1）市场调研公司Newzoo最近报告预测，2013年全球所有类型的游戏市场规模将增长6%，收获12亿游戏用户，以及704亿美元收益。

拉美和亚太地区增长率最高，达到11%，而最具盈利性的北美和欧洲市场仅实现2%的增长；智能手机和平板电脑游戏则呈现喷发趋势，预计将增长35%，创收123亿美元。

而PC游戏市场规模则是276亿美元，主机游戏市场收益将达254亿美元。

games-market-2013(from Newzoo)

手机游戏发展最为迅速，增幅将达22%，收益为85亿美元，而平板电脑及掌机游戏则将增长3.1%，达到89亿美元。

2）据pocketgamer报道，芬兰开发商Rovio日前表示《Bad Piggies》是公司首款使用Unity开发的游戏，该游戏在2012年初完成原型，并在6月份开始制作关卡，最后在9月27日准时上线（游戏邦注：他们根据芬兰国家法定节假日安排，在7月份休假）。

bad_piggies(from appstorearcade)

该工作室代表Jaakko Haapasalo指出，Unity在快速循环时间上表现出色，其针对iOS和Android的多平台支持也为Rovio提供了极大帮助，Rovio一向致力于使用内部工具，但《Bad Piggies》的开发过程表明，Unity还可以提供定制精灵制作工具等服务。

3）Tapy及Yankee Group最近执行的调查报告预测，今年付费用户在虚拟货币上的投入将达12亿美元，预计到2017年这一数据将增长至32亿美元。

调查还发现，用户与广告互动以兑换应用和IAP内容的意愿也在不断增长，平板电脑用户的这一比例高达73%，智能手机用户比例也达到67%。

virtual currency market growth(from Yankee）

超过半数平板电脑用户愿意支付99美分至2.99美元购买一款应用，而智能手机用户的这一比例也达到了41%；有54%智能手机用户曾付费购买应用升级内容。

4）据《华尔街时报》报道，由于技术挑战性及不同的系统框架等原因，微软Xbox 360继承者Xbox One将无法兼容旧版Xbox游戏。

高管Don Mattrick在最近采访中对此表示，如果开发者的游戏只能兼容上一代设备，那就真的是落后了。据其所称，只有一小部分用户（5%左右）会购买旧版游戏，因此兼容上一代产品并不值得微软投入开发成本。

Xbox-One-Console(from mashable.com)

5）据Massively报道，《RIFT》开发商Trion总经理兼首席文化官Scott Hartsman针对工作室最近裁员的消息回应称，他认为整个传统AAA游戏开发及销售系统从根本上已经崩溃了。

Scott-Hartsman(from gamebreaker.tv)

在他看来，不断上涨的AAA开发成本是近来许多工作室倒闭及裁员的一大关键因素，过去电影式的开发模式允许游戏公司及其团队从错误中摸索，但随着开发成本上升，能够承担这种失误成本的公司越来越少，从而导致整个行业开发系统分崩离析。（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）

1）Boomtown: Mobile games market value predicted to rise 35% to $12.3 billion in 2013

by Jon Jordan

2013 will see strong growth in the games market.

That the conclusion of the latest research from analysts Newzoo.

Using its new Global Data Model, it’s releases its view on how the year will pan out, with top line global growth across all types of games predicted to be 6 percent.

This would see the gaming audience at 1.2 billion and the industry worth $70.4 billion.

Split the difference

Of course, what’s really interesting is the way that growth is lumpy across different regions and games sectors.

Latin America and the Asia-Pacific regions are the high growth areas – up 11 percent.

In contrast, the most lucrative North American and European market will only show “very modest growth”: around 2 percent.

When it comes to sectors, smartphone and tablet are the boomtown.

Newzoo predicts they will rise 35 percent to $12.3 billion.

This compares with a PC games market of $27.6 billion and a console market of $25.4 billion.

Indeed, one of the interesting ways Newzoo breaks down the industry is a four-way split between Computer Screen (basically PC), Entertainment Screen (TV), Floating Screen (tablets and handhelds), and Personal Screens (mobiles).

Put in this way, personal screens are the fastest growing sector: up 22 percent to $8.5 billion, with floating screens up 3.1 percent to $8.9 billion.（source：pocketgamer）

2）How strong process and Unity helped Rovio make Bad Piggies in five months

by Jon Jordan

Given Bad Piggies was Rovio’s first game using Unity, it made a perfect keynote subject for the Unite Nordic event in Malmo, Sweden.

“At Rovio, we think about games as entertainment and about characters, so in 2011, we thought, ‘What if the piggies had their own game?’,” said head of studio Jaakko Haapasalo, in his talk

‘Bad Piggies on the Move – physical playground and rapid interation in Unity 3d’.

“Pigs like to build things and they like eggs. The initial concept was very simple,” he added.

Succeed fast

In terms of prototyping, the game was worked up in early 2012, in terms of controls, the scoring method and focusing on gadgets and challenges.

So by the time the project was greenlit in May, the development team had already frozen the gadgets set – this occurred in a fast two week period – and so could start making levels in June.

The game hit its 27 September release date, despite the team taking holiday in July [a legal and cultural requirement in Finland].

“We had an experienced team. That was the only way we could hit this schedule. We didn’t have any time to backtrack,” said Haapasalo.

Little helper

Using Unity was also an enabler.

“Fast cycle times [build times] is where Unity excels and it carried us through development,” Haapasalo commented.

Multi-platform support for iOS and Android was also useful for Rovio, as was the ability to use the Asset Store for additional tools.

“We are actively evaluating stuff in the Asset Store,” he said, while Rovio is investing in its own in-house tools. In the case of Bad Piggies, it had a custom sprite production tool.（source：pocketgamer）

3）Gamers more happy than ever to spend on virtual currencies and engage with in-app advertising

by Matthew Diener

The amount of money consumers spend on virtual currencies is set to increase in the years ahead, with annual revenue hitting $3.2 billion by 2017.

That’s according to a study conducted by Tapjoy and the Yankee Group, which claims app-based currency spending will almost triple from its current level of $1.2 billion this year.

Up, up and away

The study indicates that a growing level of consumer comfort with virtual currency as a concept will translate to it being equated to credit card reward points or bonus airline miles.

“As expected, mature virtual currencies exhibit the highest comfort levels and are among the most used by consumers,” details the report.

“Mature virtual currencies are reaching ubiquitous status across a variety of industries, helping position them as the foremost currency used by  marketers.

“Looking ahead, many of these areas will see continued use and growth as marketing initiatives adapt to the mobile channel.”

Changing attitudes

In addition, the study also found that user willingness to engage with adverts in exchange for apps and IAPs are also increasing.

The study’s numbers suggest that more than half of tablet users are happy to pay between 99c to $2.99 for an app, compared to 41 percent of smartphone users.

54 percent of smartphone owners surveyed have also paid for an app upgrade.

Interestingly, however, when looking at a percentage of those willing to engage with advertising in exchange for free in-app content upgrades, the numbers jumped to 73 percent for tablets
and 67 percent for smartphones.（source：pocketgamer）

4）’If you’re backwards compatible, you’re really backwards.’

By Kris Ligman

“If you’re backwards compatible, you’re really backwards.”

- Microsoft’s Don Mattrick, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

We have known for a while that the successor to Microsoft’s Xbox 360, revealed yesterday as the Xbox One, would not be compatible with older generations of Xbox games. At least part of this is due to the significant technical challenges given the 360 and the One’s different system architecture.

However, the quote above from Don Mattrick, expressed in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, reflects a larger business philosophy for the company.

“We created something that understands how to be performant for all scenarios and all combinations,” says Mattrick. And because only a small percentage of customers play older games (5 percent, according to Mattrick), backwards compatibility is not a scenario worth Microsoft’s investment and development costs.

Backwards compatibility as a concept for consoles only really came to the fore with the advent of the sixth console generation, when Sony’s PlayStation 2 included the ability to play the game discs of its direct predecessor. During the seventh console generation, while Microsoft’s Xbox 360 supported a considerable library of original Xbox titles, its competitor Sony phased out backwards compatibility throughout the shelf life of the PlayStation 3, opting instead to bolster its virtual console library — a move Microsoft and Nintendo made as well. （source
:gamasutra）

5）’This model of game making is so fundamentally broken.’

By Kris Ligman

Following recent layoffs at RIFT developer Trion, departed studio GM and CCO Scott Hartsman responded on social media, saying “This model of game making is so fundamentally broken.”

In an interview with Massively, Hartsman expanded on his comments, clarifying that he wasn’t condemning individuals but an overall system.

I don’t know of anyone who’s hired with the intent of treating people disposably. No one ever wants that, even the companies frequently perceived as “evil.” The industry is generally full of good, smart people trying to create the best entertainment they can. I think what’s become broken is the traditional AAA style of development and distribution, MMO or otherwise.

Hartsman pointed to rising triple-A development costs as a key factor in recent studio meltdowns and layoffs. “We’re approaching the point at which AAA projects need to be blockbusters just to sustain everyone in the ecosystem,” he says. “The movie model worked when companies could absorb missteps and teams could hopefully learn from their mistakes to fight another day. As the absolute costs go up, fewer and fewer companies are capable of doing so. That’s what’s broken.”

Hartsman also hailed developers such as Riot and Mojang for forging new paths outside of the triple-A ecosystem. “With any luck, we’ll see more endeavors where the balance of power returns to the product creators and the audiences they’re trying to serve in the most direct relationship possible,” he says. “That’s powerful and exciting.”（source：gamasutra）