作者：Keith Andrew

在上周举办的伦敦首届社交游戏和博彩游戏峰会上，有关《CSR赛车》这款游戏的谈论内容一直回荡在与会者的耳边。

当发言人多次提及这款热门游戏时总是会先说道：“很抱歉又提到《CSR》，”随后便开始解释为何这是个值得广大开发者学习的典例。

可以说，《CSR赛车》是免费游戏的榜样，同时取得了商业上的成功和鉴定性的成功——后者更是某些大型手机游戏所望尘莫及的。

领先位置

的确，不管是从提示，技巧或趋势来看，《CSR赛车》都是用于举例说明的优先选择。

为什么？因为这款游戏能够回答产业中许多大问题。

如何在不让用户感到厌烦的前提下从一款免费游戏中获得盈利？如何将IAP整合到游戏玩法中？如何避免在每个阶段设置付费墙并从中获得收益？

日本游戏公司Marvelous AQL的欧洲部执行总裁Harry Holmwood便阐述了一开始未能得到西方玩家认可的日本游戏是如何占领欧洲和美国市场。

他还分析了《I’m a Celebrity》以及《Get Me Out of Here!》在英国市场的成功。在日本，让人们在电视直播中进行某些奇特的表演已经不是什么新鲜事了——这种电视节目已经在这个国家流行好几十年了，这也是以前的英国人所不能理解的。

如果日本市场和西方市场不存在任何差别，我们又能从免费游戏工作室在欧洲和美国市场的盈利策略中学到什么？Holmwood所给出的答案便是遵循《CSR赛车》这样的成功案例。

赛车与收集

Holmwood说道：“西方玩家并不喜欢收集卡片，而《CSR赛车》第一眼带给玩家的感觉便是一款赛车游戏。”

“但事实却不是如此——玩家将在游戏中收集汽车，因为西方玩家喜欢收集汽车。”

《CSR赛车》所呈现出的技巧便是奖励那些愿意付钱获得自己所喜欢内容的玩家。

CSR（from pocketgamer）

并且下载了《CSR赛车》的玩家都能够在游戏中欣赏到各种款式的汽车。

游戏是围绕着收集和升级一些有价值的汽车这一理念所展开。

所以让玩家花钱去收集一车库的汽车便是一种合理的策略，透过支付门槛便能够打开所有的游戏内容。

有关情感

来自巴西社交游戏发行商Mentez的Martin Williams也说道，最成功的游戏总是具有能够引起玩家共鸣的游戏内容。

Mentez说道：“如果你想要说服玩家为游戏花钱，并创造出情感联系，那就不要让他们必须通过花钱才能继续游戏，而是应该不断提供他们所喜欢的内容。”

“如果你能将购买机制有效地整合进游戏环境中——就像在《CSR赛车》那样，玩家便会为了加速汽车升级而掏腰包，这便是模拟现实生活中的情况，所以更能吸引玩家们的注意。”

“你必须确保你所出售给玩家的任何内容都具有明确的价值。”

“明确的价值”是Mentez谈话的核心内容。懒惰的开发者只会将玩家拖进‘无止尽的循环’中，也就是唯一能够吸引玩家花钱的方法便是确保他们永远得不到满足。”

这种方法就好似将IAP买作为一种软硬兼施的手段：让玩家为了升级而掏腰包能够让游戏更接近他们的期待，但却永远不能带给他们满足。

尽管这种方法暂时有效，但是最终只会创造出一种无趣的结果，而玩家也只会是出于习惯去玩游戏而不是因为喜欢。

他解释道：“为了让玩家能够持续游戏，开发者创造了一系列综合的游戏元素，但却因此引出了一些被动的游戏玩法，即玩家看起来都不像是在玩游戏了。”

未来的关注焦点

让玩家愿意长期待在游戏中的最佳方法（游戏邦注：特别是对于免费游戏来说）便是不要将他们禁锢在游戏中。

不花任何钱也能够有效地玩《CSR赛车》。《Boss Alien》在初次问世时便使用了最纯粹的方法，的确：人们只会为自己真心喜欢的游戏花钱。

在未来几年，游戏盈利将变得越来越复杂，但是社交游戏和博彩游戏峰会的参加者们将清楚一点，也就是IAP并不会成为游戏发展的“阻滞剂”。

CSR（from pocketgamer）

早前手机上的免费游戏便是使用IAP去取代最初的付费墙——即玩家必须定期支付一定费用才能继续游戏。

而《CSR赛车》则采取了更加完善的方法，即让玩家在决定与游戏培养更深入关系时才掏腰包。

与那些购买带有自己喜欢的乐队logo的商品或者穿着所支持球队的运动衫的用户一样，这种IAP方式更易让玩家贴近游戏。

这种策略既能够呈现出更棒的游戏玩法，同时还能维系起游戏与玩家间紧密的关系，并在开发者推出后续游戏时带来更大的利益。

总之，未来的盈利方式将变得更加复杂，而从《CSR赛车》的发展中我们也可以看到，在不影响游戏玩法的前提下，开发者绝对有可能创造出更多的成功。

（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）

An ode to CSR Racing: Why Boss Alien’s debut is the darling of the free-to-play scene

by Keith Andrew

One particular game came up over and over during the presentations at London’s first Social Gaming & Gambling Summit last week: CSR Racing.

So prevalent was it in the minds of speakers, that when they cited NaturalMotion’s chart-topper for the second or third time, they did so apologetically.

“Sorry for bringing CSR up again,” each one said, before going on to explain why it genuinely was the best example for the particular point they were trying to make.

The fact it’s top of mind for those working within the free-to-play scene shouldn’t be all too surprising, however.

CSR Racing is free-to-play’s poster child, serving as has both a commercial and critical success – the latter an accolade one even some of the biggest mobile games can’t boast.

Pole position

Indeed, CSR was the obvious choice for all every tip, trick or trend it was used to illustrate.

Why? Because it offers answers to some of the industry’s biggest questions.

How can you monetise a free game without annoying your audience? How can in-app purchases be best woven into gameplay? How can you make money without bricking up play with paywalls at every stage?

Harry Holmwood – the European CEO of Japanese gaming specialist Marvelous AQL – arguably gave the talk of the event, focusing on how and why Japanese trends westerners initially see as alien or ‘out there’ eventually go on to dominate European and US culture.

Most pertinent was his analysis of the success of I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! in the UK. Getting people to perform bizarre trials on live television is nothing new in Japan – it’s exactly the kind of show that’s been popular in the country for decades, and one Brits previously would have scoffed at.

So, if the Japanese and western markets aren’t so different after all, what lessons can be learned for free-to-play studios trying to make money in Europe and the US? Holmwood’s answer was to follow the example set by CSR Racing.

Racing ahead

“We don’t really like collecting cards in the west, so CSR Racing dresses itself up as this beautifully presented racing game,” offered Holmwood.

“But it’s not – it’s a game where you collect cars, because over here we like collecting cars.”

Therefore, the trick – if ‘trick’ is the right word’ – CSR Racing pulls off is to reward those who pay out in play with something they love.

Chances are anyone who downloads CSR is going to have an appreciation for cars.

The game is built around the concept of collecting and upgrading an array of prized vehicles.

As a result, charging players to amass an arsenal of cars is an entirely reasonable strategy, and one most would take over simply locking off whole portions of play behind paywalls.

All about emotion

It’s a point Martin Williams of Brazilian social gaming publisher Mentez added to when he took the stand, arguing that the most successful games build some kind of emotional attachment between their content and the player.

“If you want to convince people to spend, them make an emotional connection – don’t charge them to carry on playing, but rather to get hold of something they love,” said Mentez.

“If you can fit purchases into the context of the game – like in CSR Racing, where players can pay to speed up import only upgrades to their cars, which mimics real life – then it is far more compelling.

“Just make sure there’s a clear value to the player for everything you sell.”

It’s the ‘clear value’ point that stood out from Mentez’s talk. Lazy developers often end up dragging players into an ‘anxiety loop’, where the only way to get gamers to spend money is to ensure they’re never quite satisfied.

It’s an approach that uses in-app purchases as a carrot-on-a-stick: charging players for an upgrade that should make the game more to their liking, but never quite fulfilling that promise.

While that will work for a portion of time, the play that results is not enjoyable and gamers tend to carry on more out of habit than love for the game.

“It’s them tempting to build in synthetic game elements to keep them playing, which leads to passive play – they’re not really playing,” he clarified.

Future focus

Indeed, it sounds obvious, but the best way to keep people engaged in play – a long tail crucial for free-to-play releases – is not to restrict them from playing.

It’s perfectly possible to play CSR Racing successfully without ever parting with cash. Boss Alien’s debut operates using a purist approach, in truth: people will only pay out if they’re enjoying the game.

In the years to come, the way games monetise will inevitably get more and more complex, but the rule any Social Gaming & Gambling Summit attendee will have taken away is the idea that in-app purchases should never act as a blocker.

Early free-to-play games on mobile used the in-app purchase to stagger the impact of the initial paywall paid releases had previously been built around – charging players almost routinely to play on.

CSR Racing is universally being held up as a better way of doing things because, instead, it lets people pay out if they want foster a deeper relationship with the game.

Just like consumers who buy merchandise covered in the logo of their favourite band, or who proudly wear the kit of their local football team, using in-app purchases in this way allows people to feel closer to the game.

That’s a strategy that both delivers better gameplay, and builds stronger ties between a title and its audience, which may well pay dividends when it comes to future games in the series.

In short, however intricate monetisation becomes in the future, CSR Racing’s legacy has been to prove that there’s much success to be had when it doesn’t impinge on gameplay.(source:pocketgamer)