作者：Henry Fong

中国是世界上最大的iOS/Android游戏市场，但对于许多欧美开发商而言，中国仍然是一个充满不确定、忧虑的市场，甚至坦白地说，是个被误解的市场。作为在中国从事欧美手机游戏发行的公司CEO，我在此提出我经常与美国和欧洲同事讨论的5件事。

1、在中国App Store前几名付费下载游戏大多来自欧美。

虽然中国本地生产的游戏市场强劲，但欧美游戏仍然主导付费下载领域。写这篇文章时，PopCap和EA的《植物大战僵尸》在中国App Store排行榜上占据首位，随后的是《水果忍者》。事实上，前10名中有8款游戏来自欧美。这表明，中国玩家对欧美游戏的兴趣浓厚。

请注意我说的“付费”下载，因为这一点跟我接下来要说的中国市场有关：

2、中国人不喜欢购买游戏——但他们喜欢在游戏中消费。

虽然许多付费iOS/Android游戏已经吸引了大量中国玩家，但它们其实只占据了市场的一小部分。那是因为中国人非常不情愿直接购买游戏。相反地，他们偏好玩大量免费游戏。

然而，一旦他们找到自己喜欢的游戏，中国玩家当中就有极高比例的人会在游戏中花钱。

现在，在中国App Store前10名游戏都是免费的。非官方行业数据表明，名列前茅的免费智能手机游戏在中国通过游戏内消费，每月盈利100-200万美元——这个数字在短短的6个月内就翻了1番。但为什么中国玩家出手这么阔绰？

3、中国玩家不仅购买虚拟道具——他们还为此炫耀自夸。

欧美玩家一般不喜欢自夸他们为了加强游戏而购买增益道具，而宁愿让别人觉得他们只通过技术和长时间游戏来升级。

在中国，这个逻辑完全颠倒了——中国玩家吹嘘自己购买的游戏道具，任何时候都喜欢炫耀游戏道具。这迎合了当下中国普遍存在的炫耀式消费的大体氛围。所以，奢侈品牌和汽车会成为流行的地位象征。

明智的设计师会利用中国玩家的这种心理，使玩家能够容易地炫耀自己付费购买的道具——例如，可以让玩家角色展示的虚拟增益道具。

另一个很圈钱的游戏机制是，公会领袖可以购买并向其他公会成员赠送道具或技能。这种行为源自中国文化的期待，即上级给自己的下级付款，这是有钱的玩家获得（或买到）游戏社交声望的强大方式。

4、手机MMO游戏在中国非常流行。

虽然欧美开发商仍然将MMO与PC游戏相联系，但在中国，这个游戏亚种的绝大多数玩家倾向于在手机上玩MMO。

胡莱三国(from newhua.com)

iOS/Android平台上的MMO游戏，如《胡莱三国》吸引了数百万玩家；毫不意外，目前中国App Store排名前10的游戏都是MMO或多人社交策略/模拟游戏。

显然，喜欢《魔兽世界》的中国游戏粉丝（在中国的玩家人数仍然庞大）正在转向用智能手机玩MMO。

5、中国手机游戏市场仍是蛮荒之地——但欧美开发商仍然有保护自己的办法。

肯定地，中国的手机市场仍然非常分化，很难开发。毕竟，有超过100个Android应用商店在此互相竞争。开发商更担心的是什么呢？盗版欧美游戏的行业仍然猖獗。然而，开发者还是有办法保护自己的内容和收益。

因为中国手机游戏基本上是通过游戏内消费盈利的，所以，将游戏登录帐号和游戏内消费认证绑定到外部服务器上，这是一个好主意。这样，即使黑客成功地绕过了客户端或苹果的IAP交易流程，他们也难绕过你的外部服务器。

除了这类技术手段，获得当地合作伙伴的帮助也能有效地保护你的游戏。中国的应用商店更可能留意中国科技公司（而非外国开发商）的停止并中断的警告。因此，我们已经想出办法，让应用商店拒绝剽窃合作伙伴的山寨游戏，用正版取代盗版。

对欧美开发商而言，中国看起来似乎没什么吸引力，但如果你靠近一点儿看，你会发现，这个国家多么想玩游戏，想玩你的游戏。（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）

5 things every mobile game developer should know about Chinese players

by Henry Fong

Henry Fong is the CEO and founder of Yodo1, a Chinese game publisher that has helped Western companies like Robot Entertainment and Digital Chocolate localize and distribute games for the Chinese market

China has the world’s largest market for iOS/Android games, but for many Western developers, it’s a country that still causes a lot uncertainty, trepidation, and frankly, misunderstanding. As CEO of a Western mobile game publisher based in China, here are five points I usually make when talking with my colleagues from the U.S. and Europe.
1. Most of the top paid download games in China’s Apple App Store are from the West.

While China has a robust market for locally-produced games, paid downloads are dominated by Western titles. At the time of writing this article, for instance, PopCap and EA’s Plants vs Zombies is #1 on China’s Apple App Store paid games chart, and Fruit Ninja is #2. In fact, 8 of the top 10 paid apps are Western. This indicates China’s strong interest in Western games.

However, note that I say “paid” downloads, because that brings up my next point about the Chinese market:
2. Chinese don’t like buying games — but they spend a lot within them.

While a handful of paid iOS/Android games have attracted a large Chinese audience, they’re actually a small fraction of the total market. That’s because Chinese are very reluctant to buy games outright. Instead, their preference is to churn through a slew of free-to-play games.

Once they find a title they like, however, Chinese gamers typically monetize at extremely high rates, through in-app payments.

At the moment, all of the top 10 grossing games in Apple’s App Store in China are freemium. Unofficial industry sources suggest the top freemium smartphone games in China earn $1-2 million a month through in-app payments — twice as much as they were making a short six months ago. But why do Chinese gamers spend so much?
3. Chinese gamers not only buy virtual upgrades — they brag about buying them.

Western gamers typically don’t like to brag about the premium items they’ve bought to enhance their game play, preferring to project the perception that they’ve advanced in-game solely through skill and long play.

This logic is totally reversed in China — Chinese gamers boast about game upgrades they’ve purchased, and enjoy showing them off whenever they can. This fits the general atmosphere of conspicuous consumption so common in the new China, where luxury fashion brands and cars are popular status symbols.

Smart designers can leverage that desire by making it easy for gamers to show off their paid-for items — for example, through premium virtual items that can be displayed on a gamer’s avatar.

Another game mechanic that monetizes well: Items and abilities that guild leaders can buy and gift to other guild members. This behavior leverages the Chinese cultural expectation that “The Boss” pays for his underlings, and thus, is a great way for wealthy players to gain (i.e. buy) more in-game social status.

4. MMOs on mobile are really popular in China.

While Western developers still associate MMOs with PC gaming, China’s extremely large audience for the sub-genre is trending toward mobile.

The iOS/Android ports of MMOs like Hoolai’s 3 Kingdoms have gained users in the millions; not surprisingly, 10/10 of the current Top Grossing games in Apple’s App Store in China are MMOs or multi-player social strategy/simulations of some kind.

Clearly, Chinese fans of games like World of Warcraft (which is still huge here) are turning to their smartphones to get their MMO fix.
5. China’s mobile gaming market is still a wild frontier — but there are ways for Western developers to protect themselves.

To be sure, China’s mobile market is still very fragmented, and difficult to navigate. There are over 100 Android app stores, after all. Even more worrying for developers? Piracy of Western games is still rampant. However, there are ways to protect your content and your revenue.

Since mobile games in China mostly monetize through in-app payments, for example, it’s a good idea to tie your game’s log-in and in-app payment authentication process to an external server. That way, even if hackers manage to bypass the client or Apple’s IAP process, they won’t be able to bypass yours.

Beyond technical solutions like that, getting a local partner makes all the difference to protecting your games. China’s app stores are much more likely to heed the cease-and-desist warnings of a fellow Chinese tech company, than a remote foreign developer. For this, we’ve developed a methodology for getting app stores to pull copycat games that try to rip off our partners, and replace them with the official versions — read more about that on our blog.

TL;DR: China may seem like an uninviting place for Western developers, but if you look closer, you’ll be impressed by how much the country wants to play — and pay — for your games.(source:gamasutra)