1）据pocketgamer报道，《Temple Run》系列及其衍生游戏下载量已突破5亿次，其开发商Imangi Studios宣布将推出基于该系列游戏角色的毛绒玩具，将由Factory Entertainment生产包括恶猴和Temple娃娃在内的玩具，预计于今年秋季开始发售。

该工作室还表示正与Basic Fun公司合作生产《Temple Run》手持LCD游戏，零售价为9.99美元。

Temple Run(from kotaku.com)

Factory Entertainment和Basic Fun将在今年2月16-19日于纽约开幕的第111届美国国际玩具展会上展示这些Temple Run衍生产品。

2）pocketgamer最近发布的2013年手机应用推广报告指出，美国应用市场在2013年圣诞期间的CPI（每安装成本）一度增涨了三分之五（上涨64美分），在圣诞假期间发布的应用每天需增加成本约4.6万美元，才有可能登上App Store免费应用榜单前10名。

3）据老虎游戏（Laohu.com）报道，最近有传闻称中国手机游戏公司触控科技（代表作为《捕鱼达人》）计划于2014年5月在美国上市，蓝港在线(LineKong)和乐动卓越(Locojoy)也计划今年在香港上市。

捕鱼达人(from gamezebo)

4）据pocketgamer报道，Engine Software公司成员Ivo Wubbels在最近的Casual Connect Europe大会演讲中指出，发行商对于开发商将再次呈现其重要性。

casual-connect-europe(from eventsforgamers)

他称过增几年开发商很容易同发行商合作，例如在伦敦的游戏展会上，开发者只要能够证明自己拥有一款好游戏，就有可能当场与发行商签约。但2014年的发行市场则将呈现分化局面，有些发行商假装是数字发行商，但实际上还是采用不可行的传统发行方式，他们只想创收而不想投入。因此开发者需擦亮眼睛找到那些真正能够带来帮助的发行商。

而如果找到合适的发行商时，开发者应确保自己站在发行商的角度来考虑，将对方视为自己团队的成员，想想他们的目标和需求，要清楚他们对你的投入也是一种风险。只有这样，才有可能顺利展开双方合作。

5）据pocketgamer报道，《Drag Racing》开发商Creative Mobile联合创始人Vladimir Funtikov在日前的Casual Connect Europe大会上指出，游戏发行这一行业现在呈现爆炸式发展，但它最终也会像其他行业一样，随着时间发展而趋于平衡，稳定和安全。

Drag Racing(from play.google.com)

他还提出了一个“游击式营销”的概念，这是指一种非常规营销技巧，在无需支出大量费用的前提下，创造大众对某一理念或产品的兴趣，其关键就在于创意。

游击式营销技术几乎总是非常规，煽动性的，通常易于产生病毒效应。

例如，《Flappy Bird》这款游戏就有一个极具病毒传播性的视频，虽然它并非有意而为之的游击式营销手段——它靠的是运气，但你可以轻松地运用类似手段创造相同的效果，如果有《Flappy Bird》这种产品，病毒传播效果就会非常明显。（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）Temple Run hits 500 million downloads, Imangi celebrates with plush toys

by Keith Andrew

With combined downloads of Temple Run and its follow up having hit the 500 million mark, Imangi Studios has unveiled plans to launch plush toys “based on the series’ cast of characters.”

The new toys will be manufactured by “pop culture experts” Factory Entertainment, with Demon Monkeys and Temple Idols toys hitting retail in an initial run this autumn.

Running away with it

In addition, the studio has also lifted the lid on a deal with Basic Fun to produce the first Temple Run handheld LCD game, packing play into a “durable device with a Carabiner-style clip” and retailing for $9.99.

“Our work with Factory Entertainment and Basic Fun will connect Temple Run fans to the characters and stories they have interacted with for the last three years,” said Keith Shepherd, co-founder of Imangi Studios.

“We’re looking forward to announcing more partnerships this year, so stay tuned.”

Factory Entertainment and Basic Fun will be exhibiting their Temple Run tie-ins at the 111th American International Toy Fair, running in New York between 16-19 February.（source：pocketgamer）

2）Still looking for answers about your Holiday UA campaign? Our 2013 App Promotion Report is here to help

by Matthew Diener

Navigating the waters of a holiday UA campaign is a process as complicated as it is expensive.

With US CPIs increasing by about a third (up 64 cents) during the peak of the holiday ramp-up, a new launch over Christmastime faces an added cost of roughly $46,000 per day just to score a place on the App Store’s top-ten free chart.

Clearly, there’s a lot at stake in this gamble on a crowded market – but the rewards can be well worth the expense.

New players with new devices are usually in a spend-y mood around the holidays, and the opportunity for returns on an intelligent UA campaign can make for a merry Christmas, indeed.（source：pocketgamer）

3）This Week in China: Spring Festival ends, work begins

By Jim Squires

After a short break for Spring Festival (or as we in the West like to call it, Chinese New Year), China’s gaming sector is back at work. And as we try to do every Friday, we’re back with another ‘This Week in China’ round-up courtesy of our friends at Beijing’s Laohu.com.

This week you’ll see a little bit of IPO rumor, a little bit of copycat fighting, and a (not so) little bit of layoffs. If you’re looking to stay on top of Chinese gaming news in a more daily manner (and love the power of Google Translate), be sure to add Laohu.com to your bookmarks.

Chinese mobile game developer and operator Chukong Inc. plans for US listing in May 2014, according to sources. The developer behind Fishing Joy (捕鱼达人), Chukong turned its eye to mobile game publishing in 2013 and has since obtained over $80 million in financing. Linekong and Locojoy also plan for Hong Kong listing this year. (Laohu.com)（source：gamezebo）

4）If you want to score a good publisher, you need to think like a publisher

by Keith Andrew

“Everything that has happened before will happen again,” said Engine Software’s Ivo Wubbels somewhat mystically during his talk at Casual Connect Europe in Amsterdam.

Wubbels wasn’t attempting to read attendees’ fortunes – or even quote Battlestar Galactica – but rather predict the next big trends for indies to look out for in the year ahead.

His key takeaway? Publishers are coming back into vogue, and “will be important again for developers”. That’s if they aren’t already.

Times gone by

“It was a lot easier to create deals with publishers years ago,” he continued.

“Who here remembers ECTS, the old trade show in London? I wish they’d bring it back. You could go to ECTS and sign a deal with a publisher right there in the bar afterwards if you could prove to them you had a good game.”

The publishing market in 2014, however, is split, Wubbels claimed. Some publishers in the digital age can offer you a good deal, but some claim to be ‘digital publishers’ but actually attempting to offer the same set up as a traditional, retail based outfit.

“Many publishers tried to bring their traditional ways of working with retail to the digital space and that didn’t work,” said Wubbels.

“Many failed, but some are still trying, and it’s important that you’re aware of that. What we see right now is some publishers pretending to be a digital publisher, but they only want to take the income – they don’t want to invest. That’s important to note – you should be looking for publishers that will actually do something for you.”

Forming relationships

So what about when you find a publisher you want to work with? How can you get them on board?

Wubbels claimed making sure you stay in the mindset of the publisher at all times – that your IP is seen as important – and that you treat them like a member of the team.

“If you see your publisher as another party, it’s really difficult – you have to work together, that’s the only way it works,” he concluded.

“You also have to think like a publisher. What’s their goal? What are they looking for? You have to understand that investing in you is all a risk to them as well.”（source：pocketgamer）

5）Flappy Bird was the perfect accidental guerilla marketing campaign, says Creative Mobile

by Keith Andrew

“Game publishing is the same as any other business,” opened Vladimir Funtikov – co-founder of Drag Racing developer Creative Mobile – during his talk at this year’s Casual Connect Europe in Amsterdam.

“The only difference is, we’ve seen an explosion in this industry – iPhone taking off and everything. The truth is, it’s going to get more balanced over time. Eventually, this industry will be like any other industry – more stable and more secure. So, we can learn from other industries.”

Funtikov’s comments, though seemingly unnerving, were actually designed to reassure other indies in the room.

His assertion that the mobile games industry will soon resemble all other stable markets means that there’s lots of source material out there when it comes to marketing without massive budgets.

Or, to use Funtikov’s take on this, ‘guerilla marketing’.

Going with guerilla

Guerrilla marketing is the strategy of using off-the-wall marketing techniques to create mass interest in an idea or product without paying out huge chunks of cash. The key is creativity.

“Guerilla marketing techniques are almost always unconventional, provocative, and they often leave to viral effects,” he continued.

“For example, with Nitro Nation, we came up with this of restricting access to an early beta to create the idea of limited supply. We gave away 1,000 keys to gain access to the beta at GDC, and these people then started bragging about it on social media.

“Suddenly, all their friends were like – what’s happening here? We even had people saying that they’d been playing our games for years and asking why they hadn’t been given access to the beta.”

Nitro Nation

The seemingly closed nature of the beat generated hype, Funtikov revealed.

Straight after GDC, 6,500 people had signed up for access to the beta. That number eventually hit somewhere in the region of 100,000.

In a flap

What’s more, developers can even stumble into guerilla marketing campaigns without realising it. Have you heard of a little game called Flappy Bird?

“Flappy Bird has the characteristics of a viral video,” stated Funtikov.

“It wasn’t intentional guerilla marketing – it was luck – but you could easily create something with similar characteristics and trigger the same effect. With a game like Flappy Bird, virality kicks in big time.

“And then, the guy promises to pull the app and what happens? He got millions more downloads. Now, I’m not saying this was on purpose, but someone could easily copy that and see a similar boost.”（source：pocketgamer）