作者：Carter Dotson

也许这么说会引起争议，但是我并不相信高于99美分的游戏定价就是一种自取灭亡的表现。

价格的确存在灵活性，也有开发者仍在创造一些较为昂贵的游戏，并且它们仍会在应用商店中获取成功——也许是用户们感受到了游戏的“高质量”。

的确，我甚至认为现在的游戏可以以此通过高于99美分的定价获取成功。

但这却不是什么新鲜事。即尽管价格点非常重要，但是如今的手机游戏也面临着主机游戏长期遭遇的定价同质性问题。

唯一的区别在于，为了能够实现差异性，手机游戏开发者可以将价格调得更高。

《侠盗猎车手》的影响

gta5（from pocketgamer）

的确，现在是时候展开辩论了。《侠盗猎车手5》（引起了商店门前一大串的排队）便是主机游戏当前所面临问题的象征。

毫无疑问，《侠盗猎车手》是一款大型游戏，它与其它同样标准且面向Xbox 360或PS3的游戏一样设定了60美元的定价。

这并不是Rockstar所面对的问题——《侠盗猎车手》的用户基础认为这款游戏值得他们花这些钱，它也揭露了其它拥有同样价格点的游戏。

如果一款与《侠盗猎车手5》一样大的游戏价值60美元，那么有多少主机发行内容可以自称属于这一阵列中？

事实上，是产业的定价惯例规定新游戏以60美元的定价进入市场，而不是基于其它逻辑或价值意义。

《侠盗猎车手》所做的只是推动其它游戏尝试着在同一个领域中竞争。突然之间，发行商们为了能够创造出产业中下一个巨大IP而将本来很简单的游戏逐渐转变成复杂且高预算内容。

这些发行商们相信自己必须仿效主机领域最受欢迎的游戏，并将一些不必要的在线功能或组件塞进自己的游戏中，因为这是像《光晕》或《使命的召唤》等游戏所做的。

很多游戏便因此遭遇了巨大的失败，尽管它们本来有可能获取巨大的利益（如果它们还保留在最初的范围和预算中）。

半斤八两

手机游戏开发者不需要为此自鸣得意。因为事实上他们所面临的情况与我们也没有太大差别。

当App Store在2008年发展起来时，它是打着与主机所提供的内容并不相同的旗号。这对于那些基于不同价格点而提供创造性产品的独立开发者来说的确是个避风港。

越来越多开发者在底线竞争中不断低估自己内容的价值，所以免费市场不断崛起，并更加专注于基于量的收益。最终便导致付费游戏市场遭遇了重创。

这也引起了一种情况，即甚至连一些产业巨头（主要瞄准巨大商机）也开始瞄准大量的用户，而不是使用他们的财政自由去支持小规模的发行（即将触及小规模的玩家）。

因为逐底竞争导致“最底端”才是产业中真正的胜者。免费游戏主导着最畅销游戏排行榜，大部分付费游戏的定价均为99美分。

很多人都认为，如今开发者们获取成功的唯一选择便是趋于免费或拉低价格。

但是我却不这么认为。不管是在主机市场还是带有多种价格点的手机市场中都存在证据能够证明这点，并且不仅获得了用户的支持，还受到他们的欢迎。

一线希望

举个例子来说吧，近几年我们能在主机市场中看到10美元至15美元的价格点的崛起，不管是来自独立工作室还是产业巨头，如育碧。

来自法国的发行商更是凭借着《孤岛惊魂》和《狂野西部》（游戏邦注：均售价15美元）的小规模版本取得了巨大的成功。同样的，Starbreeze的第一人称射击游戏《Payday 2》的售价也在30美元至40美元之间（基于不同平台），但是在预售前它便赚取了一定的利润。

通过创造小规模低预算的游戏，我们能够越过主导着市场且不断膨胀的同质价格点而创造出生命迹象。

但是这还有一点需要注意的：主机和PC市场必须寻找一种能够获取收益的新方法。就像之前所说的，手机正在朝着其它方向前进—高于经典的免费到99美分的价格点。

这也是某些开发者开始尝试的，其中也包括独立工作室。

Michael Brough在独立产业已经有一定名气了，但是在更广泛的公共领域却并不出名。他的游戏《868-HACK》（游戏邦注：一款oguelike游戏，具有较短的挑战游戏过程）看起来像是售价1或2美元的游戏，但是其零售价却为5.99美元。

除此之外，这还成为他到目前为止创造过最畅销的游戏。

这一成果并不是源于苹果的推荐，这款游戏只是由一个小型市场营销计划推动着。

但是Brough却一直希望努力通过游戏赚取足够的利润，从而能够继续维持着自己的独立开发。

不断向上

我赞同Brough的想法。

iPhone畅销游戏中有30%至40%的游戏价格高于99美分，在前300名畅销游戏中，超过1.99美元的游戏也多于0.99美元的游戏。

这些开发者认为基于这一价格点去销售游戏更能帮助自己赚钱。

真正可怕的事实是，随着一些主要的跨国公司进入廉价和免费游戏领域，独立开发者在这个市场中的立足之地将变得越来越小。

所以那些想要创造出成功游戏的独立开发者便需要尝试一些更大的内容。也就是他们是时候开始基于更高的价格点去发行游戏，生成一些能让用户舍弃之前所熟悉的价格点的内容。

开发者很快便会发现，让那些从未听过自己的用户支付99美分去玩游戏并不比让他们花费2.99美元轻松多少。

可以肯定的是，我们需要做出一定的改变。

手机游戏定价的同质性将对市场造成巨大的创伤，而手机开发者比起他们的主机和PC开发同胞们拥有一个主要的优势：他们拥有更多的空间去提升定价。而现在正是时候去落实这一行动。

（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）

Stateside: Mobile devs need to follow in Grand Theft Auto’s footsteps

by Carter Dotson

It may be controversial to say, but I don’t believe that pricing a game above 99c is a death sentence.

Price flexibility exists, and evidence that more expensive games can succeed on app stores – perhaps due to a perceived ‘high quality’ amongst consumers – is building.

Indeed, I’d go so far as to suggest that now’s the time that games that can thrive above the 99c do just that.

But none of this is new. While the price points involved are far important, mobile gaming has much the same problem with pricing homogeneity that console gaming has long suffered.

The only difference is, mobile developers are able to price higher, rather than lower, in order to achieve differentiation.

The impact of GTA

Indeed, now is exactly the time to be having this debate. Grand Theft Auto V – currently generating a queue at a store near you – is emblematic of console gaming’s current problems.

GTA V is undoubtedly a colossal game in every sense of the word, yet it sits at the same $60 price point as every other standard release on Xbox 360 or PS3.

This isn’t a problem for Rockstar – GTA’s fanbase consider it  worth every penny, if not more – but it does rather show up the other games sat at the same price point.

If a game as big as GTA V is judged to be worth $60, then how many other console releases can legitimately claim to be in the same league?

The truth is, it’s the industry’s pricing convention that dictates that new games come in at the $60, rather than any real sense of logic or value.

What GTA – and the success if very publicly amasses – does is force other games to try and compete in the same arena. Suddenly, what may have started out life as simple titles are transformed into bloated, big-budget affairs at the behest of publishers eager to secure the industry’s next big IP.

The belief is, they need to try and stand up to the console scene’s most popular titles, shoehorning in unnecessary online features or other odds and sods purely because that’s what the likes of Halo and Call of Duty have (somewhat more successfully) done.

Many of these games end up being massive flops, despite the fact that – if their original scope and budget had remained in tact – they could have been financial successes, if only a smaller scale than the likes of GTA.

Same difference

But mobile developers needn’t get smug. The situation is not all too different in our sector, in truth.

When the App Store revolution first kicked off in 2008, it stood as the polar opposite of what the console scene offered. It was a haven for independent developers offering creative releases at a variety of price points.

As more and more developers would up undervaluing their content in a race to the bottom, however, so the free-to-play market rose up, with a focus on making money on volume. The premium gaming market has undoubtedly suffered as a result.

It’s led to a situation where even the bigger boys – motivated by dollar signs in their eyes – have ended up focusing on targeting huge volumes of users, rather than using their comparative financial freedom to support smaller scale releases that, in turn, would reach a smaller body of gamers.

That’s because the race to the bottom has led to the industry decreeing the ‘bottom’ as the victor. The top grossing charts are dominated by free games, and the majority of paid games are 99c.

Right now, it would appear the only option for developers looking to succeed is to go free or really, really cheap, right?

I don’t think so. There’s evidence both in the console market and in mobile itself that a variety of price points, including more expensive ones, will not only be supported by consumers, but actively welcomed.

Light at the end of the tunnel

In the console market, for instance, we’ve seen the rise of the $10-15 price point in recent years, from independent studios right through to major forces such as Ubisoft.

The French publisher has, in particular, enjoyed success with smaller scale versions of Far Cry and Call of Juarez at $15 each. Likewise, Starbreeze’s first-person shooter Payday 2 sells for $30-$40 (depending on the platform), yet it had made a profit before it was released on pre-orders alone.

By making smaller-scale, lower-budget games, we foster signs of life beyond the bloated homogeneous price point that dominates the market.

But here’s the thing: the console and PC market has to aim downward to find new avenues to financial success. As stated, however, mobile has to move in the other direction – above the typical free-to-99c price point.

That’s something some developers are starting to do, including one indie studio in particular.

Michael Brough has some notoriety in indie circles, but he’s a relative unknown in the eyes of the wide public. His game 868-HACK – a roguelike built around short, challenging sessions – feels like the kind of game that would cost a dollar or two, yet it retailed for $5.99.

What’s more, it’s been his best-selling game so far.

Such success was achieved without being featured by Apple and with the game only supported by a minimal marketing plan.

Nevertheless, Brough has managed to make enough profit from the game to carry on as an independent development.

The only way is up

I don’t think Brough is an anomaly, either.

Somewhere between 30-40 percent of the top grossing games on iPhone cost more than 99c, and there are more $1.99 and above games in the top 300 grossing rundown than there are $0.99 games.

Those that find a way to sell games at this price point are able to make more money.

The horrid truth is, the arrival of major multinationals in the cheap-to-free arena means that there’s very little room for the indie in the market anymore: said conglomerates have that market sown up.

So indie who want to make a splash need to stop trying to take on the big boys. Instead, it’s time to start experimenting with games built to retail at higher price points, generating content that justifies consumers parting with a little more cash than perhaps they’re used to.

Developers will quickly find it’s not really any harder to make a consumer who has never heard of you to pay out 99c for your title than it is to get them to spend $2.99.

What we can be sure of is, something needs to change.

The homogeneity of mobile game pricing is harmful to the market at large, and mobile developers have one major advantage over their console and PC brethren: there’s a lot more room to aim upward in pricing. So it’s time to start doing just that.(source:pocketgamer)