作者：James Brightman

数字平台的出现，尤其是就移动领域而言，给开发者带来众多新机会，但成功却很难得到保障。虽然数字平台如今让开发者得以进行自我发行，但游戏曝光度问题依然存在。要在苹果App Store获取用户绝非易事。EEDAR Jesse Divnich近来在访谈中谈及开发者们所面临的这一普遍问题。

Divnich表示，“应用曝光重担不应落在开发者身上，而且责任也不在苹果。”

他表示，“在过去两年里，开发者们庆幸自己终于挣脱发行商的束缚，但随着这些新兴市场变得越来越稳固，越来越拥挤，许多行业主流开发者都未能获得相应的曝光度和市场辨识度。”

Mobile Games from tomasha.com

“要在应用市场中胜出依然需要靠运气。”——Jesse Divnich

Divnich继续表示，“曝光度就是营销的对应产物，这一直都是开发者们选择和发行商合作的一个主要原因。认为营销重担如今完全转移至开发者身上的看法有失偏颇——虽然我赞同开发者必须要在此信息传递过程中享有一定发言权。”随着EA Mobile及其他大型发行商（游戏邦注：如Activision）纷纷在这一领域提供服务，缺乏营销知识的开发者转而投靠发行商的专业技能实属明智之举。

Divnich表示，“在我看来，数字领域缺乏发行商会极大阻碍开发者的成功之路。”各式各样的广告网络和“付费安装”方案尝试解决此曝光度问题；但这只会导致用户获取成本提高，给独立开发者带来更高成本的障碍。这是个低效率的营销形式；遗憾的是，这依然是少数开发者现今能够运用的曝光度工具。”

最终，手机游戏的营销将在移动领域之外完成。发行商无疑能够在此发挥作用。

Divnich表示，“电子游戏应用的曝光度需要超越便携式屏幕，这是个在其他各种娱乐形式中被广泛理解的概念。这就是像是大制作电影只通过影院预告片获取曝光度。”

“开发者、发行商和经销商之间需达成折中方案，很多人积极在此进行探索，但目前我还没有遇到一个促使各方协同运作，带来真正双赢结果的方案。”

Divnich总结表示，“要在应用市场中胜出依然需要靠运气，这是个会缩减创收水平的庞大低效金钱陷阱。”他接着补充表示，“这就是为什么许多开发者高度依赖于推广网络以便获得‘推荐’。”（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）

Mobile Games Discovery: Why Publishers Are Needed

By James Brightman

Jesse Divnich of EEDAR offers his opinion on the problems developers have getting their games discovered

The emergence of digital platforms, especially in the mobile space, has led to plenty of new opportunities for developers, but success is hardly guaranteed. While it’s true that digital now allows developers to essentially self-publish if they desire, the problem of games discovery remains. It’s not easy to get noticed on Apple’s App Store. EEDAR’s Jesse Divnich recently spoke to GamesIndustry International about this all-too-common problem developers face.

“App discovery shouldn’t fall on the shoulders of developers, nor should it fall on Apple,” Divnich believes.

“For the last two years, I’ve observed developers rejoice over de-shackling from publishers, yet as these emerging markets become more established and crowded, we are witnessing many of our industry’s top developers failing to get the discoverability and market awareness they justly deserve,” he said.

“The fact remains, becoming successful in the app market still is a shot in the dark” ——Jesse Divnich

“Discovery is simply an analogue for marketing, which has traditionally been one of the key roles and reasons for partnering with a publisher and it would be an erroneous suggestion to imply that the burdens of marketing now shift entirely to the developer-although I do agree that developers must have a say in the messaging process,” Divnich continued.
With EA Mobile and other big publishers (like Activision) offering their services in the space, it might be wise for a developer with little marketing knowledge to leverage a publisher’s expertise.

“I do believe that the absence of publishers in the digital environment is significantly impeding developer’s success,” Divnich remarked. “We have seen various ad networks and ‘pay-for-install’ programs form in an attempt to solve the discovery issue; this has only led to the rise in the cost of consumer acquisition, creating an even pricier barrier for independent developers. It really is an inefficient form of marketing; unfortunately it remains one of the few discovery tools developers can access.”

Ultimately, the marketing for mobile games must happen outside of mobile as well. Surely, a publisher can help with that.

“The discovery of video game apps needs to move beyond the portable screen, a concept that is widely understood in all other forms of entertainment. It would be like a blockbuster movie only using theatre previews to gain discoverability,” Divnich noted.

“There should be a happy medium between developers, publishers, and distributors, one that I know many are trying to solve, but I have yet to come across one publicly that has fitted all the pieces together to create a true win-win-win scenario.”

“The fact remains, becoming successful in the app market still is a shot in the dark, a large ineffective marketing money pit that shrinks profitability,” Divnich concluded, adding that’s why we’re seeing an “over reliance on the distribution network to become ‘featured’.”（Source：gamesindustry）