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仅有创造性不足以帮助游戏获得成功

发布时间:2015-08-20 14:25:52 Tags:,,,,

作者:Kirstin Whittle

我很高兴能参加在马尔默举办的2015年Nordic Game Conference,并对许多具有创造性且充满雄心的新游戏留下了深刻印象。

独立游戏在斯堪的纳维亚半岛和欧洲大陆上持续发展着,我也非常热衷于与许多刚起步的开发者以及一些致力于全新项目的产业资深人士进行交谈,希望能够从中了解他们现在所从事的工作以及他们所希望的自己游戏的发展方向。

独立领域非常适合那些想要拥有更多自由与控制权去创造自己想玩的游戏的开发者们,而持续发展的发行模式也让我们更有可能开发并发行现在的发行商们不可能发行的游戏。

但对于任何游戏来说,创造性并不足以帮助它们获得成功。

为成功做准备

当我们的主要焦点是放在开发上,全球生产支持服务可能不会是一个重要关注点,但开发者还是需要专注于自己业务的每一个领域,包括市场营销,法务,QA,本土化,游戏运营和社区管理。

在所有的这些领域中,质量管理是吸引人们去尝试你的游戏并留在游戏中的关键元素,因为如果拥有糟糕的测试或本土化,或者未能面向目标用户进行适当的市场营销,那么即使游戏理念再优秀也不可能引起巨大的轰动。

没有人知道哪一款游戏会引起下一波轰动,许多独立开发者在游戏发行时也都未曾准备好快速扩展业务。我们应该将全球生产支持服务作为开发计划中的一部分,但不管怎样都不存在一种适合任何游戏的解决方法。

以下便是独立开发者应该考虑的一些重要内容:

选择一个合作伙伴而不是一个供应商

partner(from douban)

partner(from douban)

优秀的合作伙伴将成为你的IP的守护者,并且能够理解你的游戏就像你的孩子一样。许多全球生产支持公司会选择独立项目,甚至会在签约前提供给对方建议,因为他们也希望能够成为下一部大作的参与者。

你应该与你所信赖且拥有能够填补你们团队所缺少的经验的合作者进行交谈。

尽早让他们参与进来

尽早找到能够给予你支持且具有洞察力和经验的合作伙伴能够让你从中受益。

即包括他们能够预见各种障碍和缺陷,能够帮助你计划如何应对所有意外事件,并且他们还拥有了解这个圈子,且清楚你的游戏的专家们。

不只是想着发行

你不只是想要提供一款优秀的游戏—-你还希望提供给消费者优秀的体验,这可能包括实时游戏运营(游戏作为一种服务),消费者支持以及各种形式的社区管理。

尽管独立游戏可能拥有较低调的开始,但是获得成功并不意味着你与全球生产支持合作伙伴的关系就必须发生变化。

许多开发者认为增加员工去独立完成所有工作便是成功的标志,但是生产过程的高峰与低谷则意味着不同群组的工作量也会起起伏伏。

持续与外包搭档合作是最省钱的方法,特别当对方已经非常了解你的游戏,并证实了自己的价值,且在对方持续提供各种专业技能的同时你还能够维持对于自己IP的完全控制。

所以请好好选择适合自己的合作伙伴并尽早让他们参与你的工作,如此你便能够更好地迎接之后的发展。

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

The future state: Creativity isn’t enough

Presented by Kirstin Whittle

I had the pleasure of attending the 2015 Nordic Game Conference in Malm? and was impressed with so many creative, ambitious new games.

Indie games continue to thrive in Scandinavia and Europe, and I enjoyed talking with many start-up developers along with a number of industry veterans working on new ventures, to learn about what they’re doing and where they want their games to go.

The indie arena is great for developers who want more freedom and control to create the games they want to play, and the ongoing evolution of publishing models makes it possible to develop and release games that likely never would be released by an established publisher that expects a certain return on their investment.

But as is the case for any game, creativity isn’t enough to spur a game’s success.

Prepping for success

When the primary focus is on development, global production support services may not be a key focus, but developers need to have excellence in every area of their business, including marketing, legal, QA, localisation, live game operations and community management.

Managing quality in all of these areas is essential to getting people to play and keep playing your game because a great idea won’t make a splash if it’s poorly tested or localised, or isn’t marketed to your target audience.

No one knows what the next big thing is going to be, and many indie developers aren’t prepared to scale up quickly when their game takes off. Global production support services need to be an integral part of a development plan, but there’s no one-size-fits-all solution for any game.

Here are a few key factors to consider:

Pick a partner, not a provider

A good partner will serve as a guardian of your IP, and will understand that your game is your baby. Many global production support companies will take on indie projects and even offer advice prior to a formal engagement because they also want to be a part of the next big thing.

Talk to support partners who you trust and who have expertise to fill the gaps in the areas your in-house team is lacking.

Get them involved early

Getting your support partners involved early enables developers to benefit from the insights an experienced partner can provide.

This includes anticipating obstacles and pitfalls, planning for all contingencies, and having additional support specialists who are already in the loop, who know your game, and with whom you have an established rapport.

Think beyond the launch

You want to offer more than just a great game – you want to give your customers a great experience, and this may include live game operations (games-as-a-service), customer support, and various forms of community management.

While an indie game may have humble beginnings, having it become a success doesn’t mean your relationship with your global production support partners has to change.

Many developers see augmenting their staff to bring everything in-house as a sign of success, but the peaks and valleys of the production process mean the workload for different groups will ebb and flow.

Continuing to work with outsourced partners can remain the most cost-effective approach, especially partners who already know your game, have proven their value, and can continue to provide critical subject matter expertise while you maintain complete creative control of your IP.

So pick good partners and get them involved early so you’ll be ready for anything.(source:develop-online)

 


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