作者：Matt Sainsbury

人们很容易因为Zynga在2012年遭遇的厄运而断言社交游戏气数已尽。

当然，这种设想完全忽视了日本社交巨头GREE不仅大肆进军西方市场，而且比Zynga拥有更坚实后盾的这一事实。

Zynga主要依赖Facebook，而GREE拥有多个支撑平台。Zynga努力创建移动业务，紧随玩家脚步，而GREE已在此有所作为。

GREE社交游戏高级副总裁Eiji Araki在最近采访中分享了公司在2013年发展的计划，免费模式的优势，以及日本与西方市场的差异。

Eiji-Araki(from stanford.edu)

2013年给GREE带来了哪些影响？你们在今年又有何目标？

到目前为止，我们的发展相当顺利。我们已推出《NFL Shuffle》（游戏邦注：完全授权的NFL游戏），并更新成功作品《Modern War》的内容（该游戏在推出不到一个月的时间内便取得营收榜单第2的成绩）。今年我们的重点仍在创新内容制作上，不仅要打造全新作品，还应为当前玩家喜爱的游戏开发新性能与内容。我们将继续与重大国际开发商及主流授权合作方合作，同时希望可以推动整个游戏行业革新。而且我们还将着眼于通过实时运行制作出更生动，且更具社交性的游戏，此外还会致力于高品质游戏开发。最后，基于对社交游戏的了解与专业掌握，推动移动领域进一步发展，针对中核用户，体育爱好者，家庭等各种用户类型制作免费内容。

一直以来，GREE致力于吸引西方用户，且已形成一定规模。比起传统日本用户，你们在吸引西方用户方面存在哪些差异，又面临哪些挑战？

我们已在日本积累大量经验与专业知识，过去一年来，我们投入大量时间研究西方市场与用户需求。结果发现，除了角色主题与美术风格存在明显差异，西方用户与日本用户之间无重大差别，可见我们的许多游戏机制与性能均适用全球用户。在此过程中，我们面临的最大挑战是找到将日本成功模式复制到美国、英国以及巴西、中东这些新兴市场的方案。

我们的更新内容举措已取得巨大成功，从而保证游戏的新鲜感，也就是说，我们应不断更新游戏内容，确保紧随最新技术、玩法机制与行业趋势。此外，基于去年经验，我们已开发出最佳作品，并打算在美国市场借鉴这种成功举措。我们快速尝试，快速失败，因此我们能更快获得创新举措，总之，我们仍认为成功与失败是不断分析改进并取得最优举措的重点。我们仍不断学习，大胆尝试不同题材与风格，其实这都是宝贵经历，因为这样既能了解西方游戏及其机制在市场上的运作模式，同时又能了解该采用何种进化方式迎合全球用户。

应用内置购买及移动和社交盈利战略均遭到众多反抗与嘲讽。你是如何权衡满足用户与盈利这两方面的需求？

愉悦与吸引用户总是我们首要考虑的问题。我们的目标是创作出满足玩家的出色免费游戏体验，如果他们选择付费，那也不会赶跑不愿付费者，但却有助于增强各个玩家的体验，我们的首要任务也是我们GREE没有设计付费游戏的原由所在。这与主机/PC玩家的过往体验模式大相径庭，后者常需预先付费，并获得相应物品。在免费模式中，玩家无需付费便可体验游戏进程，而且他们可以自由决定是否消费。现在，我们每个月至少会对游戏更新5次，其中包括一年多前推出的《Crime City》与《Modern War》，如今它们因更新内容仍保持热门度，由此可见，玩家在很长一段时间内会享受我们的作品。

作为社交游戏领域的专家，你们采取了哪些与其它竞争对手与新兴公司有所不同的策略？

我认为游戏内容与体验是我们不同于其它社交游戏公司的所在。健康、有趣且迷人的内容自然会吸引用户。注重细节是关键，这也是我们在美术制作与实时运营方面投入大量精力的原因，因为这样能够确保用户不断获取新内容。

经验与知识也是巨大优势；你对免费游戏，社交游戏与其它游戏有更多专业领域的了解，你才能够更高效地发现市场需求与解决方案。最后，应确保是为玩家，从玩家视角制作游戏。如果你从不玩游戏，那你要如何动手制作？我们团队最好了解造就出色作品的因素，因为玩家乐意在该类游戏上投入时间。

我们总会基于日本的宝贵经验致力于游戏开发。

你认为，接下来一两年内，社交游戏最可能发生哪些重大变革？

游戏行业存在巨大发展商机。除了3D图像、新型硬件与更强大处理性能这些新型技术，社交互动与游戏整体探索也会发生重大进展。同时新兴市场上Android设备的爆发自然会增加非美国游戏用户的总体数量与规模，也就是说，这些地区存在更多商机。此外，我们还目睹了大量设计精致的游戏，结果证实那些成功佳作的平均ARPDAU值比上一年提高了10倍。鉴于此，我们将继续改革游戏设计，比如增添更棒的实时运行，促使游戏更加“生动”，新颖，有趣。

同时，新型设备与平板电脑也会极大影响玩家的体验与连接方式，他们寻找游戏以及向好友推荐的方式则会推动游戏行业接下来的变革与进展。事实上，虽然我们认为只需6个月时间。但根据进展与改革速度，我们预计两年后所有事物将呈现出完全不同的形势。这也是游戏行业的刺激之处。你永远不清楚未来的发展情况！

你认为GREE有机会扩大作品范围，不再局限于社交游戏领域吗？

短期内，我们并不打算脱离社交移动游戏市场。

GREE在日本的巨大成功是基于游戏中的compu-gacha机制。尽管日本政府已经对此采取限制，但你们有打算将这种机制复制到西方市场吗？

其实在运用comp-gacha机制前，GREE就已在日本取得可圈可点的成绩。创建日本最大型的社交网络，找出用户与游戏的互动方式是个巨大创新。我们还未打算将gacha机制引用到美国地区。然而，我们会继续基于用户需求，推出创新有趣的作品。

GREE在2012年收购Funzio为你们带来了一些有价值的社交游戏。那么今年这家子公司有何运营计划？

实际上，Funzio并不属于子公司。在收购该团队后，我们便快速将其融入GREE，合并这两家公司的所有人才。我们并未打算独立某个部分。我们打算继续利用双方人才、技术与知识，创造出顶级体验，获得所有用户青睐。其实，我们的最新成就是《Modern War》在推出后跃居畅销榜单第2名（多亏推出新内容），这也是他们的协同作用与专业知识结合的直接成果。他们还推出大量全新有趣项目，我们希望今年能有更多成就！

去年，你们还收购了OpenFeint。目前该服务平台已经关闭，那它为贵公司带来了哪些益处？

我们从此收购事件中收获颇丰，比如专业性地了解西方移动游戏市场及其潜质。这笔收购交易也是我们进入西方市场的一大跳板，这尤其得归功于团队及其领导能力。

虽然该服务平台已经关闭，但我们会基于相关了解继续发展游戏业务。我们已将OpenFeint技术引入GREE平台，借此继续研究日本平台。我们的目标始终不变（类似OpenFeint的目标），即为全球用户创造出高度迷人且健全的移动社交游戏体验。

GREE在西方市场是否有进一步收购的计划？

我们总会接受符合商业目标的有趣商机。

哪个游戏行业人士对你们的发展最有启发？

其实我并没有这个概念，但我个人是不断受到不同行业领袖的激励，尤其是来自创业领域的人士，他们教导与激励我不断创新。

最后一个问题，现在你正在玩哪些游戏？

《Knights & Dragons》，《 Clash of Clans》与《 Kerihime Suites》。（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）

Interview: GREE on social games: “we’re not afraid to make mistakes”

by Matt Sainsbury

It’s easy to look at the misfortunes of Zynga and assume that social gaming is one of those fads that will soon die.

That assumption of course completely neglects that fact that Japanese social giant, GREE, is not only making big inroads into the western market, but it’s doing so in a way that is oh-so-much more sustainable than Zynga.

Zynga relied on Facebook, where GREE has a diverse portfolio of supported platforms. Zynga has struggled to build a mobile business and go to where they players are, but for GREE that is its home ground.

I sat down with Eiji Araki, SVP of Studio at GREE, to discuss the company’s plans for 2013, the benefits of the free-to-play model, and the differences in the Japanese and western markets.

Digitally Downloaded (DD): How is 2013 shaping up for GREE, and what are your goals for the year?

Eiji Araki (EA): 2013 has been great so far for us. We have already released NFL Shuffle – a fully licensed NFL game – and a great update to our highly successful Modern War which reached #2 in top grossing charts – and it is barely a month in. This year, our focus continues to be on innovative content both in building new games and in creating new features and content from existing titles that the players love. We continue to look at forming partnerships with great international developers and major licensing partners (like we have with NFL and MLB) as well as hoping to drive innovation within the industry as a whole. We will also focus on making games more live and social through our live-operations efforts in addition producing high-production quality games. Lastly, we will be creating free-to-play content for different types of audiences including mid-core, sports, family and more, as we build on our knowledge and expertise to take the next step in mobile gaming.

DD: GREE has been working hard to engage with western consumers – and has grown a great deal. What differences and challenges have you faced in engaging with western customers when compared to your traditional Japanese users?

EA: We have a lot of great experience and expertise in Japan and have spent a lot of time over the past year really learning about the Western market and the what users here want. Our biggest learning is that there aren’t major differences between Western and Japanese users outside of the obvious character themes and art-styles so a lot of the game mechanics, and features, can work worldwide. The biggest challenge for us was to figure out how to replicate our successes in Japan here in the US, UK, and other emerging markets like Brazil and the Middle East.

We have seen great success by updating content and making sure we keep our games fresh – meaning we need to constantly push our games to the next level and ensure we are constantly embracing the latest technologies, gameplay mechanics, and industry trends. Additionally, based on last year’s experience, we have been able to develop best practices and leverage what has been successful in Japan and bring them over to the US market. We try fast and fail fast so we can innovate at a faster pace and overall, we still feel it is important to have successes and failures to continuously improve and analyze howe we can do better. We are still learning and are not afraid to play with different genres and styles – in fact, we see them as valuable learning experiences to understand how they and their mechanics do in this market and understand what we need to evolve to make them more palatable for global users.

DD: There’s a lot of resistance and cynicism towards in-app purchases and other mobile and social monetisation strategies. How do you strike the balance between keeping customers happy and generating revenue?

EA: Keeping users happy and engaged is always our number one priority. Our goal is to create great free-to-play game experiences that keep players happy and that if players choose to spend money, it does not take away from the players who don’t, but helps to enhance everyone’s experience. Our number one priority is to keep our users happy and engaged which is why at GREE, we don’t design games that require spending money to complete them. It’s very different from what console/ PC gamers are used to – where they pay up front and what they get is what they get.

With free-to-play, it is much easier for a player to play a game without spending a single dime, and it is completely up to their discretion whether or not they want to pay. Currently, we try to make updates at least five times a month with all our games – including Crime City and Modern War which both launched over a year ago and still successful today due to content updates, so players can keep enjoying our games over an extended period of time.

DD: What can a social gaming specialist do to differentiate itself from the massive number of rivals and innovative startups?

EA: I think content and experience are key differentiators that will set your company apart from the millions of other companies in our space. Users are naturally attracted to robust, fun, and engaging content. Attention to detail is key – which is why we put so much energy and effort into our art and live-ops – as is making sure our users are constantly getting new content.

Experience and know-how can also be a huge advantage; the more knowledge and expertise you have in free-to-play, social, or games in general – the better and more effective you will be in figuring out what market demands are and how to tackle them. Lastly – make sure you are making games for players, by players. If you don’t play games, how can you build them? It’s important for us that our teams know what makes a good game because they spend time enjoying them.

At GREE we are always learning from our experience in Japan and here and using that as valuable assets in our game development business that we continuously build on.

DD: What do you see as the potential biggest game changers for social gaming over the next year or two?

EA: There is tremendous opportunity in this industry. In addition to all the new technologies – from 3D graphics, new hardware, and better processing performance – there is also the fundamental evolution of social interaction and overall game discovery. There has also been an explosion of Android devices in emerging markets which naturally increases the total volume and size of the non-US gaming audience which means more opportunities for growth in those territories. We are also seeing more sophisticated game design overall and as a result, an average ARPDAU that in successful titles is ten times higher than a full year ago. Given this fact, we will continue to innovate on game design adding better live-ops to make games more “live”, new, and attractive for players.

New devices and tablets will also play a big role in the way gamers will play and connect and how users find games and recommend them to their friends is all going to play huge roles in how the industry changes and evolves over the next little while. The truth is though, in this industry, we look as far out is six months. At the pace at which we are moving and changing, two years from now things will be completely different. It is what makes this industry so exciting. You never know what the future brings!

DD: Do you see opportunities to expand GREEs game portfolio beyond social games?

EA: We don’t have any plans to expand beyond social mobile games in the short term.

DD: GREE’s great success story in Japan was the compu-gacha mechanic that was present in many of its games. Despite the new restrictions in Japan, are there plans to replicate these mechanics in western markets?

EA: GREE’s actually had some great success stories in Japan long before the comp-gacha mechanic caught on. Building Japan’s biggest social network and finding a way to for those users to connect through games has been a huge innovation. In terms of the regulated gacha mechanic, there is no plan to bring this to the US. We will, however, continue to focus on creating new innovatives and fun events based on our users’ needs.

DD: GREE’s acquisition of Funzio in 2012 provided it with some valuable social gaming IPs. What are the plans for that subsidiary this year?

EA: Funzio is not actually a subsidiary. Once we acquired the team, we made it a point of immediately integrating them into GREE and bringing together all the talent from both the GREE and Funzio pools. We don’t see or have a separation anymore. Our plan is to continue to leverage the talent, technology, and knowledge gained from both sides to create best-in-class experiences for all user to enjoy. In fact, our latest achievement was Modern War reaching #2 in the top grossing charts a whole after its release thanks to new content, which is a direct result of our combine synergy and expertise from Japan. There are lot of new and exciting projects coming out of the fully integrated team and we look forward to doing much more in the coming year!

DD: The other big acquisition from the year before was OpenFeint. Now that the service has been shut down, what benefits has it brought the company?

EA: We learned a lot from the OpenFeint acquisition, its expertise in the Western mobile gaming market, and its talent. The acquisition was our big jump into the Western market especially thanks to their leadership and team.

Although the service itself has been shut down, we continue to grow our business based on the knowledge we gained from them. We’ve migrated OpenFeint’s technology into GREE Platform and through this integration, we will continue to work on the platform in Japan. Our goal still remains the same – and parallels that of OpenFeint – to create highly engaging and robust mobile social gaming experiences for users around the world.

DD: Does GREE have further acquisition plans for the West?

EA: We are always open to new and interesting opportunities that fit our business objectives.

DD: What games industry personality inspires you?

EA: I don’t really have one person in mind, however, I constantly find myself inspired by different leaders in different industries – especially those in the start-up world who teach me and encourage me to innovate.

DD: Finally, what games are you currently playing?

EA: Knights & Dragons; Clash of Clans, Kerihime Suites(source:digitallydownloaded)