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为什么Kabam决定转向高预算的手机游戏

发布时间:2016-02-22 14:13:20 Tags:,,,,

作者:Dean Takahashi

不久前Kabam宣称他们将重新调整公司结构并让其825名雇员专注于创造能够进入排行榜前10的手机游戏(游戏邦注:因为这是利益所在),并希望以此去唤醒整个产业。

Kabam(from ccidnet)

Kabam(from ccidnet)

其首席运营官Kent Wakeford进一步解释了他们选择完全侧重于高预算的手机游戏的原因。

Wakeford说道:“对我们来说,机遇和发展都是在市场的最顶端。我们开始于一年前并从那时起开始转变我们的业务。我们的确做出了一些艰难的决定。”

根据市场调查公司App Annie,每个月排行榜最顶端的手机游戏(来自Supercell的《部落战争》)能够赚到超过8000万美元的收益。而在2012年,最顶端游戏每个月的收益只有460万美元。这是1750%的增长率啊!同时,在2015年第一季度排行100的游戏的收益是120万美元,而在2012年仅为31.1万美元,这也是295%的增长率。

对于Wakeford来说,这意味着产业中的收益主要集中在排行榜最顶端的位置,所以对于像Kabam等大型游戏公司来说只是发行并运行前100的游戏是远远不够的。最终最顶端游戏制作者获得了结构性优势。

去年Kabam发行了18款游戏,但在今年他们却只发行了4款游戏。并且他们取消了在Facebook的桌面客户端业务,因为他们认为这里不再具有盈利的潜力。

他说道:“抓住市场最顶端的消费者的心是一个巨大的挑战。”但对于他们来说创建优秀的团队并消除各种干扰元素也非常关键。

Wakeford表示,市场营销便是其中的关键部分。如果一款游戏每个月创造了8000万美元,那么创造者便可以拿出1600万美元用于市场营销。但是对于排行100的公司来说,他们的市场营销预算只有24万美元。这便是能够四处打广告与只能勉强获得注意的应用间的区别。

Wakeford说道:“你应该已经看到了主机市场模式在手机游戏市场的再现。”

Cnet的执行编辑Ian Sherr询问了像《愤怒的小鸟》这些突然出现的虚拟游戏的对应内容是什么。

Wakeford说道:“虽然《愤怒的小鸟》为Rovio创造了强大的辨识度,但与他们不同的是我们对业务作出了许多改变。即虽然《愤怒的小鸟》在2010年主导着付费下载领域,但是在市场开始朝免费游戏转变时他们却并未作出改变。”

对于Android市场(不包括中国),2012年第一季度的前5款游戏占据着10%的市场份额,或者说创造了4200万美元的收益。而在2015年第一季度,排行前5的游戏所创造的市场份额是22%,即9.265亿美元。根据市场研究公司NPD,通过比较我们可以发现美国的主机游戏在2000年拥有13%的市场份额。在2014年,排行前5的主机游戏的市场份额为24%。这也暗示着现在的手机游戏领域也发生着同样的变化。

所以现在的Kabam将侧重点放在了像《速度与激情》,《漫威英雄格斗赛》,《魂之领主》等大型游戏上—-有些游戏是基于好莱坞授权内容或者一些原创的知识产权。

Wakeford同样也强调了中国在全新游戏市场中的重要性。市场研究公司Newzoo宣称在2016年,中国将在手机收益方面超越美国,即创造出77亿美元的收益,美国则为73亿美元。而到2017年,中国的手机游戏收益将达到93亿美元,美国为82亿美元。这也是Kabam决定面向中市场发行像《漫威英雄格斗赛》等游戏的原因。

原文发表于2015年5月6日,所涉内容和数据均以当时为准。

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

Why Kabam is shifting to the deep end of mobile games with big budgets

DEAN TAKAHASHI

SAUSALITO, Calif. — Mobile game maker Kabam sent a wake-up call to the industry a couple of weeks ago when it announced that it would restructure to focus its 825 employees on making only top-10 mobile games, because that’s where the money is.

Chief operating officer Kent Wakeford went deeper into explaining that move to ruthlessly focus on big-budget mobile games today in a fireside chat at the GamesBeat Summit.

“The opportunity and the growth for us is at the top of the market,” Wakeford said. “We started a year ago and began a transformation of our business. We made some tough decisions.”

According to market researcher App Annie, the top mobile game — Clash of Clans from Supercell — makes more than $80 million a month. In 2012, the top game brought in $4.6 million a month. That’s a 1,750 percent increase. Meanwhile, the top 100 game generated $1.2 million a month in the first quarter of 2015, compared to $311,000 in 2012. That’s a 295 percent increase.

To Wakeford, that means that the revenue in the industry is concentrating at the top, and it is no longer a viable strategy for a large game company like Kabam to launch and operate top 100 games. The top game makers are gaining a structural advantage in marketing as a result.

Last year, Kabam launched 18 games, but it will only do four this year. It divested its social game business on Facebook’s desktop client because it didn’t have potential for a billion-dollar business.

“Capturing the hearts and minds of consumers at the top of the market is a challenge,” he said. But creating great teams and eliminating distractions for them is key to that as well.

Wakeford noted that marketing is a big part of the answer. If a game makes $80 million a month, the creator can spend $16 million a month on marketing. For the top 100 company, the marketing budget is only $240,000. That’s the difference between an app that you can advertise everywhere and one that barely gets noticed.

“We had a battle royal of the last Super Bowl with Kate Upton going head-to-head with Liam Neeson” in ads for the mobile games Game of War: Fire Age and Clash of Clans, Wakeford said.

“You’re already seeing that,” Wakeford said, as to the pattern of the console market unfolding in the mobile game market.

Ian Sherr, executive editor at Cnet and the moderator for the talk, asked about the counterpoint of viral games such as Angry Birds, which came out of nowhere.

“[Angry Birds maker Rovio] got huge recognition, but there are so many shifts in our business,” Wakeford said. “They owned the paid download space in 2010, but they didn’t adapt when the market shifted” to free-to-play games.

For the Android market, excluding China, the top five games in the first quarter of 2012 had a 10 percent market share, or $42 million in revenue. In the first quarter of 2015, the market share for the top five was 22 percent of the overall games market, or $926.5 million. By comparison, the top five console games in the U.S. had 13 percent market share in 2000, according to market researcher NPD. In 2014, the top five console games had 24 percent of the market. That suggests we’re seeing the same movie play out in the mobile game business.

Kabam is accordingly focusing on Fast & Furious, Marvel: Contest of Champions, Spirit Lords, and other big titles, some based on Hollywood licenses or on original intellectual property.

Wakeford also emphasized the importance of China in the new game market. Market researcher Newzoo announced that in 2016, China is expected to shoot past the U.S. in mobile revenue at $7.7 billion versus $7.3 billion. By 2017, China’s mobile games will generate $9.3 billion, compared to $8.2 billion for the U.S. And that’s why Kabam is launching big titles like its Marvel game into China.(source:venturebeat)

 


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