作者：Jon Jordan

社交游戏有两个发展趋势：离开Facebook和为硬核受众制作游戏。Kabam则选择了二者兼顾。

但是，该游戏公司总裁Andrew Sheppard坚定不移地奉行服务硬核玩家的理念，而对于撤出Facebook，他有更宽广的视野。

他表示：“我们仍然制作Facebook游戏。”

“过去，我们100%的收益来自Facebook游戏，但随着我们进军手机、Kabam.com网站和Google等，这个数字下降至30%。”

他说的并不是小数目。这家公司声称2011年盈利超过1亿美元。

kabam-andrew-sheppard(from venturebeat.com)

跨平台

然而，那是追溯它的Facebook时代。Sheppard现在将注意力全完放在发行跨平台游戏上。

他热情地指出：“跨平台是必然选择。”

《Kingdoms of Camelot: Battle for the North》是该公司的首款iOS游戏，而新作《Arcane Empires》现在已经在iOS和Android上全球发行。它是Kabam的第一款运行于Android操作系统的游戏。

Sheppard表示：“Android现在的规模令我们非常振奋。有些公司认为转变已经完成了，而我们却认为手机革命只是刚开始。”

“在接下来的几年，人们对手机和平板电脑游戏的过高期待将会被削弱。”

专注

但就如何把握新机遇而言，Kabam总是充满好奇心。

他解释道：“当我们专注于某个事物时，我们总是一小步一小步地进行。”

这确保了它的项目是建立在品质之上的。

“人们不相信我们可以将这类游戏投放到Facebook。其他人都在为中年家庭主妇制作游戏，而我们要做的是富有深度的MMOG。”

当然，专注于硬核玩家的原因是，这类玩家更喜欢玩游戏、对游戏更忠实、更愿意为游戏花钱。这三大要素是所有手机社交游戏发行商都看重的。

成长壮大

Kabam目睹了《Kingdoms of Camelot: Battle for the North》的成长壮大，这款游戏自2012年三月发布后，至今仍是美国App Store排行榜前5名。

Sheppard解释道：“对于《Camelot》，我们让它更简单更精良，这种处理方法是网页版做不到的。”

这款游戏是根据Kabam的Facebook游戏和《Camelot》网页游戏设计的，但它是采用相同场景的单独产品。

一脉相承的《Arcane Empires》则是Kabam的第一款也是唯一的手机游戏。该游戏由其中国工作室开发，它支持Android平台的举措证明该公司又增加了一条开发线路。

“我们最初是在Facebook发行游戏， 然后是iOS，现在是Android。”

“提供高质量的服务非常重要，对Android平台以及我们所支持的设备来说尤其如此。我们也已经在全球发行支持法语、德语、西班牙语、意大利语和葡萄牙语的游戏。我们打算把《Arcane Empires》打造成像《Camelot》那样的大型游戏。”

下一步

Kabam还有许多正在开发中的作品，而《Arcane Empires》只是其中最先发行的新游戏。

在Kabam的500名员工中，有300名从事开发工作——在中国、旧金山和奥斯丁的工作室里，超过12款游戏处于不同的开发阶段。在2012年底以前，可能有另外4款游戏会发行。

Sheppard表示：“我们总是力求进步。”

然而更重要的是，在其他公司都强调自己在收益上的成功时，他却说Kabam的目光更为长远。

他解释道：“我们不只是关注成功的结果，我们更关注成功的过程。”

“我们正在变革玩家进入游戏和消费游戏的方式。那才是长远的战略。”（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）

Kabam’s Andrew Sheppard on how the 500-strong core social gaming giant is committed not just to success but the process of success

by Jon Jordan

There are two key trends in social games; moving away from Facebook, and making games for the core audience.

Kabam sits astride both.

But, while president of game studios Andrew Sheppard is unshakable in his commitment to core gamers, he takes a broader view about the Facebook exodus.

“We’re still making games for Facebook,” he says.

“What’s happened is that Facebook used to account for 100 percent of our revenue, but as we’re moved to mobile, Kabam.com and Google+, that’s down to 30 percent.”

And he’s not taking about small numbers. The privately-owned Kabam revealed it generated more than $100 million in 2011.

Going everywhere

That was back in its Facebook era, however. Sheppard is now fully focused on ensuring the company’s releases span platforms.

“Cross-platform is the way to go,” he enthuses.

Kingdoms of Camelot: Battle for the North was its first iOS release, while new release Arcane Empires is now available globally on iOS and Android. It’s Kabam’s first game for Google’s mobile OS.

“Android is now at a scale we’re very excited about. Some companies think the change has happened but we think the mobile transformation is just beginning,” Sheppard says.

“Over the next couple of years, expectations about mobile and tablet gaming will be shattered.”

Doing it right

Yet Kabam has always been cautious in terms of how it approaches new opportunities.

“When we focus on something, we take it in small steps,” he explains.

That’s to ensure it’s building a business based on quality.

“People didn’t believe we could make the sort of games we launched on Facebook,” Sheppard says. “Everyone else was making games for midwest moms. We were building deep, rich MMOGs.”

Of course, the reason for the focus on core gamers is this audience is much more committed in terms of engagement, retention and monetisation; the three key indicators for any social-mobile publisher.

Going bigger

It’s something Kabam has seen in action with Kingdoms of Camelot: Battle for the North, which has remained in the top 5 of the US App Store top grossing charts since its March 2012 release.

“With Camelot, we pushed simplicity and polish in a way that can’t be done on the web,” Sheppard explains.

The game was based on Kabam’s Facebook and web Camelot game, although it’s a standalone product in the same universe.

And building on that pedigree, Arcane Empires marks Kabam’s first mobile-only product.

Developed by its Chinese studio, the addition of Android into the product mix demonstrates the company’s incremental approach.

“We first released for Facebook, and then iOS, and now Android, ” Sheppard explains.

“It really important to provide a high quality service, especially in terms of Android and the devices we’re supporting. We’ve also launched globally with support for French, German, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese languages. With Arcane Empires, we’re looking to build a franchise that’s as big as Camelot.”

The next billion

Arcane Empires is only the first of many new launches for Kabam, however.

With 500 staff, of which 300 are in development – located in China, San Francisco and Austin – it has over 12 games in various stage of development. There will likely be another four launches before 2012 ends.

“We’re always pushing ourselves to be better,” Sheppard says.

Significantly, though, while other companies highlight their financial success, he says Kabam takes a more longterm view.

“We’re more committed to the process of success than the results of success,” he comments

“We’re revolutionising access to games; how people consume and pay. That’s a longterm strategy.”(source:pocketgamer)