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Misha Lyalin谈ZeptoLab公司运营理念和计划

发布时间:2013-04-23 14:58:08 Tags:,,,,

作者:Jon Jordan

ZeptoLab首席执行官Misha Lyalin在2012年底曾身着大型红色装束,头戴红帽推广《Pudding Monsters》,最近又现身伦敦宣传其新游戏《割绳子:时光之旅》(Cute the Rope:Time Travel)。

这次他没有再以Cosplay扮相示人,只是身穿On Nom衬衣出现。

他在采访中提到自己的创业史,并声称“我已经创立了6家公司,我本该创立9家。”

他是个有点匆忙的人,正如他自己所言,他并非ZeptoLab创始人。他实际上是Voinov双胞胎兄弟(Semyon和Efim)在之前一家游戏公司的雇主。他自嘲道,“现在轮到我给他们打工了。”

misha-lyalin-with-om-nom(from pocketgamer)

misha-lyalin-with-om-nom(from pocketgamer)

创业经

这三个人的合作非常融洽。

Semyon和Efim负责处理与游戏有关的事项,而Lyalin则包揽运营事务,并担任公司的对外大使,其角色相当于Rovio的Peter Vesterbacka。

他解释道,“我授权给员工,确保我招聘到的是比自己更智慧的人,并确保公司的资金不出现状况。”

他谈到自己创业时的日子(除了一些个人投资)眼下已经放到一边,ZeptoLab从文化和经济上讲都是一个巨大的机遇。

“我一直希望与我的公司创造一番作为。在ZeptoLab我们有许多很棒的机会。我们不希望将它搞砸。”

无关钱财

他称自己并不是为钱而来,也只有成功的商业精英才会有这种觉悟。

在他看来“钱财会收买你的自由。”

“如果我们公司运营需要外部资金,我们就会融资,但目前我们还没有收购或者出售公司的计划。”

他打了个比方,认为ZeptoLab的运营模式更像农民,而不像商业战士。

“我们是农民,我们只想制作游戏。并不想征服谁,毕竟这是个庞大的市场。”

针对ZeptoLab是否更关注Om Nom以及《割绳子》品牌,他称公司关注的是产品质量,“对于《Pudding Monsters》,我们要确保它呈现最高质量,盈利性和普及率则是另一回事。”

总体上看,这款游戏下载量已经超过3亿次,《Pudding Monsters》的表现则没有那么抢眼。

misha-lyalin-pudding-monsters(from pocketgamer)

misha-lyalin-pudding-monsters(from pocketgamer)

《割绳子:时光之旅》立即跃升至美国iPhone付费游戏榜单之首,并在其他28个国家/地区榜单登顶。

组合拳

Lyalin称“我们需要创建一系列IP”。

除了《割绳子:时光之旅》,ZeptoLab还计划在2013年发布其他3款游戏,其中两款属于新IP。

他指出,“与迪士尼,Marvel一样,我们希望玩家清楚自己可从ZeptoLab得到的价值。它是一个品牌,只是需要一些时间来建立。”

那么,ZeptoLab又是怎样看待自己与Rovio相比的地位?

两者之间显然有一些相似之处。都是以小型开发商起步,曾借助Chillingo的发行力量,拥有一款含有可爱角色的简单物理游戏,以及借此成为全球热门现象的目标。

Lyalin称“我并不担心《愤怒的小鸟》。”

time-travelling-on-noms(from pocketgamer)

time-travelling-on-noms(from pocketgamer)

“如果真有,那是因为Rovio在我们之前就开始推出周边产品,除此之外,我并没有什么好担忧的。”

小即是美

ZeptoLab目前有54名成员,他们是否会像Rovio一样成长为超过300人的团队?

Lyalin强调“我们尽量避免发展得过于庞大,小也是一种新的强大体现。”

他称“我们是一个透明化的公司,没有管理层干预,没有办公室政治。当你的公司变大时,就会开始采用自上而下的计划模式,这是一种错误的做法。作为CEO,我尽量向整个公司公开我的决策。但这并非一种权力象征。你不应该强迫员工遵从你的意志,而是要驱使他们获得成功。”(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

ZeptoLab CEO Lyalin: We’re game farmers, not business warriors or conquerors

‘Money buys you freedom, that’s it’

by Jon Jordan

There’s no doubting Misha Lyalin’s commitment to business or to ZeptoLab.

After parading around on stage in a large red costume and red wooly hat to promote Pudding Monsters in late 2012, ZeptoLab’s CEO was in London for the launch of Cut the Rope: Time Travel.

There was no costume this time; only an On Nom shirt, and a restless demeanor.

“I’ve started six companies. I should have started nine,” he says, as we talk about his history as an entrepreneur.

He’s a man in a hurry, but as he points out, he wasn’t a founder of ZeptoLab. Actually, he employed the Voinov twins (Semyon and Efim) in a previous game company.

“Now I’m working for them,” he jokes.

The road ahead

The three clearly work well together.

Semyon and Efim handle the games, while Lyalin takes care of business and acts as the company ambassador, similar to Peter Vesterbacka’s role at Rovio.

“I empower the staff, make sure that I hire smarter people than me, and make sure there’s money in the company,” Lyalin explains.

He says the days of him doing start ups – aside from some personal investments – are behind him for the time being. ZeptoLab is an massive opportunity, both culturally and financially.

“I always wanted to make an impact with my companies. At ZeptoLab, we have great possibilities. We don’t want to screw it up,” he argues.

Not about the cha-ching

In the manner only successful businessmen can pull off, he says it’s not and never is about the money.

“Money buys you freedom, that’s it,” is Lyalin’s view.

“If we need money to invest in our business, we will raise it, but at the moment, we don’t have any plans to buy other companies or sell.”

And making an interesting analogy, he compares ZeptoLab’s approach to that of farmers, not business warriors.

“We are farmers. We just want to make games. It’s not about conquering. The market is so huge.”

In this context, he says the company’s focus is on the quality of its products.

“With Pudding Monsters, we needed to make sure it was the highest quality. Monetisation and reach are different,” he replies, to the question of whether ZeptoLab would have been better to focus all its attention on Om Nom and the Cut the Rope brand.

After all, it’s been downloaded more than 300 million times, while Pudding Monsters underperformed, relative to Cut the Rope at least.

Om Nom throughout history

To underline this, Time Travel immediately hit the #1 spot in the US iPhone paid game chart, also going #1 in another 28 countries.

Portfolio play

“We need to build up a hand [of IP] to play,” Lyalin says.

Indeed, aside from Cut the Rope: Time Travel, ZeptoLab hopes to release three other games in 2013, two of which will be new IPs.

“Like Disney, like Marvel, we want players to know what you get from ZeptoLab. It’s a brand, although it will take time to build,” he points out.

So, given the Disney comparison, how does ZeptoLab position itself compared to Rovio?

There are some obvious similarities. A small developer, published by Chillingo, has a global hit with a simple, physics-based game featuring cute characters that becomes a global phenomenon.

Lyalin dressed up for Pudding Monsters’ launch

“I don’t worry about Angry Birds,” Lyalin says.

“We did when we started merchandising because Rovio had done the rounds just before us. But apart from that, I don’t worry.”

Small is beautiful

So, continuing the analogy, will ZeptoLab, currently 54 staff, grow as Rovio, with over 300, has?

“We actively try not to get too big. Small is the new big,” he emphasises.

And, to end where we started, this feeds back into his CEO role.

“We are a transparent company,” Lyalin says.

“There is no management layer to get in the way. There is no politics. When you get big, planning becomes topdown and that’s wrong.

“As CEO, I try to expose my decision making to the company. But it’s not about power. You don’t force people to do what you want. You drive them to be successful.”(source:pocketgamer


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