游戏邦在:
杂志专栏:
gamerboom.com订阅到鲜果订阅到抓虾google reader订阅到有道订阅到QQ邮箱订阅到帮看

数据分析:被并购的Plarium是以什么条件被估值5亿美元的

发布时间:2017-09-22 14:45:16 Tags:,

原文作者:Matt Suckley 译者:Megan Shieh

澳洲公司Aristocrat近日斥资5亿美元收购了以色列移动游戏开发商Plarium。

这个已经不是Aristocrat第一次涉足移动领域了,2012年,它收购了Product Madness。

这笔交易推动4X策略游戏《Vikings: War of Clans》的开发商Plarium成为了Machine Zone的直接竞争对手。

那么Aristocrat到底看上了Plarium什么?这次收购明显偏离了Aristocrat的固有业务。

Plarium(from insidesocialgames.com)

Plarium(from insidesocialgames.com)

奠定基础

plarium成立于2009年,以开发社交网络大型多人在线游戏(MMO)起步。MMO依然是它的开发重点,不过自2013年以来,它的焦点几乎完全转向了移动领域。

有趣的是,Plarium的早期移动游戏之一《PlaySlots》就是casino游戏。该游戏仍在运营,但是它在美国此类销量排行榜上名列779,这不可能是Aristocrat收购案背后的原因。

2015年的《Vikings: War of Clans》营收商飞出可观,大幅度增加了Plarium的价值。

2016年间,《Vikings: War of Clans》的排名几乎一直保持在前100,同年5月10号达到历史最高排名33。

这个局面持续到了2017年3月左右,然后排名开始略微下降。截至2017年9月5日,它在美国销量排行榜上排第161位。

同一天,该游戏在俄罗斯排名第13位,在德国排名第36位,在英国排名第66位,这时距游戏最初发行已经有两年多了。

资产组合战略

除了《Vikings》,Plarium也用其他游戏证明了它对策略类手游的熟练程度。

《Stormfall: Rise of Balur》实际上比《Vikings》更早发布,虽然没有达到同等高度的成功,但它也是Plarium的关键游戏之一。

该游戏2015年全年表现良好,在美国销量排行榜上几乎一直跻身前200,但在2016年开始出现变化。截至2017年9月5日,该游戏在美国销量榜上排第655位。

俄罗斯和德国再次成为《Stormfall: Rise of Balur》的主市场,2015年9月5日,该游戏在俄罗斯排名第99位,在德国排第143位。

《Throne: Kingdom at War》于2016年11月发布,不过它并没有达到公司其他同类游戏的成就,也尚未挤入过美国销量排行榜前200的位置。2017年9月5日,距离发布不到一年,该游戏的排名就已经急剧下滑到第567位。

但在Plarium近期发布的策略游戏中,这已经算是最好的表现了。

在美国iPhone销量排行榜上,《Soldiers Inc.: Mobile Warfare》的历史最高排名为289,目前下滑到第937位。即时战略游戏《Gates of War》甚至几乎没有在排行榜上出现过,而2017年5月发行的《Terminator Genisys:Future War》排名从未突破317。

多样化

尽管营收状况不错,但Plarium在自己的专业领域里似乎有点迷失方向。

在Plarium的收购声明中,Aristocrat首席执行官Trevor Croker 说,Plarium将涉足多样化、极具吸引力的手游类型,包括战略,RPG和休闲,以此来推动实现Aristocrat进军移动领域的雄心。

其实Plarium对休闲类游戏并不生疏,它在2017年发布了《Family Zoo: The Story》和《Rio: Match 3 Party》。《Rio: Match 3 Party》于今年1月份发行,但几乎没有对销量排行榜产生影响。《Family Zoo》于同年8月20日发行,持续呈上升状态。发行日在美国iPhone销量排行榜上排第1324位,半个月内上升到了第374位。

《Family Zoo》的排名是否能继续上升还有待观察,但是这个游戏以及Plarium的整体休闲产出将不得不与Product Madness达成协同作用。

考虑到其资产组合的相对优势,Plarium近期发行游戏的表现无关紧要。但随着其旗舰游戏的衰落,它需要尽快开始生产更多的热门产品。

同样不容忽视的问题是,公司能否灵活地改变发展轨迹,并在RPG和休闲游戏中获得成功。毕竟该公司自成立以来的主要关注点一直是社交网络MMO。

如果不行,那Aristocrat就只能无声地哭泣了。

本文由游戏邦编译,转载请注明来源,或咨询微信zhengjintiao

Australian casino outfit Aristocrat recently paid $500 million to acquire Israeli mobile game developer Plarium.

This isn’t the coin-op machine manufacturer’s first foray into the mobile space, having picked up social casino developer Product Madness back in 2012. But that move from physical casino games to virtual ones was not altogether surprising.

This deal, which establishes the firm as a direct competitor to Machine Zone with 4X strategy games like Vikings: War of Clans, is rather more so.

So what did Aristocrat see in Plarium that made it worth splashing out $500 million on, in the process straying significantly from its established business?

Laying the foundations

Founded in 2009, Plarium started out developing browser-based MMOs. The MMO remains the genre in whch it works most, but since 2013 its focus has shifted almost entirely to mobile.

Interestingly though, given its new parent company, one of Plarium’s very early mobile titles is social casino game PlaySlots. It’s still live, but at 799th in the US top grossing charts’ social casino category, it won’t have been a motivating factor for Aristocrat’s purchase.

Vikings: War of Clans, the 2015 title with which Plarium has found considerable success, adds far greater value.

The game ranked inside the top 100 for all but a handful of days in 2016, peaking at 33rd on May 10th 2016.

This consistency continues until around March 2017, where it began to slightly decline. As of September 5th 2017, it was 161st in the US top grossing charts.

Elsewhere on September 5th 2017 the game recorded top grossing positions of 13th in Russia, 36th in Germany and 66th in the UK – more than two years after its original launch.

Strategic portfolio

In addition to Vikings, Plarium has shown its proficiency in the mobile strategy genre with other successful titles.

Stormfall: Rise of Balur, which in fact launched before Vikings, hasn’t hit the same heights but has still been a key game for Plarium.

It performed well throughout 2015, remaining largely in the top 200 on the US grossing charts, but became less consistent in 2016. As of September 5th 2017, it sat at 655th in US top grossing.

Russia and Germany are once again major markets for Stormfall: Rise of Balur, with the game ranking at 99th and 143rd respectively on September 5th.

Throne: Kingdom at War launched in November 2016, but hasn’t enjoyed the success of Plarium’s previous, similar titles. It’s yet to break into the top 200 US grossing positions, and after launching in November 2016 it’s already slipped to 567th as of September 5th 2017.

But this has been the best of Plarium’s recent strategy launches.

Mobile Strike-alike Soldiers Inc.: Mobile Warfare peaked at 289th in the US iPhone grossing charts and now finds itself at 937th, ambitious real-time strategy Gates of War has barely even registered on the grossing charts, while May 2017′s Terminator Genisys: Future War has failed to register higher than 317th.

Diversification

So, while by no means in ill health, Plarium does appear to be a company that’s slightly lost its way in its own specialist genre.

Upon the announcement of Plarium’s acquisition, Aristocrat CEO Trevor Croker said that Plarium will support the company’s ambitions by “diversifying into attractive new mobile gaming segments, including strategy, RPG and casual”.

And Plarium has already dabbled in the latter, withRio: Match 3 Party and Family Zoo: The Story both launching in 2017. Rio launched in January and has made little impact on the top grossing charts.

Family Zoo launched more recently, on August 20th. It’s been on the rise since then, from 1,342nd the US iPhone top grosing charts on launch day to 374th as of September 5th.

Whether it can rise more remains to be seen, but it – and the company’s casual output as a whole – will have to if Plarium is to achieve any synergy with Product Madness, as outlined in its complementary strategy for the pair.

The indifferent performance of Plarium’s recent launches shouldn’t be too much of a worry right now, given the relative strength of its portfolio. But with its flagship games in decline it will need to start producing more hits soon.

Also pressing is whether this 1,200-strong company, whose primary focus since its inception has been a specific kind of MMO, is now agile enough to change its trajectory and find success with RPGs and casual games.

If it cannot, Aristocrat may be left wishing it had stuck with the comforting familiarity of slots.(Source:pocketgamer.biz


上一篇:

下一篇: