作者：Jori Pearsall（GREE International产品主管）

尖端游戏机制和有趣及通俗的RPG主题结合在一起，会碰撞出怎样的火花呢？

这正是GREE和IUGO Mobile Entertainment首次合作时需要解决的问题。IUGO曾制作多款备受玩家喜爱的手机游戏，例如《Lil’ Pirates》和《Animal Academy》。

当他们找到我们，提出将有趣的冒险RPG元素置于中世纪背景的想法时，我们立即一拍即合。

由于我们专注于游戏分析和游戏即服务运营理念，GREE在美国和国际市场推出过许多商业上极为成功的免费游戏，两家公司的强强联手顺利推出了首个合作项目。

良性循环

《Knights & Dragons》是我们与IUGO合作的产物，于2012年11月发布于App Store。

ios-gree-iugo-knights-dragons(from pocketgamer)

结合了令人上瘾的游戏玩法、战略和社交功能，这款游戏迅速赢得了大量粉丝，自发布以来在App Store保持了至少4.5颗星的评价，并跻身iOS和Android游戏收益榜单前20名。

事实上，截止2013年4月底，《Kinghts & Dragons》就在20个国家/地区的RPG榜单排名第一，并被Forbes等媒体评为“设计精良的手机RPG”，这证明我们确实取得了一些成果。

《Knights & Dragons》已经取得了商业上的成功，在iOS平台每月收益超过100万美元。

专注于留存率

但这款游戏的崛起并非一夜成功的典型。

在面向一些地区进行beta测试之后，开发团队投入数月时间进行迭代并提升核心用户体验。使用GREE的分析仪表盘再结合IUGO的设计眼光和用户体验，我们在无需删减新手教程长度的情况下使其完成度翻倍增长。

gree-knights-dragons-retention(from pocketgamer)

我们通过设置和分析玩家漏斗，监测新手教程的每个步骤观察玩家流出点来实现了这一目标。

确定流出点后，团队就着手修改无效的步骤，清除非必要的操作，加倍让玩家熟悉对游戏未来成功最为关键的操作。

例如，我们注意在角色定制环节玩家数量大幅下降。通过将这一环节移到教程后面，并添加一个自动完成选项，我们成功促使玩家继续体验更有趣味的战斗和盔甲锻造环节，将定制环节留给更为投入的玩家。

ios-gree-iugo-knights-dragons-customization(from pocketgamer)

与此类似，我们也发现玩家并不需要引导就可以自己完成诸如购买建筑等基本操作，因此我们将这些操作从教程中移到了教程之后的任务中。

这不但减少了教程的长度，还提供了一些类似首次玩家体验的结构。

我们还决定给予玩家更多奖励，让他们更易于升级自己的骑士。这样我们就能够获得较为可观的首天玩家粘性和留存率，而这又为长期留存率打下了基础。

虽然有些开发者不敢给予玩家太多付费货币或超级道具，但我们却发现这种做法可通过创造更多铁杆玩家，提升长期的留存率和盈利率。

游戏粘性

通过提升初次玩家体验，通过游戏活动跟进用户粘性，优化每周赛事，玩家首月留存率从2012年12月到2013年4月提升了50%以上。

gree-knights-dragons-retention(from pocketgamer)

再加上盈利方式的优化，这些迭代令一款原本可能无缘前100名榜单的游戏跃升至美国App Store盈利榜单第17名。

虽然这款游戏仍然面临一些挑战（例如GREE旧金山工作室以及IUGO温哥华团队之间的协作），《Knights & Dragons》还是展示了GREE和IUGO二者的合作智慧。

GREE和IUGO最近还联手向Android平台发布了《Kinghts & Dragons》，并合作挑战具有新高度的游戏。

总结

GREE目前正在寻找有意通过GREE Partners Fund与我们合作的开发者，合作精神，快速迭代的效率，以及对数据和用户体验的热情，正是游戏通向成功大道的关键因素。协同合作关系具有极大潜力，这一点已经通过GREE与IUGO合作的游戏《Knights & Dragons》中得到证明。（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）

How GREE and IUGO boosted Knights & Dragons’ 30-day retention by 50%

Jori Pearsall is director of product at GREE International.

What happens when you combine cutting-edge game mechanics with a fun and approachable RPG theme?

That’s exactly the question GREE and IUGO Mobile Entertainment set out to answer in our first collaboration.

IUGO has a track record of making high-quality mobile games loved by their players, such as Lil’ Pirates and Animal Academy.

When they approached us with an idea for a fun-loving adventure RPG set in medieval times, we jumped at the opportunity to work together.

GREE has a history of producing commercially successful free-to-play games both in the US and internationally, due to our focus on game analytics and operating games as a service complete with regular live events.

These complementary strengths created a synergy that was too good to pass up, leading us to embark on our first project together.

Virtuous cycle

The result of this experiment is Knights & Dragons – which was developed in collaboration with IUGO and launched on the App Store in December 2012.

With a rare combination of addictive gameplay, strategy and social collaboration, this game has been a hit with fans, maintaining a 4.5 star or higher rating on the App Store since launch, and it’s been a top 20 top grossing game on both iOS and Android

In fact, by the end of April 2013, Knights & Dragons ranked as the #1 RPG on the App Store in 20 countries and was described by notable outlets such as Forbes as “a refined mobile RPG”, proving that we were on track to achieving something great.

Knights & Dragons has also been a commercial success, consistently generating over $1 million in revenue per month on iOS alone for the GREE and IUGO partnership.

Focus on retention

This rise to the top was not an overnight success, however.

After releasing in select countries for beta testing, the team spent multiple months iterating and improving the core user experience. Using GREE’s analytics dashboards coupled with IUGO’s eye for design and user experience, we were able to nearly double tutorial completion without reducing tutorial length.

This was accomplished by setting up and analyzing player funnels, and monitoring each step of the tutorial individually to observe player dropout points.

With dropout points identified, the team revamped ineffective steps, eliminated non-essential actions, and doubled down on familiarizing players with the actions most critical for future success in the game.

For example, we noticed a significant number of players were dropping out at the character customization step. By moving this step later in the tutorial and adding an auto-complete option we allowed players to continue through to the more addictive combat and armor crafting steps unhindered, saving customization for more committed players.

Similarly, we realized players did not need to be guided through basic actions such as buying a building and so moved these actions from the tutorial into post-tutorial quests.

This not only reduced tutorial length, but provided some familiar structure to the first time player experience.

We also decided to give players more rewards, allowing them to more easily upgrade their knights and quest farther into the game. By being more generous, we were able to drive longer and more engaged play sessions on day 1, which in turn led to better long term retention rates.

While some developers may be wary of giving out too much premium currency or overpowered items, we have found that it pays off over the long run in terms of both retention and monetization by creating more committed players.

Making it sticky

By improving the first time player experience, tracking user engagement across events and optimizing weekly battles and tournaments, player retention over the first month improved over 50 percent between December 2012 and April 2013.

Coupled with improvements in monetization, these collaborative iterations made all the difference between a game that would have had difficulty breaking into the top 100 charts and one that recently was top 17 top grossing on the US App Store.

Although there were some challenges along the way, such as coordinating internationally between GREE’s office in San Francisco and IUGO in Vancouver, Canada, Knights & Dragons showcases the potential of smart partnerships between GREE and smaller game developers who have a track record of quality.

Indeed, GREE and IUGO are embarking on new projects with even higher expectations, including the recent launch of Knights & Dragons on Android and collaborating to push the envelope further on new high potential games.

Calling all heroes

At GREE, we are currently looking for developers to work with through the GREE Partners Fund that are willing to aim high and set the bar for the future of mobile gaming.

A collaborative spirit, ability to iterate quickly, and passion for both data and user experience are critical components that have proven to lead to success. The potential of a synergistic partnership is immense, as evidenced by GREE and IUGO’s shared success with Knights & Dragons.

Looking forward, I’m excited to see what is yet to come!（source：pocketgamer）