作者：Leigh Alexander

我们此前曾有幸同PopCap的Giordano Bruno Contestabile进行交谈，主要关于公司最近宣布计划将其热门作品《宝石迷阵闪电战》拆分成独立的跨平台iOS&Facebook游戏（游戏邦注：此游戏之前是App Store《宝石迷阵2》的一个游戏模式，是Facebook的独立作品）。

通过这一举措，《闪电战》将转而采用免费模式，Contestabile还提及虽然自己是这款作品的业务经理，但他很不会玩《宝石迷阵》，他在GDC详述游戏的转变过程。

bejeweled blitz from squidoo.com

《宝石迷阵》是PopCap的首款作品，发行于2000年，关于其发展史的记载非常详尽，这款游戏目前在各平台的销量共计5500万份，安装量达2 亿次，游戏在线MAU为2500万，总用户人数达5亿——据Contestabile表示，这些数量还呈逐年增长趋势。

quick facts(from popcap)

《宝石迷阵闪电战》是首批兼容iOS和Facebook版本的游戏作品，因为手机绑定Facebook如今已迅速变成社交体验的标准。游戏投放 iOS平台2年以来，始终“备受用户追捧”，Contestabile表示：游戏的DAU有300多万，就此来看《闪电战》是Facebook排名前10 的作品之一，还入驻App Store 10大高收益游戏榜单。

why change(from popcap)

PopCap将《闪电战》拆分成免费增值游戏旨在获得更多用户，给想要在Facebook和iOS平台体验这款游戏但没有于App Store购买《宝石迷阵2》的用户移除体验障碍。PopCap没有在App Store继续运作《宝石迷阵2》，而是选择放弃这一游戏版本，将其转变成免费增值模式，变成一个持续运作和更新的服务。

复杂的发行过程

Contestabile承认，“整个发行过程非常复杂。我们放弃一款付费游戏，然后将其中的一个模式转变成免费游戏，同时又发行一款名为《宝石迷阵》的付费游戏，取代《宝石迷阵2》的位置。我们自己都有些困惑，苹果也被我们弄糊涂了。”

加拿大的试验发行非常成功，随后我们开始在全球范围内发行游戏，我们的目标是获得较高用户评级，入驻前10榜单。iOS的《闪电战》头个月就获得600万次的免费下载量——但在Contestabile看来，有趣之处不是游戏如何超越他们的发行预期，而在于游戏获得比早先作品更杰出的表现。

change in metrics(from popcap)

切换至免费增殖模式有效推动《宝石迷阵》的发展：据Contestabile表示，“游戏下载量每天平均提高9倍，用户数量和收益分别提高5倍。”他表示，这些数据依然处在持续发展中。而且，iOS的发行计划显著提高Facebook平台的用户活跃度，堪称是有效的“交叉授粉”作用。

comparision(from popcap)

但游戏在iOS & Facebook的运作对比情况如何？他表示，“各重要参数在iOS的表现都比Facebook高出2倍。”iOS的用户日均收益也比Facebook高2倍。iPhone用户平均每天在花1小时玩《闪电战》，这在Contestabile看来“相当惊人”。

他表示，“用户常利用上厕所的时间玩游戏。听到这点，你也许会发笑，但在厕所玩游戏确实是‘情况’之一。据悉，25%的iPhone游戏时间都发生在上厕所期间。”

免费增值模式&付费模式

但PopCap的免费下载量依然高过收费销售总量；免费下载量是付费购买总量的9倍。因此公司早就猜到其ARPU将出现下滑。但此数值依然高过Facebook，目前二者的差距越来越小。“但庞大销量足以填补此下滑幅度；就像我之前说过的，我们的收益提高5倍。”

但这里还有些相关注意事项：Facebook Connect相当复杂，很难同iOS版本整合，开发者似乎采取众多举措才促使用户使用这一服务。只有约20%的《闪电战》iOS下载用户激活Facebook Connect（游戏邦注：用户要解锁游戏的全部功能就必须执行这一操作）。这意味着多数用户都不会采用此功能，虽然他们能够从中获得强化功能。

他表示，“没有Facebook Connect，游戏的核心内容就无法真正体现出来。所以就这款游戏来说，这是我们目前正在克服的问题。《宝石迷阵闪电战》玩家会同其社交好友玩这款游戏。我们需要进行跨平台推广，于Facebook和iOS同时运作游戏需要我们付出众多努力。”

发行难题

发行过程并非一帆风顺。公司原本预期会受到正面评价，但令他们惊讶的是，平台头几天出现“众多”1颗星评级。当用户在其挚爱的作品中察觉到不同内容时他们通常会反应激烈。

Contestabile解释表示，“在iPhone平台推出《宝石迷阵闪电战》时，我们决定调整宝石配对的速度，以配合Facebook版本。”

“iPhone版本总是让人觉得速度更快。其实游戏没有变得更快，这不过是这一屏幕带给我们的感觉。但用户觉得这变得更有难度，他们开始心生不悦。”

用户抱怨称速度变化影响到他们的得分情况，虽然据PopCap自己的数据显示，情况并不是如此。这清楚说明用户直觉的重要性，公司需要立即处理这些反馈信息，让用户知道我们理解他们的抱怨，正在积极进行修正。

他们停止要求用户从先前的《宝石迷阵2》绑定应用切换至新内容，然后几天后重新推出宝石速度得到相应调整且包含随机更新内容的游戏版本。结果如何？用户评级提高至4.5颗星。他提醒开发者，最不满意的用户通常会最快进行评论，留下差评，大家在收集初期反馈信息时需将此考虑在内。满意用户通常会保持沉默。

rating(from popcap)

创收方式

所以免费游戏要如何创收，这一商业模式如何运作？首先，它依靠低价游戏消耗品维持，玩家需要经常使用这些道具。这些元素得到合理平衡，避免创造额外优势；更优秀的玩家依然获得更高的分数。稀有宝石会带来更多福利，它们随机出现，玩家需依靠技能获得更多益处。最后，游戏设有“daily spin”功能，这是个插槽设置，能够带来游戏货币。玩家可以一天体验一次游戏，掏钱购买更多获胜机会。

这里还存在若干关键潜在要素：Contestabile强调，“《宝石迷阵闪电战》是少数能让玩家长期免费体验的Facebook游戏之一。游戏不要求玩家向好友发送垃圾邮件。不要求玩家付费。”付费玩家将不会遇到任何限制因素，他们花钱强化自己的美好时光，而非由于游戏令其别无选择，或者若不这么做，他们就无法从中获得足够乐趣。

PopCap设有复杂的后台机制，让开发者能够即时调整和管理游戏经济体系，在Contestabile看来，这是顺利创收的关键。公司还设有团队专门负责营销和游戏内部活动，广告和促销促使游戏得以持久生存下去。

提高用户满意度是最佳发展策略

营销和项目负责人也会定期开展促销活动，维持用户粘性——而且还将公司的业务变得更具预见性。例如，公司每周二举行的竞赛能够有效提高游戏在畅销榜单的排名。这类活动能够带来双赢结果，因为公司将从数据中清楚知晓，通过回应各种社区活动和游戏内容，自己会得到多少回馈（游戏邦注：玩家同时也会变得更具粘性）。

但相比以内容吸引用户眼球，让用户规模自然发展，社交游戏公司掏钱提高用户获取“数量”的策略显得不甚明智。Contestabile表示，“若你是依靠手段获取用户，那么游戏的用户粘性、留存率和创收水平将无法得到提高。日积月累的付出会比在1天或1周内投入众多资金，以期用户继续游戏收获更理想的结果。”

他强调表示，“若游戏富有趣味，那么用户粘性、留存率和收益水平也会得到相应提高。若玩家享受其中，他们就会继续体验，停留于游戏之中。这是PopCap手机游戏运作的唯一要诀；我们着眼于趣味性，通过数据进行核实，但最重要的问题是：‘玩家是否从中收获乐趣？’”

他强调称，“要把趣味性放在首位。”虽然早期的免费模式游戏给行业塑造负面形象。但他认为开发者应多涉猎这一类型的游戏，以获得尽可能多的用户——高质量的免费模式游戏有很大的创收潜力。

Contestabile表示，“自我们开始制作游戏以来，免费增值模式是游戏行业创造的最大机遇。”（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 2012: PopCap’s big lessons from freemium social Bejeweled

by Leigh Alexander

We last spoke to PopCap’s Giordano Bruno Contestabile alongside the company’s announcement that it would spin off its popular Bejeweled Blitz into a separate, cross-platform iOS and Facebook product (previously, it came as a mode within Bejeweled 2 on the App Store, and separately on Facebook).

With that move, Blitz went free-to-play, and Contestabile – who, incidentally, claims emphatically to “really, really suck” at Bejeweled despite being the franchise’s business manager — spoke at GDC about the game’s transition.

Bejeweled was PopCap’s first game, launching in 2000. Its history is fairly well-documented, and it’s sold a total 55 million units across all platforms to date, with a total of 200 million installs, 25 million monthly active users across its online platforms, and over 500 million users – and growing year over year, according to Contestabile.

Bejeweled Blitz is among the very first games to fully integrate its iOS and Facebook versions, as mobile connectivity to Facebook quickly becomes the standard in social play. Two years from the game’s initial launch on iOS, it’s still “consistently popular,” Contestabile notes: with over 3 million daily active users, Blitz is one of Facebook’s top 10 games by that measure, and it’s in the App Store’s top 10 highest-grossing games.

PopCap spun Blitz off as a freemium game in order to reach a wider audience and to remove the barrier for players who wanted to play Blitz on both Facebook and iOS, but who hadn’t purchased Bejeweled 2 on the App Store. Instead of keeping Bejeweled 2 on the App Store, PopCap ditched the version number and got behind it as a premium product, a service it plans to continually operate and update.

A Complex Proposition

“The launch was really complicated,” admits Contestabile. “We were retiring a premium game that included a mode, and at the same time launching the mode as a freemium game, and at the same time launching a premium game called Bejeweled that was taking the place of Bejeweled 2. …we were confused! Apple was confused.”

A test launch in Canada was successful, followed by a worldwide launch with the goal of reaching high ratings and top 10 rankings. Blitz on iOS saw 6 million freemium downloads in its first month – but the interesting thing for Contestabile is not how the game outperformed its launch expectations, but how its performance compared to previous benchmarks for the brand.

The switch to freemium visibly grew the Bejeweled business: “Every day, we see nine times the number of downloads, five times the number of users, and five times the revenue that we were seeing before,” according to Contestabile. And it’s still growing week over week, he notes. Further, the launch on iOS increased user activity on Facebook, a positive cross-pollination.

But how does it perfrom on iOS versus Facebook? “Every single important metric on iOS is performing two [times] what it does on Facebook,” he says. And daily average revenue per user is double. People spend on average an hour a day playing Blitz on their iPhones, which Contestabile calls “pretty stunning.”

“They play on the toilet,” he says. “You laugh, but toilet gaming is a ‘thing.’ You heard it here first… 25 percent of iPhone gaming happens on the toilet.

Freemium versus Paid

But PopCap is still giving away much more than it’s selling; freemium downloads are nine times higher than premium buys. The company expected, therefore, the ARPU to decline. It’s still higher than Facebook, but is now closer. “However, volume more than made up for it; as I said before, we’ve seen a five [times] increase in revenue.”

But there are some caveats to the positive story: Facebook Connect is extremely complicated and difficult to integrate with the iOS version, and it seems to take some heavy campaigning on behalf of the developer to get people to use it. Only about 20 percent of Blitz iOS downloads have activated Facebook Connect, which is required to unlock the game’s full features. That means most of the audience doesn’t use the function, even though they would get enhanced features for it.

“Without Facebook Connect, the core of the game would not really exist… so for this particular game, this is an issue that we’re working through,” he says. “Bejeweled Blitz is a game that people play with their real social graph. We need to cross-promote… and managing a game on Facebook and iOS at the same time is a lot of work.”

Launch Troubles

Not everything went right with the launch. The company expected excellent reviews, and was surprised by the “thousands” of one-star reviews in the first few days. Users can react very strongly when they observe something different in a beloved product. “When we launched Bejeweled Blitz on iPhone, we decided to change the perceived speed of the gem match to match the Facebook version,” Contestabile explains.

“The iPhone version always felt faster… it wasn’t faster, it was just the feeling of the gems moving on the screen. But people perceived it as different, and they were pissed.”

People complained the speed change affected their scores, even though PopCap’s own data showed that wasn’t the case. It’s an important lesson in how powerful is audience perception, and the company needed to intervene with messaging immediately to show their customers they understood the complaints and were working to rectify them.

And they stopped forcing players to transition from the old Bejeweled 2 bundled app to the new one, able to resubmit and launch the new version with the rectified gem speed and the optional update within just a few days. The result? An increase in rankings to about four and a half stars. Still, he warns it’s important to keep in mind that it’s the unhappiest players who will be the quickest to comment and leave ratings, and to factor that in when gathering initial feedback. Happy players are often silent.

How It Makes Money

So how does the freemium game actually make money, and how does the business model work? First, it’s boosted with low-priced in-game consumables that are meant to be used regularly. These are balanced not to grant excessive advantages; better players will still have a higher average score. Rare gems have higher-impact bonuses, appear randomly, and require skill to create the most benefit. Finally, there’s a “daily spin” feature, a slot mechanic that grants in-game currency. Players can play once a day, and can purchase more chances to win.

There are some underlying factors that are key: “Bejeweled Blitz< is one of the few games on Facebook that you can play forever without paying,”Contestabile emphasizes. “We don’t ask you to spam your friends… we never ask you for money.” Paying users enjoy no limitations, and they pay to enhance their own good time, not because the game corners the player into doing it or makes the game less pleasant if they don’t.

PopCap does have a sophisticated back-end system that lets the developers tweak and manage the economy in real-time, something Contestabile feels is important to effective monetization. And it also has a team devoted to marketing and in-game events, with advertising and promotions to keep the game perpetually visible.

Happy Users Are The Best Growth Strategy

Marketing and events also runs new promotions regularly that keep users engaged – plus, they help the company make its own business a bit more predictable. For example, every Tuesday sees a tournament, that predictably raises the game up on the sales list. Such events are a win-win, since they mean the company reliably knows from data how much it will make it response to various community activities and offerings — and players are more engaged, too.

But the social game company strategy of injecting money into user acquisition “bursts” is much less advisable than charming players and letting the use base grow organically. “If you can acquire customers organically you will never get more engagement, retention and monetization,” asserts Contestabile. “Sustained effort over time have a better result than just shooting a lot of money for one day or a week hoping that people will stick around.”

“If the game is more fun, you’re going to get more engagement, more retention and more monetization,” he emphasizes. “If players are having fun, they will play, they will stay, and they will play. And that’s really the only secret behind PopCap’s mobile games; we think about fun… we look at data for sure, but the most important question is, ‘Is it more fun for the players?’”

“Think about fun first and foremost,” he emphasizes. And even though early first-wave freemium games might have given the sector a negative perception at the start, he feels everyone should be developing them to reach as many players as possible — and there is earning potential for quality products.

“Freemium is the biggest opportunity that the game industry has had since we started making games,” Contestabile concludes. （Source：gamasutra）