作者：Steve Peterson

Chillingo自称是“第一游戏发行公司”并非毫无根据；这家有着10年历史的公司曾推出《愤怒的小鸟》与《割绳子》等热作。在2010年末被EA收购后，该公司继续帮助独立开发者推出大量优秀的移动游戏。Chillingo首席运营官Ed Rumley在最近采访中介绍了移动游戏市场的现状及公司发行方式。

Rumley举例说明了Chillingo的发行方式。“由于如今可以轻而易举地在App Store上传游戏，因此许多开发商都在讨论发行商的作用。我们总会提醒他们，自主发行和自主推广存在巨大差异。比如Chillingo的任务不仅是指把游戏上传到App Store上。如今游戏市场竞争激烈，每天有上百款游戏在iOS、Android或Windows平台上推出。而我们的任务是帮助回避雷区。”

市场上游戏数量的增多无疑影响到Chillingo。Rumley表示：“目前，每天向我们发出求助的开发商数量日益增多。就去年而言，其中独立开发商占据15%-20%的比例。这不仅表明了我们强大的发行实力，而且也透露了市场上需要帮助的开发商数量众多。”

移动市场的用户获取成本正逐步提升，与此同时，游戏数量仍在快速增长。独立开发商要为自己作品获得实质性用户的难度也逐渐加大，Chillingo已准备出击。Rumley提到：“目前市场准入门槛越来越高。”

那么Chillingo会采取哪些举措？“我们的一半职责是准备就绪，确保游戏的趣味性与盈利渠道正当实现。如果做法不当，你将无法在最初阶段成功获得用户。如今市场的竞争性比两三年前更加激烈。而分裂市场的竞争形势更加严峻。这也是Chillingo的真正作用，即帮助独立开发者掌控方向。”

在Rumley看来，市场分裂比Android设备上的软硬件多样化更加严重。他补充道：“我认为市场分裂属于更深层问题。我们以为‘它并不是很大问题’。然而正是市场的复杂性造就独立开发商对我们的需求。市场分裂不仅出现在商业模式上（游戏邦注：比如付费下载、付费模式、免费增值游戏以及免费游戏等），而且也发生在硬件方面。另外，发行渠道也存在分裂现象，这也是为何Chillingo会与EA紧密合作，保证完整发行。比如，我们可以利用200多条运营渠道向全世界推广一款Android游戏。”

Rumley表示，全球推广移动软件更加复杂。“比如在Android平台上，你可能会针对Google Play采取一种盈利模式，针对运营商市场采取另一种。这都与软件开发包与其复杂性相关。这也是我们出现并告知自己能力的原因。我们会视其游戏为品牌，并在接下来的24个月，甚至36个月内不断为其谋利？以约莫两年前发行的《Feed Me Oil》为例，我们与开发商继续合作，将其推广到Windows Phone 7与Android平台，目前它已覆盖大量平台。”

feed me oil(from gamesindustry)

游戏并非一次性事物，Chillingo的加入会推动游戏继续盛行。Rumley提到：“你可以制定一个策略，但在游戏上线前，你确实不知道何去何从。你得查看度量标准，把用户当作上帝。Chillingo会为每位合作方分配一个制作人。他将参与作品发行的整个阶段。”

Rumley坦言，在平板电脑上发行游戏有些不同。“从产品角度上讲，在与开发商合作，我们总希望他们的作品匹配各个平台。比如，你既想在最大屏幕上发行游戏，又想保证按钮在拇指的触及范围内，那便不适合推出iPhone版本或三星S lll版本。”

那么Chillingo在2013年将面临的最大挑战是什么？Rumley表示：“市场上的人们都在探讨免费增值模式，付费下载形势，以及免费应用的盈利渠道。毫无疑问，我们主要关注应用获利方面。我们希望推出用户无需不断掏腰包的作品。在此存在一条细微分界线。只要看下不久前发行在App Store上的《Storm the Train》，你便会发现该作目前位居全球免费榜单前10名，并且完美平衡了盈利渠道。我认为这将是目前趋势；只是在正确获得平衡上存在难度。目前的游戏市场千变万化。独立开发者经验不足。由于我们有幸成为EA的一员，因此我们可以定期与EA Mobile同事交流并分享最佳范例。我认为，应用的盈利模式将是一个重大挑战。”

Storm the Train(from gamesindustry)

那些有意寻找优化游戏捷径的开发商将会碰壁。Rumley相信：“该领域并无所谓魔法公式，经验才是王道。而那些拥有特殊内容的开发团队必然能够吸引大众。我们是平台/题材的不可知论者；我们希望游戏的操控方式、品质及其它方面可以推动该作抵达巅峰。这并不是2乘以2这类简单运算。作为拥有10年背景且经常参与移动内容发行的公司，还未有哪家公司具备这般丰富经验。比如我们的制作人曾负责推出了大量热作，包括《愤怒的小鸟》、《Catapult King》与《Feed Me Oil》。我们属于资深人士，因此与他人存在差异。”

Catapult King(from gamesindustry)

Rumley认为Chillingo发行的作品会以稳步趋势进展。“显然，硬件正在不断改进，不久独立游戏市场将有大量高品质作品问世。只要对比下当今iPhone游戏与5年前作品的品质；可能在头脑中想象有点模糊，但它们确实存在明显差异。这也是因为如今口袋中的硬件性能日益提升。游戏品质将逐步上升，相应的求助者数目也会增多。我们相信，开发商数目不会下降，而游戏品质则会日益提高。”

尽管Chillingo接见的开发商数目与日俱增，但该公司并不会接手过多项目。Rumley表示：“虽然发行数量有限，但我们会将其推广到更多平台上。总之，游戏市场竞争相当激烈，只有智者才能在此立足。”那种在几天内开发出一款作品，然后几周内便匆忙将其发行在商店中已成为过去式。Rumley补充道：“应用的淘金热潮已经结束，目前的开发商应寻求帮助。”

如今，有越来越多的发行商向移动游戏开发商伸出橄榄枝，并提供相应服务，但Rumley并不认为这是严重的竞争形势。他指出：“这并非我们现在需要解决的问题。它们的存在已不是一天两天。今天的我可以写书，但倘若推出电子版本则无法促使我成为一位作家。即使聘请代理商进行推广也无济于事。虽然游戏行业外也有大量服务贩卖者，但你应大量收集服务才有望成功。比如Chillingo可以扩大独立开发商的规模。如果你在Mattel这类大型公司上寻找《He-Man》这种游戏，那我们会合理分配QA资源、创意图画指导、销售团队、PR、营销团队、以及制作人。实际上，他们的团队正以极快速度发展。而许多游戏制作商并不打算打算推出作品。”

Rumley认为，Chillingo仍会目睹到许多新兴开发商进军游戏市场，虽然其中不少作品来自先前合作方。“目前我们手头上的许多作品中，有些来自当前合作方，有些则是我们从未认识，由之前合作者引荐得知的。比如《PuzzleCraft》的开发商便不在我认识范围内，但该作相当出色。诸如这样的公司会不断涌现，其中有许多为给我们带来惊奇。”

对于那些打算进军移动游戏领域的开发商而言，Rumley在游戏优化上有些许建议。“当你认为完成游戏时，你应再投入数个月的研发时间。然后当你认为完成后，再反复修改，以此类推。这是个无情的平台，除非这是款完美佳作，否则你无法在此立足。”（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）

Chillingo: Ruthless mobile platform has “no room for anything except perfection”

by Steve Peterson

COO Ed Rumley explains why independent developers need a mobile game publisher

Chillingo bills itself as “The Premier Games Publisher” and not without reason; in its ten-year history the company has published such hit mobile titles as Angry Birds and Cut the Rope. Acquired by Electronic Arts in late 2010, Chillingo continues its mission of publishing the best mobile games from a wide variety of independent developers. GamesIndustry International had a chance to talk to Chillingo’s COO Ed Rumley about the state of the mobile games market and how publishing mobile games is changing.

Rumley makes the case for developers to publish mobile games through Chillingo. “Lots of people talk about the role of a publisher because it’s easy to put a game on an App Store nowadays,” says Rumley. “We always remind people there is a huge difference between self-publishing a game and self-distribution. The role of a publisher like Chillingo is to do far more than just upload a game onto an App Store. Today’s market is extremely competitive, there are dozens or hundreds of games launching every day whether it’s on iOS or Android or Windows. Our role is to help navigate this minefield.”

The increasing number of games on the market has definitely had an effect on Chillingo. “What we are seeing today is an increased amount of developers who are coming to us on a daily basis,” Rumley says. “The number of independent developers that are coming to Chillingo is up 15 to 20 percent over last year. Which is either a testament to the great work we’re doing, or it’s the recognition of developers that they need help in the market.”

Customer acquisition costs are increasing in the mobile marketplace, while the number of games continues to grow rapidly. Independent developers are finding it harder and harder to get a substantial audience for their games, and Chillingo is ready to help. “The barriers to entry are getting greater and greater,” Rumley says. What does Chillingo do for the developer? “Half of our role is getting a game ready for market. By that I mean making sure the balance is there, making sure the game is fun, and making sure the monetization is correctly implemented. If you don’t get that right, you’re not going to have success acquiring consumers in the first place. The market is far more competitive today than it was even two or three years ago. If you look at the fragmentation in the markets, it’s even greater. That’s where I think Chillingo really comes out because we help navigate that for indie developers.”

Fragmentation is a bigger issue in Rumley’s view than just the variety of hardware and software amongst Android devices. “I think there are deeper levels of fragmentation than that,” Rumley adds. “We always say, ‘Fragmentation is our friend.’ It’s this complexity of markets which is why indie developers are increasingly using us. The fragmentation comes in not only business models – people talk about pay per download, paymium, and freemium games, and free-to-play games – all these different kinds of business models, but then there’s the fragmentation of hardware. On top of that you’ve got fragmentation in distribution, which is where Chillingo works very closely with EA to make sure we have very full distribution. As an example, we can take an Android game and distribute it to well over 200 carrier channels around the world.”

The global distribution picture for mobile software can be complicated, according to Rumley. “On Android, you may want one business model for Google Play and a different business model for the carrier market. That’s all to do with the billing SDKs and the complexities that brings. That’s why we’re here, to talk to developers and say here’s what we can do. We look at their games as brands, and how do we monetize this game over the next 24 or 36 months. As an example, Feed Me Oil, which we launched around two years ago, we’ve continued to work with the developer and that game now appears on Windows Phone 7 and Android, and it’s broadly available.”

These games are not just one-time events, and Chillingo’s involvement continues as the game does. “You can have a strategy, but until a game is live you really don’t know what you’re going to have to do,” Rumley offers. “You have to look at metrics, and the consumer is king in our eyes. Chillingo assigns a producer to every single developer that we partner with. That producer will stay with that partner for the life of the product.”

Publishing for tablets brings some differences that need to be addressed, Rumley acknowledges. “From a product perspective, we always want to work with the developer and make sure their product is appropriate for the platform. As an example, you want to utilize the largest screen size, and you want to make sure the buttons are reachable with your thumbs – that they haven’t just been placed proportionately with the iPhone version or the S III version.”

What are the biggest challenges for 2013? “People in the market talk about freemium, and where does pay-per-download stand, and it’s all about freemium and monetization of apps. Monetization of apps will definitely be something we’re keeping a close eye on,” says Rumley. “What we want to do is publish games which consumers want without feeling they have to keep getting into their wallet. There’s a fine line there. If you look at a game like Storm the Train, which launched a few days ago in the App Store, Storm the Train is currently in the Top Ten free charts around the world and has a perfect balance of monetization. I think that’s the trend we’re seeing; it’s just very difficult to get the balance right. The market’s changing. Independent developers certainly don’t have enough experience. We’re in a very fortunate position that we’re part of EA, so we can talk regularly to our colleagues at EA Mobile and share best practices. I think the monetization of apps is a big challenge.”

Developers looking for a magic formula to make sure a gem does well will be disappointed, Rumley believes. “I don’t think there is a magic formula; just experience. The business development team is looking for content that has certain things in particular that we feel are appealing to the mass market. We’re platform/genre agnostic; we’re looking for that curb appeal in a game, quality and everything else we feel is going to drive that game to the top of the market. It isn’t a simple equation of two plus two. Chillingo is ten years old as an organization and has always been involved in mobile content. There’s not many companies with the amount of experience that we have. If you look at our producers, they’ve worked on incredible hits, ranging from Angry Birds and Catapult King and Feed Me Oil. We’ve got an incredible depth and range of experience, and it’s that experience that makes the difference.”

Rumley sees a steady improvement in the games Chillingo finds. “Hardware is clearly improving, and one of the trends we’re seeing is the quality of work coming out of the indie market. You only need to look at an iPhone game today versus the quality of an iPhone game five years ago; you may blur them together in your mind, but they are significantly different. That’s because the hardware that’s in your pocket now is just staggeringly powerful. There will always be better and better games, but more and more developers are coming to Chillingo. We’re not seeing a reduction in the amount of developers, we’re just seeing better and better quality content.”

Despite the increasing number of developers Chillingo is seeing, the company won’t be publishing more titles. “We’re publishing fewer games, but we’re publishing on more platforms,” Rumley said. “The bottom line is the market is extremely, extremely competitive and there is no room for anything but brilliance.” The days of throwing together an app and tossing it on the store in a few weeks are long past, Rumley adds. “The California Gold Rush of app fever is gone, and developers need help now.”

There are many more companies approaching mobile game developers and offering more and more services under their umbrella, but Rumley doesn’t see them as serious competition for a publisher like Chillingo. “It’s certainly not a problem which we face today,” Rumley says. “These tools have been around a while. I could write a book today, but it doesn’t make me an author if I was to put it out as an ebook. I can hire an agency to go chuck a press release out there, but it still doesn’t make me an author. There are people out there selling certain services, but you need a big collection of these services to make you potentially successful. If I look at the Chillingo organization, what we do is expand the indie developer’s organization. If you look at a game like He-Man from a large organization like Mattel, what we’re doing is assigning QA resource, creative art direction, a sales team, PR and and marketing, and producers. Their team has virtually grown very rapidly. Most companies we deal with just like making games, and they don’t want to publish them.”

Chillingo is still seeing new developers entering the market, according to Rumley, though many of their games come from developers that are already partners. “We get a huge amount of the games that we work on are from existing partners or from developers we’ve never met before but are introduced by existing partners. Games like PuzzleCraft, that’s a game that came to us and I’d never heard of the developer, and it’s done exceptionally well. These companies just keep coming out of the woodwork, it never fails to amaze, the amount of developers out there.”

For developers who are contemplating getting into mobile games, Rumley has some advice about polish. “I would say, when you think the game is finished, have another look at it and do another month’s work on it. Then when you think it’s finished, do it again. It’s a ruthless platform and there’s just no room for anything except perfection.”(source:gamesindustry)