作者：Jake Parmley

Red Fox Insight对于免费游戏和电子竞技游戏的分析并不是以主机vsPC为主。但是在分析了我们的数据后我们意识到更多MMO应该被归为主机游戏，即主要基于以下元素：

经过证实的成功

PC与主机的消费习惯

让我们开始进行分析

在主机上，比起《神之浩劫》，对《Elite Lord of Alliance》更有兴趣的玩家多了16.06%。他们都很喜欢《ELOA》的发行商WEBZEN，但《ELOA》却不是一款主机游戏。

我们发现33.34%在主机上玩《神之浩劫》的玩家都对MMORPG游戏《ELOA》有兴趣。这甚至高于17.28%表示自己喜欢玩《ELOA》的样本玩家的比例。即在主机玩家间多出了16.06%的玩家对《ELOA》产生兴趣。这一结果是来自对超过430名MMOHuts.com上的美国玩家对于MMO和MOBA游戏的兴趣度的调查。

ELOA(from gamasutra)

而这里存在的唯一问题是，《ELOA》只出现在PC平台上。所以包括WEBZEN在内的发行商是否该考虑将《ELOA》等MMORPG游戏带向主机用户呢？

经过证实的成功

在过去，主机平台上非常缺少MMORPG游戏，但之后他们开始加快速度并通过一些新用户而获取了更大的成功。《DC漫画英雄》同步发行于PS4上，《行星边际2》提供给了主机玩家能够在FPS游戏中体验MMO特征的机会，而《无冬城》则是面向Xbox Live金会员免费出售的包含地下城的快节奏战斗游戏。

微软聪明地选择与中国发行商完美世界合作将《无冬城》带给了中国玩家。中国是一个以PC游戏为主导的市场，通过这样的合作，他们能够有效地消除PC和主机间的隔阂并进一步扩展潜在的用户基础。

甚至是大受欢迎的《最终幻想XIV》及其《Heavensward》扩展都在多个平台上找到了归属。这里存在的特殊点在于，“PS3，PS4和PC版本的玩家能够同时运行地下城，突袭以及各种其它类型的内容。”尽管在这三个平台上的游戏可能存在一些区别，但他们却成功地将《最终幻想》MMO游戏带向了全新玩家，更重要的是他们也证实了主机是个适合MMORPG的平台。

PC与主机玩家的消费习惯

主机玩家的消费习惯将推动像《ELOA》等免费MMO向PS4和Xbox One等主机扩展。SOE的董事长John Smedley说过：“PS4已经获得了巨大的盈利，在这里游戏的盈利率是PC的3至3.5倍。我们真的很惊讶于PC和PS4的付费率的差距，这也说明了这里存在真正的市场。“

“移植”过程是不简单的。像修改控制方案并跨越不同平台去标准化你的更新过程都是需要考虑的事。但是这类型游戏所存在的成功潜能让我们觉得这是值得去尝试的内容。就像PC平台上的MMO《黑色沙漠OL》在发行的第一个月便在美国和欧洲卖出了超过40万份，即拥有超过10万个并发用户。而像《The Division》和《命运》等假MMO都是不断改变的AAA级和主机领域中全新的IP。

结论

包括WEBZEN在内的发行商是否该考虑将《ELOA》等MMORPG带向主机用户呢？在主机玩家间多出16.06%的玩家对《ELOA》感兴趣的Red Fox Insights的报告以及其它免费MMO游戏在主机上的全新成功都给出了肯定的答案。

（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 More MMO’s Belong on Console

by Jake Parmley

Red Fox Insights’ analysis on free-to-play games and eSports was not originally focused on console vs PC. However, after analyzing our data we realized that more MMO’s should come to console based on:

Proven Success

PC vs Console Spending Habits

Here’s Where It Started

Gamers who play Smite on console are 16.06% more interested in Elite Lord of Alliance. Exciting for ELOA publisher WEBZEN – except ELOA is not available on consoles.

Elite Lord of Alliance

We discovered that 33.34% of gamers who play SMITE on console are interested in playing the MMORPG, Elite Lord of Alliance. This is notably higher than the sample population, where 17.28% of gamers said they were interested in playing ELOA. This is a +16.06% jump in interest for ELOA among console players. The results were collected from over 430 US gamers on MMOHuts.com about their interests surrounding MMOs and MOBAs.

The only concern – ELOA is exclusive to PC. Should publishers, including WEBZEN consider bringing MMORPG’s like ELOA to console audiences?

Proven Success

Consoles have lacked MMORPG’s in the previous generations, but are doing a good job of late picking up the pace and finding success with new audiences. DC Universe Online launched alongside the PS4, PlanetSide 2 has given console players the chance to experience MMO traits wrapped in an FPS and Neverwinter is free-to-play for Xbox Live Gold Members owners seeking fast-paced combat and epic dungeons.

Microsoft smartly partnered with Chinese publisher Perfect World to port Neverwinter to Chinese gamers. China is dominated by PC games and through this partnership they’ve “introduced a game that bridges the gap between” PC and consoles and expands potential user base.

Even the popular Final Fantasy XIV and its Heavensward expansion found homes on multiple platforms. What makes this unique is the “players on the PS3, PS4, and PC versions can all run dungeons, raids, and every other type of content together.” While the game might be slightly different across the three platforms, it manages to expand the Final Fantasy MMO to new players, and more importantly has proved consoles a viable platform for MMORPG success.

Console vs PC Spending Habits

The spending habits of console players should entice free-to-play MMO’s, like ELOA, to expand to PS4 and Xbox One consoles. Speaking with Gamasutra, SOE president John Smedley revealed “the PS4 has been monetizing amazingly well — between 3 and 3.5x the monetization rate of the PC. Seeing that kind of difference in pay rate between the PC and the PS4 is really astounding — it shows there’s a real market there.”

The “porting” process is not easy. Challenges in adapting control schemes and standardizing your update processes across multiple platforms are a couple things to a consider. However, the potential for success in the genre, makes it worth researching. PC MMO, Black Desert Online, sold over 400,000 units in the US and EU in its first month – averaging over 100,000 concurrent users. Pseudo MMO’s like The Division and Destiny are incredible new IP’s that are actively shifting the AAA and console landscape.

The Bottom Line

Should publishers, including WEBZEN consider bringing MMORPG’s like ELOA to console audiences? The Red Fox Insights reported +16.06% jump in interest for ELOA among console players, and the new found success other free-to-play MMO’s have found on consoles suggest yes they should.(source:gamasutra)