作者：Jennifer June

假设你已经发布了自己的游戏，恭喜你，终于让它面世以便人们都能来下载。但你开发了游戏，用户就会如期而至吗？来自巴西Square Enix拉美公司的Sabrina Carmona在最近的Ottawa国际游戏大会（OIGC）上发言分享了开发者如何在发布游戏后其游戏活跃性的看法。

为了跻身美国App Store前100名热门免费应用榜单，你必须实现将近7万次的日常下载量。除此之外，还要知道多数玩家会在下载过后删除游戏。Carmona所谓的“第一次约会”就非常适合描述这种情况：你如何精心设计自己的约会以便获得第二次机会？你该如何维持这段关系？“你该如何获得好运？”

用户获取——邀请玩家

dating1(from gamezebo)

Carmona描述了三种用户获取类型：自然，付费和额外努力。自然增长可以描述为基于低成本甚至是零成本的用户获取方法，例如极出色的图标，富有吸引力的截图，优化的视频或预告片，有趣的游戏描述，良好的评价和适宜的关键字。如果执行得当，你就要以获得相当的流量，并且赚得一些收益。而付费方法，例如广告营销，交叉推广和电邮营销则成本昂贵，但通常回报也很可观。

最后就是额外方法。Carmona解释称这正是你可以真正发力，让游戏绽放异彩，从其他游戏中脱颖而出的地方。可以利用社交媒体做一些与众不同的措施，撰写独特的新闻篇或者在关键应用评论网站上获得一些好评，这可以让你的游戏获得额外的关注和青睐，也的确是值得一试的方法。

用户参与度——获得再次约会的机会

dating2(from gamezebo)

现在你已经有了一些玩家了，就得想想如何保持他们的兴趣。通过分析找到玩家是有效用户粘性的最重要层面之一。“谁在玩你的游戏？我们该如何取悦他们？”这一信息对你的用户参与方法（如游戏活动和更新内容）来说甚为关键。

为了证明活动执行的有效性，Sabrina以手机游戏《Puzzle & Dragons》（游戏邦注：首款收益达10亿美元的游戏）为例，该游戏精于使用活动事件保持用户参与度，并将休闲玩家转化为中核玩家（Carmona将这些玩家定义为围绕自己的生活安排游戏玩法的群体）。这些活动事件可以是季节性的（“圣诞节来了！”），限时特价活动（“欲购从速哦！”），周期性（“仅限周二！”）或者融入社交媒体（“分享此贴！”）。每种类型都能很有效地触及玩家心理，令他们产生一种“我最好重返游戏”的想法。

Carmona称更新内容也能够有效吸引你的用户群体返回游戏。但有一个普遍误区就是一次性将你的精彩内容托盘而出，所以千万不要轻易发放这些内容，而要让他们渴求内容。要逐渐而缓慢地透露新内容和新功能，为玩家创造一种兴奋感。

用户留存——让用户渴望更多内容

dating3(from gamezebo)

推送通知和留心用户反馈是令用户持续返回游戏的两种最佳方法。据Carmona所称，发送推送通知的“明智”方法，就是瞄准游戏中的细分休闲玩家发送通知，不要去招惹游戏已经虏获的忠实玩家。

提供有效的客服支持也是漫漫长路，但很有必要在处理大量用户反馈时将付费玩家置于首位。总是确保任何玩家抱怨（尤其是在社交媒体上的抱怨）能够得到热心的解释道歉和保证。当用户提供反馈时，要记得向对方道谢谢。当他们针对游戏提出良好的建议时，那就去执行吧！

用户盈利——获得好运

dating4(from gamezebo)

现在又回到手机游戏行业的老话题：你该如何让用户掏钱？Carmona称在吸引那些需要微交易的玩家时，掌握诱导性销售的艺术极为重要。

有一个方法就是有效传递交易价值，必须让用户觉得自己的交易的确物有所值，可以让自己的生活更轻松。实现这一点的出色方法就是抓住时机，适时向用户提供其所需的升级道具或内容。当然，你必须教会玩家如何消费（这一点必须在教程中体现）。

所以即使你能够通过发布游戏证明自己有多棒，你可能也会需要执行这其中的一些建议和窍门，以确保自己的游戏在竞争激烈的市场中占据一席之地。让用户为了获得更多内容更持续重返游戏，你就有可能实现每日7万次的下载量了，也就有望跻身前十强榜单了！（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 to Keep People Playing Your Game

by Jennifer June

So you’ve released your game. Congratulations! It’s finally out there for everyone to enjoy and the downloads will roll in. If you build it, they will come. Right? All the way from Brazil, Sabrina Carmona of Square Enix Latin America graced the Ottawa International Game Conference (OIGC) with her presence to talk to industry hopefuls and seasoned veterans alike about what it takes to keep your game alive and kicking after release.

In order to reach the top 10 free apps on the App Store in the US, you need to reach approximately 70,000 downloads/day. As if this weren’t enough of a challenge, most players delete games after downloading them. Carmona’s “first-date” metaphor was very appropriate here: how do you intrigue your date enough for a second-date? How do you make the relationship last? “How do you get lucky?”, she asked the audience with a coy smile.

User Acquisition – Ask them out.

Carmona described three types of user acquisition: organic, paid, and extra. Organic growth can be described as acquiring users based on methods that cost little to no money to execute, such as a stunning app icon, intriguing screenshots, a good video or trailer, an interesting game description, good reviews and fitting keywords. If executed properly, you can gain some serious traffic while giving your wallet a break. Alternatively, paid methods, such as burst campaigns, cross-promotions and email marketing can become expensive, but are often well worth it.

And then, there’s that extra effort. This, explains Carmona, is where you can truly make your game shine and distinguish itself from all of the other games out there. Doing something out of the norm with social media (outside the realm of Facebook and Twitter), having a unique press release or getting on some key app review sites can really give your game the extra love that it needs and well, deserves.

User Engagement – Get a second date.

Now that you’ve got yourself some players, you have to figure out how to keep them interested. Figuring out who is playing your game through analytics is one of the most important aspects of effective user engagement. “Who is playing your game? How do we cater to them?” asked Carmona. It is this information that will prove to be vitally important in your user engagement methods, such as events and updates.

To demonstrate effective execution of events, Sabrina referenced mobile game legend Puzzles and Dragons, which was the first mobile game to hit $1 billion in revenue. The game has mastered the use of events to keep users engaged and to turn casual gamers into mid-core gamers (Carmona defines these players as those who schedule gameplay around their lives). Events can be seasonal (“Christmas is here!”), limited time offers (“You better hurry!”), scheduled (“Only on Tuesdays!”) or involve social media (“Share this post!”). Each type is extremely effective in tapping into that user psychology, that voice inside that says, “I better open this game again.”

Updates are also extremely effective in enticing your user base to come back to your game, explains Carmona. A common mistake is putting all of your awesome content out at once, so don’t give it up so easily; make them crave it. Leak out your new content and new features slowly to build excitement among your players.

User Retention – Keep them wanting more.

Two of the best ways to keep your users coming back to your game are through push notifications and heeding user feedback. The “smart” way to do push notifications, according to Carmona, is by targeting niched casual players of your game so as not to annoy your loyal players that you’ve already won over.

Providing an effective support service can go a really long way as well, though it is necessary to prioritize users who are spending money when dealing with high volumes of user feedback. Always make sure to keep any complaints contained (especially over social media) with fervent apologies and reassurance. When users provide feedback, say thank you! And when they come up with a good idea for your game, implement it!

User Monetization – Get lucky.

And now the age old question in mobile games: how do you get your users to pay? Carmona explained that mastering the art of sales seduction is paramount when it comes to ringing in those sought after microtransactions.

One way to accomplish this is by effectively conveying the value of purchase; users need to feel like they are truly gaining something from the transaction that will make their lives easier. A great way to achieve this is by timing the opportunities to buy by offering your players a power-up or item right when it might come in particularly handy. Of course, you must always teach your players how to spend their money (a tutorial must-have).

So even though you’ve proven how awesome you are by finally getting your game out there (really awesome by the way), you might want to implement a few of these tips and tricks to make sure that your mobile game stays relevant in that oh-so-saturated market. Keep enough people coming back for more, and you just may be on your way to hitting that 70,000/day mark. See you in the top 10!（source：gamezebo）