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手机游戏开发者进入日本市场需要掌握的3个窍门

发布时间:2015-06-02 15:20:39 Tags:,,,,

作者:Scott Yoo

当我们在美国浏览着新闻的时候,日本人正在玩游戏。

典型的美国通勤者会在搭乘公车或地铁的时候浏览社交媒体上有关朋友,家人和社区的最新消息。但是在日本,人们在上下班的路程中都是在玩游戏。

所以许多人都是边走边玩玩游戏。于是日本Rail East,即东京最大的铁路部门便推出了一项公共服务活动,并张贴了1000张写着“在行走的时候别玩手机和游戏”的海报。

免费游戏在日本取得了巨大的成功,据估计,世界性的手机游戏收益到2016年将达到1000亿美元。举个例子来说吧,GUngHo Online的《智龙迷城》作为2014年排行第三的畅销iOS游戏在日本的下载量达到了3000万。

日本一直是游戏的领头军(游戏邦注:毕竟它是任天堂和世嘉这两大巨头的老家),而它更是以让人难以置信的速度朝着手机领域驶进,我们可以期待到2016年这个市场将创造出80亿美元(也就是8238亿日元)的收益。此外,像任天堂和Bandai Namco等老式主机领头军也为了挤进这个国家的智能手机市场而将自己的许多产品带到了手机平台。

如果手机游戏开发者想要进入这个充满活力且深陷手机游戏魅力的国家,以下便是一些帮助你们在日本获得盈利的指南:

窍门1:了解你的用户并联系当地的发行商

日本手机游戏市场的成功意味着他们了解自己的玩家。这同样适用于所有市场,但是因为从人口上来看日本所拥有的玩家群体较少,所以如果还不能够了解这些玩家的话将会不利于游戏的发展。

进入日本市场的一种最有效方式便是抛弃独立发行而选择现有的当地网络。使用日本本土的发行商(或分销商)是一个好主意,它将带给你强大的玩家网并帮助你定制适合日本市场的游戏。

例如从规模上看,益智游戏和角色扮演游戏便是该市场中最受欢迎的类别,它们都拥有较高的CPI。所以这些拥有较高CPI的类别将成为最具竞争性的游戏类型。

面向日本用户进行市场营销的诀窍在于严格的语言本土化。你必须站在日本用户的角度进行思考,这是不能外包的内容。当你决定进入日本市场时,为了能够在游戏中创造出真正的改变,你需要在团队中添加一些来自日本的成员。就连最成功的《部落战争》也为了适应该国文化而改变了营销信息。

japan-clashofclans(from gamasutra)

japan-clashofclans(from gamasutra)

窍门2:进行交叉推广并期待较高的iOS性能

powerupreport_slides_0001_Chartboost-power-up-report(from gamasutra)

powerupreport_slides_0001_Chartboost-power-up-report(from gamasutra)

让人惊讶的是,尽管日本非常靠近被三星主导着的韩国,但是在这里iOS仍然是作为主要的手机平台。三年前,Google Play还是日本人最常使用的平台,但是在2013年年末,苹果结束了与NTT DoCoMo,即日本最大的手机运营商的交易,并开始在整个日本发行iPhone。这一决定推动了iPhone在这里的渗透率,即将2014年1月的55%市场渗透率提到到今年1月的65%。

推动iOS平台使用的另一大元素便是Android设备的分裂性。日本游戏玩家更希望在游戏的时候能够获得无缝的体验,而这也是iOS能够带给他们的福利。举个例子来说吧,iOS游戏在所有的苹果设备中,包括iPhone和iPad都具有非常高质量的体验。

窍门3:数据促成所有决定

powerupreport_slides_0000_Chartboost-power-up-report(from gamasutra)

powerupreport_slides_0000_Chartboost-power-up-report(from gamasutra)

在日本市场开发商需要着眼于数据去决定较高的安装成本是否合理,特别是当游戏属于最具竞争力的类型之一。

到目前为止最有用的数据使用便是关于如何寻找更多用户。在日本如果你的游戏是属于受欢迎的类别之一,如益智游戏或RPG,那么进行游戏分销便更有意义。并且基于较高的CPI,这些类别更有机会拉拢更多日本用户。

不管你做什么,你都需要确保能够巧妙地使用数据。在进入像日本这些不断发展的手机游戏市场时,你需要确保能够负担得起特定类别较高的CPI,并且你还需要采取与当地文化相关的方式在iOS或Google Play平台上面向日本消费者进行市场营销。

本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,拒绝任何不保留版权的转发,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

What Mobile Game Developers Need to Know About Japan

by Scott Yoo

While we read the news in the U.S., Japan plays games.

The typical American commuter spends bus or train time scrolling social media feeds for the latest from our friends, family and community. But in Japan, the train ride to and from work is game time.

So many people are gaming on the go, in fact, that Japan Rail East, the largest railway in the Tokyo region, launched a public service campaign with 1,000 posters stating, “no mobile phones and games while walking.”

This time dedicated to mobile games pays off for advertisers and publishers, though. Free-to-play games, especially, have been massively successful in Japan as worldwide mobile game revenues are set to hit $100 billion by 2016. For instance, GungHo Online’s Puzzle & Dragons was the third highest-grossing iOS game in 2014 — with 30 million downloads in Japan.

While Japan has always been a leader when it comes to games — after all, it’s home to titans like Nintendo and Sega — a shift into mobile is picking up incredible speed, expecting to exceed $8 billion (823.8 billion yen) by 2016. What’s more, old-school console leaders like Nintendo and Bandai Namco have added mobile to their host of offerings in order to tap into the country’s booming smartphone market.

To introduce mobile game developers to this dynamic, mobile games-obsessed country, here’s a beginner’s guide to monetization in Japan.

Tip 1: Know your audience and connect with local publishers

Success in the Japanese mobile gaming market means knowing your players … well. This could be said for all markets, but because Japan possesses a smaller pool of players by population — not knowing them can be especially detrimental to your game there.

One of the best ways to get into the Japanese market is to explore options outside self-publishing and connect with existing local networks. Using a local Japanese publisher (or distributor) is a great idea, as it will bring you a powerful network of players and also help you tailor your game to the Japanese market.

Puzzle and Role Playing Games (RPG), for example, have become the most dominant categories in terms of size, driving up the CPI in each category. These higher CPI categories will be the most competitive genres.

The trick in marketing to a Japanese audience goes beyond strict language localization. You have to think like your Japanese audience, something that can’t be outsourced. When deciding to enter the Japanese market, you’ll want to include a production team that lives and breathes Japan in order to make core changes to your games. Even hugely successful Clash of Clans had to change its marketing messaging to fit the culture.

Tip 2: Build cross-platform and expect high iOS performance

Surprisingly, given the country’s close proximity to Samsung-dominant South Korea, iOS is the leading mobile platform in Japan right now. Three years ago, Google Play was the most commonly used platform, but at the end of 2013, Apple closed a deal with NTT DoCoMo, the largest cell phone operator in Japan, and started distributing iPhones across the country. This deal helped drive iPhone penetration, which has increased from 55 percent of the market in January of 2014 to 65 percent of the market in the same month this year.

Another factor contributing to iOS dominance is the amount of fragmentation across the Android device landscape. Japan is a country of gamers who prefer seamless experiences when they play — like the ability to toggle between devices a la Puzzle & Dragons or Candy Crush — something iOS does well with its offering of devices. For instance, popular iOS games feature high quality experiences on all Apple devices, from iPhones to iPads.

Tip 3: Data should drive all decisions

Ultimately, indie developers looking to sell their mobile games — and publishers looking to advertise — in the Japanese market need to look at the data to decide if the higher cost of install makes sense, especially if the game is in one of the more competitive genres.

The most useful application of the data — so far — is how to find more users. Distributing your mobile game in Japan makes more sense if your game is already in one of the popular categories, like Puzzle or RPG. Even with a higher CPI, there are more chances with these categories to pull in a larger audience in Japan.

Whatever you do, be sure to use the data wisely. Jumping into a growing mobile game market like Japan only makes business sense if you can afford the high CPI for your particular category, and if you’re able to market to Japanese consumers on iOS or Google Play in ways that are culturally relevant to the players.(source:gamasutra)

 


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