原文作者：Matt Suckley 译者：Megan Shieh

在F2P游戏开发的世界里人们常说“游戏的发布是开始，而不是结束。”

它们并不是在商店货架上摆着的、再也不会被改进的盒装产品，而是需要好几年的时间，持续运营和更新的“games-as-a-service ”（游戏服务）。

pocketgamer.com . biz长期以来一直在热门游戏发布不久后对它们进行调研，但在游戏发布很长时间以后又发生了什么?

subway surfers（from venturebeat.com）

为了找到答案，我们访问了在线游戏背后的开发者们。

在这篇文章中，我们访问了《地铁跑酷》联合开发商Sybo Games的总经理Mathias Gredal Nørvig。《地铁跑酷》是有史以来下载数量最多的手机游戏之一，今天是它的五周岁生日。

PocketGamer.biz: 《地铁跑酷》今天已经5周岁了，你如何看待它从最初发布到现在的表现？

Mathias Gredal Nørvig: 《地铁跑酷》仍然是一个稳固的游戏。它是2017年第一季度下载量最大的游戏，也是每个圣诞节下载量最大的游戏。

我们的粉丝很喜爱这个游戏，并且也会关注我们每三周推出一个新城市更新的‘世界之旅’，我们对此感到非常开心。

《地铁跑酷》就像是一瓶美酒，随着时间的增长越来越成熟，越来越好。

《地铁跑酷》目前的在线运营团队有多大？

总共25人。其中有15个成员负责内容创新，功能开发和优化；另外10个成员负责发行；联合开发商（Kiloo）方面负责用户支持，社交整合，插页式广告和功能开发。

你认为用户支持和更新有多重要？玩家们对重大更新的反响如何？

负责用户支持的是Kiloo。我们每天都有超级多的玩家，所以我知道他们正在尽最大的努力来掌控流量。

许多新举措在过去几年里被引入，我认为玩家们真的很享受这个游戏。

作为游戏世界的创造者，在Sybo，我们尽最大的努力以新鲜的内容、幕后故事和有趣的剪辑来维持我们的粉丝基础。每天早上叫醒我们的不是闹钟，而是粉丝！

你如何确保《地铁跑酷》在发布很长时间以后，还可以保持一个巨大的、活跃的玩家基础，并继续生成大量的下载？

有趣的游戏核心！趣味永远是最重要的。

其次，我们确保自己塑造出的高辨识率角色能购吸引玩家。

每三周推出一个新城市更新的‘世界之旅’也是在哥本哈根展示我们才能的关键。

你愿意分享任何KPI吗？例如下载量，DAU或留存数据。

我们的下载量达到了15亿。就是说世界上每4部手机中，都有1部下载了《地铁跑酷》。

这是惊人的成就。独有的日活跃用户徘徊在2000万左右，而且我们的留存数据在同类游戏中保持最好。

你从《地铁跑酷》中学到了什么？你是否还在从中学习？事后来看，现在的你会不会对游戏的某些地方进行改动？

我们一直都很有野心，成功是一个很动人的目标。

我们有很多的开发点子，这些点子会让我们的玩家在未来持续喜爱我们的游戏。

五年对于快速发展的手游市场是很长的一段时间。你怎么看待手机游戏在这段时间内的演变，《地铁跑酷》如何保持不落后？

top-grossing-iphone-us-subway-surfers(from app-annie)

从《涂鸦跳跃》到《皇室战争》，手机游戏在过去的五年里日渐成熟。玩家们变得越来越老练，而游戏也必须得跟上。

趣味始终是游戏成功的关键，但核心设计必须得和变化平行。

在Sybo，我们从未间断过学习，并且引进了一些国际人才以跟上狂热粉丝和玩家日益增长的欲望。

《地铁跑酷》在整个开发过程中就像是一颗常青树，我们在照料它的同时也为此感到自豪。

《地铁跑酷》的未来规划是什么？

新城市版本就快推出啦。我们开始向中国提供更本地化的内容，为《地铁跑酷》的中国粉丝访问更多精彩的中国城市。

我们目前正在准备《地铁跑酷》的动画内容，今年将会推出短篇动画，明年还会推出一个完整的长篇动画系列。

我们从各个方面推进，巩固粉丝和内容的互动，并将努力继续为他们带来乐趣。

本文由游戏邦编译，转载请注明来源，或咨询微信zhengjintiao
It’s often said in the world of free-to-play development that launching a game is the beginning, not the end.

These aren’t boxed products released onto shop shelves, never to be worked on again. These are games-as-a-service that require constant operation and updating, often over a period of several years.

PocketGamer.biz has long been investigating theMaking Of notable games soon after their launch, but what happens long after a game is released?

In an attempt to find out, this regular feature will talk to the developers behind maturing live games about their experience so far. You can read all previous entries here.

In this entry, we speak to Mathias Gredal Nørvig, Managing Director ofSubway Surfers co-developer Sybo Games. Subway Surfers is one of the most downloaded mobile games of all time, and today it celebrates its fifth birthday.

PocketGamer.biz: With Subway Surfers now more five years old, how do you reflect on its performance – from launch to the mature title it is now?

Mathias Gredal Nørvig: Subway Surfers is still a solid game. It was the most downloaded game in Q1 of 2017, and is the most downloaded game every Christmas.

We really love the fact that our fans keep enjoying the game – and they follow us on our journey visiting new cities every three weeks on the world tour.

Subway Surfers is maturing like a good bottle of wine, only getting better every year.

How big is the team currently handling live ops on Subway Surfers?

25 high-fiving people in total.

15 on our team are doing creative content, feature development and optimisation, and there are 10 on the publisher and co-developer (Kiloo) side doing player support, social integration, interstitials and feature development.

How important do you consider customer support and updates to be? How have significant updates been responded to by players?

Kiloo is handling the customer support. We have huge numbers of players every day, so I know they are doing their utmost to handle the traffic.

Many new initiatives have been introduced over the last years, and I think the players are really enjoying it.

As creators of the universe, at Sybo we do our best as well to support our fan base with fresh content, behind-the-scenes insight and fun clips. Our fans are the reason we get up in the morning!

How have you gone about ensuring that Subway Surfers maintains a sizeable and active player base long after its launch, and continues to generate a huge number of downloads?

Fun core gameplay. Fun always comes first.

And then we make sure to have cool, recognisable characters you want to engage with.

Visiting new cities around the world every three weeks is also key in showcasing our talents in Copenhagen.

Any KPIs such as downloads, DAU or retention you’re willing to share?

We’ve reached 1.5 billion downloads. That’s every fourth phone in the world.

It is an amazing achievement. Unique daily active users hover around 20 million players and our retention remains best in class.

What lessons have you learned/are you still learning from Subway Surfers? Is there anything about the game that, in hindsight, you’d now handle differently?

We will always be ambitious and success is a moving target.

We have many ideas for development and will keep our players and fans happy in the years to come.

Five years is a long time in the fast-moving mobile games market. How have you seen mobile games evolve in that time, and how hasSubway Surfers kept up?

Mobile games have really matured in the last five years, from Doodle Jump to Clash Royale. The players are becoming increasingly sophisticated and games have to follow.

Fun is still essential in a game’s success, but the core needs to be designed in parallel to a clever and deep meta.

We are constantly learning at Sybo and we bring in international talents to keep up with the growing desires from avid fans and players.

Subway Surfers is like an evergreen in that whole development – a position we are proud of and nurse to keep.

What’s next for Subway Surfers in 2017 and beyond?

New cities coming up. Always. We are starting to source more localised content to China, visiting more of their wonderful cities for our Chinese fans.

The universe of Subway Surfers is being prepared for animated contentas we speak, with short-form animation coming this year, and a full fledged long-form animated series coming out next year.

We are pushing on all fronts to keep our fans engaged with content and will continue our efforts to bring fun to their favourite screens. （Source: pocketgamer.biz ）