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有意思的探讨:Clash Royale Like的竞品在哪里

发布时间:2017-04-10 09:23:47 Tags:,,

本文原作者:Matt Suckley 译者ciel chen

当年Clash of Clans大爆的时候,所有上得了台面的大厂,各种各样的游戏公司全部一拥而上

以下是之前稍微梳理的做COC Like一些典型的大厂,当然不止这些(非典型厂商,且产品没实际影响的都略过了)

城堡争霸的IGG、暗黑街区的Kabam、末日大战的Mobage、全面征服的Gameloft、我的部落:史诗英雄的卓越、村庄保卫战的2K、王国战争的Storm8、战争召唤的Gree、丛林激战的Mail.ru、忍者王国的Zynga、龙之战争的Spacetime、银河争霸的Ubisoft、后院怪兽的Kixeye、佣兵之战的Peak 、疯狂联盟的腾讯、陌陌争霸的简悦、云端入侵者的Game Insight、武士围攻的Space Ape Games、敌军防线的Kiwi、友军炮火的Red Robot Labs、贪婪的荣耀:战争策略的PerBlue、进击的巨人的DeNA、海盗掠夺的Midoki、反叛之战的505 Games、友军炮火的Red Robot Labs、这就是战争的Perfect World

当然也包括Supercell的换皮作Boom Beach (游戏邦注:以上部分整理自以前的微博梳理,以下才是正式的译文,所以英文里没有上面这部分的对应内容)

Pocketgamer召集了一些开发者来聊这个问题:Clash Royale Like的竞品在哪里

clash royale(from bilibili)

clash royale(from bilibili)

自从风靡全球的《皇室战争》发行以来到现在已经有一年的时间了。

尽管有些游戏从这款结合了MOBA和CCG内容于一身的游戏中抄袭了一些内容——尤其是奖励分发延迟这方面——但还没有那个游戏能算得上是它真正的竞争者的。

本来有两款势头最好的游戏差点就能追上了,一款是Netmarble的《星球大战:原力竞技场(Star Wars:Force Arena)》,另一款是Hi-Rez Studios的《痛击对手(Smite Rivals)》,然而前者名次落榜了,后者已经被取消了。

有趣的是,当我们在整理这个话题的回复过程中,Ubisoft和Gameloft分别用《汤姆克兰西:暗影狙击(Tom Clancy’s ShadowBreak)》和《Blitz Brigade: Rival Tactics》加入了对这个话题争论。

不过事实仍旧没有改变,《皇室战争》跟Supercell之前的旗舰游戏产品《部落冲突》一样,现在处于手游界中独孤不败的位置。于是我们询问了我们的手游专家:

为什么Supercell找不到配得上《皇室战争》的竞争对手?

同类手游是否还有空间给我们新的冲击?

Adam Telfer(Wooga的产品主管)

我认为目前发行的仿《皇室战争》的游戏还不是全部。我还在观望《皇室战争》是否真的太难企及,而导致没有产品能与它竞争。

我认为对于竞争者来说,要打造《皇室战争》类型游戏是需要花费大量时间的,毕竟游戏中同步PvP模型的构建、设计和平衡的难度是非常大的。

我希望竞争者能回头看看过去几年的“克隆产品之争”,看看那些能留在市场上的竞争游戏产品都是那些做到跟《部落冲突》有明显差异,最后凭自己本事成功的。

在攻克构建同步PVP游戏的最大难点就是——你必须高效地构建出临界质量(critical mass)。同步PvP游戏的存在和消亡取决于其对手匹配系统的质量。

竞争者们现在所做的,是将Midcore类型PVP游戏发行到了一个CPI(每安装成本)高得越来越夸张的市场。

所以如果你正付出高昂的CPI并且需要大量的DAU(日活跃用户)来作为临界质量的话,那么这个方案将会需要高昂的试发行费和营销费来在全球发行后进行运营支撑。

大多数时情况下都是——你即使付出了高昂的代价也只能知道游戏跑不跑得动而已。

正是产品的高复杂程度和高营销费用让大部分游戏公司很难做出《皇室战争》的仿版游戏来发行。

而那些小部分能做到这种程度的游戏公司大多——有能力去做一个完全不同的游戏、有足够的资金储备进行新的尝试、或者有特别途径来降低营销成本。

Playdemic的《Golf Clash》是一个成功地将《皇室》风格meta运转起来的游戏——它是模仿了《皇室战争》系统的顶级PvP高尔夫游戏。

当然它肯定是没办法在总排名上打败《皇室战争》的,但对Playdemic来说它应该是一个重量级游戏。所以这似乎从某种程度上表明:以后想模仿《皇室战争》的游戏可以从进程系统方面入手,而非直接克隆它的核心玩法。

开发者应该:从成功的游戏中获取灵感,为新的用户设计新型游戏系统。

Jean-Philippe Decka(PocketWhale的Ceo)

关于这点上我百分百同意Adam的看法。

我相信King游戏公司最近也在让《Shuffle Cats》尝试寻找属于自己的同步PVP之路,尽管它是个在游戏类型和目标用户上跟《皇室》完全不同的游戏。

Oscar Clark(Rocket Lolly Games公司的创始人兼顾问兼独立游戏开发者)

我认为,如果能够成功破解它,从而使制作出的游戏能撼动《皇室战争》的地位,并且威胁其设计对其他游戏的影响力,那我认为这是件值得的事(我觉得这对于Supercell来说属于颠覆性举动)。

首先我觉得要想直接从Supercell那里把整个游戏内容直接搬过来的风险是极大的。

这种游戏属于在改造之前你得确切去深度挖掘整个游戏的操作方式。

我说的可不只关于基础的游戏机制,还要了解每张卡牌设置的改进曲线、计时器、交互方式等等。

这应该是个说得过去的正常流程,但如果你让那些把游戏作为服务业务的公司来做这个——这对他们大部分人来说都有些太困难了。

这里也跟商标设计和游戏机制的事情有些关系——因为基于技术的游戏开发者在激情方面都有部落化倾向。所以如果随便换了个商标,然后给的是个很水的模板,这无论在追赶原作方面还是获取用户支持方面都没什么希望。

然后是预算的问题——要想大规模做成这些游戏,那基础建设一定不能小瞧,同时还要记得利用第三方服务平台,因为了解数据和正确使用多人模式的的网络心态还是得要有的。

不过最大的预算当然还是UA。没有用户群你是无法真的跟《皇室战争》进行竞争的,这意味着你要么需要足量的兴奋用户来交叉推销,要么他们口袋得够深够有钱。等游戏的发现性问题与日俱增,UA成本日渐增长,所有的这些风险都增加的时候,想在这个领域进行快速模仿开发就成为不可能的事了。

正如Adam所说的那样,以上并不意味着就没有在等待发行的其他游戏了,他们现在也许还正在游戏测试阶段。至于目前那些模仿《皇室》失败了的游戏只能体现出Supercell做的这款游戏实在是太牛逼了。

而对于我们其余人来说,我觉得《皇室》还有很多经验教训是值得所有开发团队学习的,而且它已经用一些更简单的方法影响了广大游戏开发者了。

尤其是在宝箱使用的方面,这想法简直太天才了。它让我觉得自己已经得到这个奖品了,也就是说它最后一定会是我的,但是我却可以通过花时间看一则广告来加速奖品到手的这个过程。

这是我现在就算在独立游戏中也会愿意一次又一次看那些弹出广告的原因。

同时这也激发了很多人开始思考:eSports在手机里会呈现出怎样的面貌?这不只是针对eSports——在相同的思考方式下,我们会对所有其他类型的游戏有怎样的改观?

我相信现在《皇室战争》的遗赠尚未到来,而这恰恰提醒了我们颠覆性力量的全部之所在。

Screenshot(from gamasutra)

Screenshot(from gamasutra)

Scott Foe(Ignited Artists的产品总监)

一直到2016年的2月份,我还会见了一名毫无远见的高管,他的公司是这个全球最大的游戏发行商之一,他跟我说,“即时多人游戏在手机上永远没可能实现。”对,就是去年二月份的事!

咳咳……《Reset Generation》在2008年就发行了,咳咳咳……

《Reset Generation》是手游即时多人游戏的早期实例

而且相当搞笑的是,这个瞎眼的高管在《皇室战争》取得成功后还被提升到C级了。

事实上真正有远见才识的人是少之又少的,而且他们很少有人能在上市游戏公司掌握财权。

上市公司之间有样学样:既然Supercell在受人瞩目的多人游戏热潮中证明了沿袭已久的F2P盈利模式也能带来数十亿美元的生意,全球各地闻风的游戏开发者们一定也会抓紧时机迎头赶上来的。

不过追赶是需要时间的,现在才过了一年呢。

Christopher Kassulke(HandyGames公司的所有人兼CEO)

“很多事情在它被完成之前,看上去都是不可能完成的”—— 纳尔逊•曼德拉(Nelson Mandela)

他们说过多人即时游戏是不可能做到的,然后现在他们又说XX(随便一件事)是做不到的!

有远见者大多不在大型公司谋职,因为他们真的会被气死在这些公司里。他们需要的是足够的自由度来思考事情该如何来做。

你会发现说大话的人总比干实事的人多得多。我在HandyGames做了17年的(手机)游戏了,我已经听说过也见过太多瞎扯的人和话了。说真的没别的,我们要做的唯一一件事就:拒绝抄袭,勇敢创新!

所以最后我要引用一句我觉得很适合用在这里的乔布斯的话(Steven Jobs):“保持(对成功的)饥渴,保持(别人以为的)愚蠢。”

Harry Holmwood(Marvelous Entertainment的欧洲区域CEO)

我同意以上他们所说的所有话——我确信还会有很多在《皇室战争》影响下做出来的好游戏将在未来与我们见面。

但是我还想补充的是——拿PC端的MOBA(多人联机在线竞技游戏)领域来说吧,现在这个领域有大量公司进入并试图自我转型,希望通过这样分得《英雄联盟(League of Legend)》用户群的一杯羹,但他们发现这实在是太难了。

《英雄联盟》玩家对其他新的MOBA似乎不太感冒,他们对现在手头上的游戏正玩得欢呢,哪有空玩新游戏。

我越发相信——抄袭很快将不再是多人竞技游戏领域的开发战略主旋律。

过去,我们对生命周期有限的单人游戏看法就是:开发者做出的无论是什么游戏,玩家只要通关了就不会再玩了。

但现在——如果玩家不通关这些游戏会怎么样呢?如果《皇室战争》成了一款玩家所需要的完全MOBil游戏(竞技型手机游戏:这是我刚发明的词,真希望它能火起来,这样我就能靠它混个几年的饭吃了)又会怎么样呢?

Scott Foe(Ignited Artists的产品总监)

我同意Harry的观点,“生活式游戏”正在成为电视游戏消费的一个实实在在的趋势。

那些能提供几近无穷内容的游戏(大多是以多人方差的形式)正在将消费者从多游戏玩家转型为专一游戏玩家。

(游戏中的)类型主导模式正往类型完全主宰模式方向发展。

也就是说,很多游戏将向即采用火热的多人会话系统,又支持老派的F2P盈利模式的游戏类型转变。

所以你没必要去模仿《皇室战争》。实际上就像Harry所说的那样,你就不应该把心思放在模仿上。

本文由游戏邦编译,转载请注明来源,或咨询微信zhengjintiao
It has now been over a year since the worldwide launch of Supercell’s Clash Royale.

But while some games have cribbed elements from the MOBA-meets-CCG title – particularly its delayed distribution of rewards – there has been no game yet to emerge as a clear competitor.

Two of the best-positioned titles to do so have been Netmarble’s Star Wars: Force Arena and Hi-Rez Studios’ Smite Rivals, but the former has fallen down the charts and the latter has now been cancelled.

Intriguingly, while we were in the process of collating responses on this topic, both Ubisoft and Gameloft entered the fray with Tom Clancy’s Shadowbreak and Blitz Brigade: Rival Tactics respectively.

But the fact remains, Clash Royale has faced nowhere near as much direct competition in the mobile games space as Supercell’s former flagship title Clash of Clans. So we asked our Mobile Mavens:

Why has Supercell faced no real competition to Clash Royale?

Is there room for another major hit in the same vein?
I don’t think all the Clash Royale clones have launched yet. I’m still waiting to see if Clash Royale gameplay can be considered too difficult to achieve for competitors.

I think it is taking considerable time for competitors to build Clash Royale games because synchronous PvP games are incredibly difficult to build, design and balance.

I am also hoping the competitors are also looking back at the Clash of Clones years and seeing that the games that stuck around are ones that have had enough differences from Clash of Clans to succeed on their own.

 

On top of the difficulty in building a game that works with synchronous PvP, you have to effectively build critical mass. Synchronous PvP games live and die by their matchmaking.

Competitors are launching midcore-themed PvP games into a market where CPI costs are getting insane.

So if you’re paying high CPI and need a high DAU for critical mass… that is a recipe for an expensive soft launch and high marketing costs to stay sustainable after global launch.

A high cost to even have visibility, whether your game will work at all.

High production complexity and high cost of marketing makes launching a Royale-style game very difficult for most game companies.

The companies that can make this work will most likely have the ability to cross-network from another title, a massive cash reserve to experiment, or maybe a license that will reduce marketing costs.

One game that Royale-style meta is working well for is Golf Clash by Playdemic – Clash Royale systems on top of a PvP golf game.

It is definitely not beating Clash Royale in top grossing rank, but looks like a strong title for Playdemic. This may suggest that the successful Clash Royale clones will take inspiration from the progression systems, not directly clone the core gameplay.

Take inspiration, but design the systems for a new audience.

I agree 100% with Adam on this one.

I believe King also tried to find its path in synchronous PVP games with Shuffle Cats recently, even though it is a complete different genre and targeting another audience.
Oscar Clark

Author, Consultant and Independent Developer Rocket Lolly Games

For me, it’s worth breaking this down into games which attempt to compete for that Clash Royale space (something I think was a disruptive move by Supercell) and the influence that the game’s design has cast on others.

First I think the risks involved in taking on Supercell directly are colossal.

It’s the kind of game where you really need to understand how the gameplay operates at a very deep level before you can reinvent it.

I’m not talking about just the basic mechanics but the improvement curves of each card set, the timers, how they interact, etc.

That may be reasonably business-as-usual, but you have to apply that as a games-as-a-service company – a little too much for most cloners, I suspect.

There may also be something about the brand design and the game mechanic too. Skill-based games are often quite tribal in their passions.

So offering a watered-down example with a different brand slapped on it may not have the potential to scale or support the audience.

Then there are the budgets. The infrastructure to manage these games at scale is not trivial, and whilst there are third-party server platforms out there, it still requires a network mindset to understand the proper use of data and multiplayer.

The biggest budget is of course UA. You can’t really compete with Clash Royale without an audience and that means you either need enough of an existing audience to cross-promote, or deep pockets.

It is no surprise that being a fast follower in this space is almost impossible.OSCAR CLARK

With all these risks magnified by the issues of being discovered and rising UA costs, there is no surprise that being a fast follower in the space is almost impossible.

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t games out there in the wings, as Adam says, taking their time testing. The fact that some have already failed is just a sign of what an amazing job Supercell did with that game.

For the rest of us however, I think there are lots of great lessons to be learned by any team and I think Clash Royale has influenced a vast array of developers in simpler ways.

In particular the use of treasure chests. What a marvellous idea. I feel I have earned that reward, it’s mine and I will eventually get it, but I can speed up access by spending or watching an ad.

That’s something I now keep seeing pop up, time and time again, even in indie games.

It’s also inspired a lot of people to start thinking what eSports could look like on mobile. And not just eSports – how might we reimagine almost any genre of game using the same way of thinking?

There I believe Clash Royale’s legacy has yet to come and it is a reminder to us all of the power of being disruptive.

Scott Foe

Chief Product Officer Ignited Artists

As late as February of 2016, I sat in a meeting with a visionless executive at one of the largest games publishers on the planet, where he told me that, “real-time multiplayer will never work on mobile”. That was last February!

*cough* Reset Generation was launched in 2008 *cough*
Reset Generation was an early example of real-time multiplayer on mobile
Amusingly enough, that same, visionless executive was promoted to C-level after Clash Royale found its success!

True visionaries are few and far, far between, and rarely will you find them holding the purse strings at publicly traded gaming companies.

Publicly-traded monkey see, publicly-traded monkey do: Now that Supercell has proven that crisp, compelling multiplayer sessions with slick free-to-play merchandising can lead to billion-dollar business, the rest of the world will catch up in a scramble.

But these scrambles take time, and it has only been one year.
Christopher Kassulke

CEO / Owner HandyGames

“It always seems impossible until it’s done” – Nelson Mandela.

They said real-time multiplayer will not be possible, now they say [insert anything here] is impossible!

Visionaries are mainly not in big corporations, as they will die in there. They need their freedom to think how to do it.

You will find a lot of talkers and few doers. I’ve been making (mobile) games with HandyGames for 17 years, and I’ve heard and seen so much bullshit already. Don’t copy other games. Innovate!

So I end with another quote that fits: “Stay hungry, stay foolish” – Steve Jobs.
Harry Holmwood

European CEO Marvelous Entertainment

I agree with everything that’s been said so far – and I’m sure plenty of great games influenced by Clash Royale are on the way.

Multiplayer gaming is becoming an area where copying others isn’t necessarily a great strategy.HARRY HOLMWOOD
But I would just add that, looking at the PC MOBA space, what’s happened there is that loads of companies have come in and tried to make their own variant, looking to take a slice of League of Legends’ audience, and found it very difficult.

Players there don’t seem to be interested in a new MOBA, they’re pretty happy with the one they’re already playing.

I think, increasingly, we will see multiplayer gaming becoming an area where copying others isn’t necessarily a great strategy anymore.

What we saw in limited lifespan, single-player games was people making a game for gamers to play once they’d finished whatever they were playing.

But now – what if people aren’t finishing these games? What if Clash Royale is giving them all the MOBilA (I just invented that word, hopefully it will catch on and I can dine out on it for a few years) they need?
Scott Foe

Chief Product Officer Ignited Artists

To Harry’s point, ‘lifestyle gaming’ is becoming a very real trend in video game consumption.

Games which offer near-infinite content (mostly in the form of multiplayer variance) are transforming a lot of consumers from people who play games into people who play a game.

Genre leadership is becoming genre total domination.

That said, there are many possible play dynamics which offer crisp, compelling multiplayer sessions, and which abet slick free-to-play merchandising.

You don’t have to be a Clash Royale clone. In fact, to Harry’s point, you probably should not be.(source:pocketgamer.biz


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