whereas the most popular games on Facebook are isometric sim decorators, games in the App Store have a much wider variety. Hardcore games such as Infinity Blade and its sequel are not uncommon to see rising in the ranks. Some of the most popular games on the device are platformers and action games. There is room for free-to-play simulation games, and pay-to-play full games. There aren’t just two popular hidden object games, there are hundreds. There are shooter games, throwback classic 8bit RPGs, card games, puzzle and word games. Just today, looking at the top 20 Free Games in the App Store you’ll find games that are ports from other platforms (Mirror’s Edge), sports games (Field Goal Frenzy, Archery World Cup), puzzle games (Bejeweled Blitz, Words with Friends), endless runners (Tiny Wings, Temple Runner), isometric sims (Bakery Story) and more.

Discoverability:

To add to my argument, Apple features robust categories and featuring for these games. They readily acknowledge that one of the strengths of their device and the platform is the large diverse audience and the variety in game genres. You can browse the market and find games that you might be interested in based on their star rating and when they came out. You can get recommendations. You can see all of the latest games that were added to the App Store. The transparency of the Top Grossing Games chart allows players to see where most people are spending money. You can sort by free or paid apps. Apple features games that they think are good, giving another channel of promotion for you. Meanwhile, Facebook removed their app directory entirely.

Bigger Brands:

For larger brands, venturing into iOS is a no brainer. Just this week saw the launch of Chrono Trigger onto its 800th platform when it made its App Store debut. Other large and profitable brands with top apps right now include The Price is Right, Batman Arkham City, Call of Duty, Scrabble, The Game of Life, Uno, Risk, Monopoly, NBA Jam, The Oregon Trail, Madden NFL, NBA 2K12, Cars 2, Sonic the Hedgehog, FIFA Soccer, The Sims 3, Battlefield, Boggle, and Pac-Man. On Facebook, larger brands crash and fail more often than not.

This might sound intimidating. Why on earth would anyone want to get into this space when you’re competing with so many huge pocketbooks? The biggest reason is the legitimacy of the gaming platform. Gaming on the iPhone and iPad has proven to be casual enough to appeal to all of Facebook’s target demographic, yet hardcore enough to allow games like Call of Duty to succeed. The iPhone doesn’t just turn non-gamers into gamers, it also appeals to people who already identify as gamers. It appeals to people who don’t need to be coerced to make in-app purchases by putting buttons in a perfect place. It appeals to those who actively seek out new games to play.

But it’s not all that scary. There are plenty of smaller companies that are either developing or publishing some pretty fantastic titles. Words With Friends was developed by Newtoy, a 23 person company, and sold to Zynga for a $53m exit. The Playforge (the company I work at) has been fully funded and bootstrapped by Zombie Farm, a game that was developed by a single person (our CEO). And we had the #3 top grossing iOS game of 2011 (#2 free game). If you venture into the App Store and look at the top paid and free games, a significant chunk of them are from startups far smaller than Zynga, Playdom, EA, Wooga, RockYou, etc. The App Store has even created huge cross-platform brands such as Angry Birds.

However, I don’t believe that it’s a good idea to go into the iOS space as your only platform. I believe it’s more viable for indie developers than Facebook, and more flexible to experimentation and creative endeavors. However, it’s still very expensive to acquire users. Mobile game player acquisition is now at least double of what it was earlier this year. However, the quality bar has also been raised. Being viral on iOS either means making a great mass market game, which isn’t an easy feat, or paying a lot of money in CPC campaigns with other developers and ad platforms. However, I don’t think we’ve reached the height of mobile gaming yet. I believe that Facebook as a platform has already begun its downward trend and that the next year will be very telling. I also strongly believe that Facebook’s viral nature as a social network is the main reason people play games there. When Facebook begun to cripple the social gaming features one-by-one, we saw DAU dropping in the market over all. iOS gaming isn’t built on virality. It’s built on a variety of great and accessible games and a well-designed mass market device created by a company that doesn’t reposition its dedication to game developers on a monthly basis. (Source: Tami Baribeau)