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2017年度大盘点:游戏业最具影响力的5大事件

发布时间:2018-04-04 09:09:19 Tags:,,

2017年度大盘点:游戏业最具影响力的5大事件

原文作者:Alex Wawro 译者:Megan Shieh

时光飞逝,一年又过去了。回顾2017年的Gamasutra报道,我们发现有5大事件也许会影响到游戏产业未来几年的格局,它们都在某种程度上推动了2017年游戏产业的主要趋势。我们把这5大事件整理了出来,并对其进行了简要分析。

(一)任天堂的Switch主机引起了巨大的轰动

任天堂的Switch并不是今年推出的唯一一款新主机,但它是大多数开发者谈论的唯一一款。去年的这个时候,许多行业分析师对Switch的潜力持谨慎乐观态度。迄今为止,任天堂Switch全球销量突破1000万台,甚至时常卖到脱销,这一现象也印证了分析师们的观点。

Switch的热门程度对任天堂而言是一件大事,对于那些想要提高游戏曝光率的开发者而言,也是一件好事(这在一定程度上要归功于相对简单的移植过程)。

在像Steam、PSN、Xbox Live和Apple App Store这样的平台上游戏越来越多,在这些拥挤的游戏市场中,要想脱颖而出、吸引用户的注意力很不容易,而Switch的出现恰好给了开发者们一个展示自己游戏的机会。目前为止,至少有一款游戏(《神奇小子:龙之陷阱》)在Switch发布时的销量超出了其他所有平台(PC/PS4/Xbo xOne)的销量总和,而且据说许多开发者都在该平台上取得了巨大的成功。

目前还不清楚这种情况能持续多久。Switch平台上的游戏发布数量似乎每周都在增长,就连Square Enix和Bandai Namco这样的大型游戏公司也都越来越多地将焦点放在Switch身上。

Switch的巨大成功对整个行业来说似乎只有好处没有坏处,至少在2017年是这么个情况。

Steam-logo(from withoutthesarcasm.com)

Steam-logo(from withoutthesarcasm.com)

(二)Steam Direct取代Steam Greenlight

Valve今年对Steam实施了一系列重大的改革,其中最具影响力的是用一种新的收费提交系统“Steam Direct”取代了由用户社区驱动的“Steam Greenlight(青睐之光/绿光)”。

仅这一声明就在2017年引起了开发者们的热烈讨论:游戏分销平台该是什么样子的?需要花钱才能把你的游戏放到市场上吗?什么价格会使预算拮据的独立开发者望而却步?又得标什么价格才能把山寨/抄袭游戏拒之门外?此外,发行游戏是否真的需要付费评价者、公众或任何人的批准?

Valve为Steam定的新规则是,每款游戏需要缴交100美元的提交费(在游戏收入达到1000美元后可以退还),需要上交一些简单的文书并通过Valve的粗略审查。此前,Steam声称Steam Direct的提交费用可能会高达5000美元,这一消息吓坏了很多开发者,相对较低的提交费用(100美元)安抚了这些开发者的情绪,然而目前还不清楚这种变革是否会从真正意义上改善Steam的提交审核流程。

Steam Direct已经运行了五个月了,而Valve似乎也已经实现了它的既定目标——让在Steam上发布游戏的过程变得更加简单。至于此前那些通过在绿光系统上灌水,从而得以上架的烂游戏,我们还不知道Steam Direct会不会针对它们进行整改。

(三)IGN收购Humble Bundle

2017年,知名慈善包站Humble Bundle宣布了一个令人震惊的消息,在运营了七年以后,IGN以仍未披露的价格收购了这家以独立游戏分销业务为主的公司。

这是一件大事,因为这一巨变很有可能会震荡整个独立游戏行业。此外,该公司的业务范围已经远远超出了最初的捆绑包业务,现在他们还开启了游戏发行业务、资助开发者为Humble Bundle的订阅用户制作游戏、运营在线游戏订阅服务Humble Trove,同时运营自己的在线游戏商店。

然而去年10月发布消息时,IGN高管Mitch Galbraith表示:“此次并购只是为了满足Humble Bundle的资源需求,我们愿意提供支持来让他们继续做现在在做的事情,该公司的人员和业务模式都不会因此有什么重大的变更。”与此同时Humble Bundle的联合创始人 John Graham表示,整个公司以及公司中的开发人员都能从ING的支持中获益。

效果好不好,我们会在未来的一年里知道。不过,此后ING评测的倾向性可能会比较难掌控。总之,独立游戏开发领域的一个长期支柱现在有了新的老板。

(四)近20年后,Visceral Games解散了

许多优秀的工作室都在2017年解散了,但是EA关闭Visceral Games的决定,再加上对其正在负责的《星球大战》项目作出的改革,大家都不禁开始怀疑:单人游戏是否正在走向消亡?

当然,答案是否定的,一个项目的改革并不能代表整个游戏行业的趋势。但是如果你认为某个项目不会按照理想的方式实现,那么你当然可以扼杀掉这个项目。就像去年10月的时候,EA宣布将Visceral工作室之前负责开发的一款《星球大战》相关的“线性故事冒险游戏”改成一款“玩家会一直想回来继续玩的游戏”。

于是,一家自1998年以来就在制作游戏(《未来战警:LAPD》、《死亡空间》、《战地:硬仗》)的工作室就此解散,该工作室此前负责的、尚未公开的这款《星球大战》游戏将会由EA温哥华团队接手。

只有当局者才知道其中的真正原因,但从表面上看,其中一个很大的原因似乎是《命运2》、《守望先锋》和其他标价60刀的“游戏即服务”游戏的巨大成功。这些游戏会让玩家们不断回归,让玩家们不停掏腰包,而随着它们和《DOTA2》、《大逃杀》等在线游戏盘踞各大媒体头条和营收榜,我们很难不把Visceral Games的解散、高预算单人冒险游戏项目的强制转型和“单人游戏正在走向消亡”联系到一起。

(五)EA砸下4亿美元收购了《泰坦陨落》的开发商Respawn

Visceral Games的关闭可能也与这一决定有关,EA今年斥资4.55亿美元收购了《泰坦陨落》的开发商、EA的长期合作伙伴——Respawn Entertainment(重生娱乐)。

游戏行业是靠金钱运作的,腾讯去年斥资86亿美元收购了Supercell,动视去年斥资60亿美元收购了King,虽然与这些大型并购交易相比,这笔交易的数额算不上很多,但这足以引起我们的注意。

此外,媒体报道称EA是在Nexon首次出价收购Respawn之后才做出这一决定的,那么这两家似乎越来越重视“游戏即服务”概念的大公司,为什么会想要收购这么一家工作室?毕竟重生娱乐的核心产品《泰坦陨落2》属于叫好不叫座的类型。

答案很简单,至少对EA来说很简单,那就是《星球大战》。Respawn和EA合作制作《星球大战》项目已经有一段时间了,为了整顿《星球大战》系列,EA似乎不惜一切代价。

上述变化在2017年已经影响到了多家工作室的许多开发人员,它们将对行业的未来产生什么样的影响还有待观察。

本文由游戏邦编译,转载请注明来源,或咨询微信zhengjintiao

As the year winds down around us, it’s nice to pause for a moment, take a breath, and reflect on what we’ve come through.

So much happened in 2017 that many weeks felt like months, and some months felt like years. Within the game industry we saw grand openings, grand closings, big debuts and seismic shifts in the business of making games.

In looking back over Gamasutra’s coverage of 2017, we found five big events that seem likely to influence the shape of the game industry for years to come. Many were key parts of larger trends that defined the game industry in 2017, and so here we give them their due and reflect on what effect they’ve had on how people make and sell games.

Nintendo makes a big splash with the Switch

Nintendo’s Switch wasn’t the only new console to launch this year, but it was the only one most devs were talking about. This time last year a lot of industry analysts were cautiously optimistic about the Switch’s potential, and that was borne out in spades as Nintendo proceeded to sell out stock and ship over 10 million units worldwide to date.

The Switch’s popularity is a big deal for Nintendo, and it’s proven to be a boon (thanks in part to the relatively straightforward porting process) for developers looking to get their games in front of an audience.

As it grows ever more difficult to get noticed on overcrowded game markets like Steam, PSN/Xbox Live, and Apple’s App Store, the Switch’s barren storefront has given devs room to shine. At least one game sold more on Switch at launch than on all other platforms (PC/PS4/Xbox One) combined,  and many devs report outsized success on the system.

It’s unclear how long this can continue. The number of Switch game releases seems to grow larger every week, even as big-budget game companies like Square Enix, Bandai Namco, and (presumably) Electronic Arts slowly turn to focus more heavily on Nintendo’s latest.

But in 2017, at least, the outstanding success of the Switch (which Grasshopper’s Goichi “Suda51″ Sudacalled “a punk console” made by someone who “must have something wrong with them”) seems to have been nothing but good news for the industry at large.

Goodbye Steam Greenlight, Hello Steam Direct

Valve made some significant changes to Steam this year, and one of the most impactful seems to have been replacing the community-powered Steam Greenlight with a new, fee-based submission system: Steam Direct.

The announcement alone provoked a lot of important discussion among devs about what a game distribution platform should be in 2017. Ought it cost a fee to put your game on the market? How much do you charge to dissuade the smallest share of devs and the largest number of asset-flippers and copycats? Should market submissions require approval by paid evaluators? By the public? By anyone at all?

For Valve, the respective answers seem to be: yes, $100 per game (recoupable), and a submissions processthat involves a bit of paperwork and a cursory review by Valve. The (relatively) modest submission fee seems to have mollified many devs who got spooked by talk the Steam Direct fee could be as high as $5,000, but it’s not clear that it’s had much effect on the “noise” in Steam’s submission pipeline.

Steam Direct has been live for five months, and while Valve seems to have achieved its stated goal of making the process of getting on Steam more straightforward, it’s hard to say whether Direct has done (or will do) much to quiet the cacophony of games screaming for attention and money on Steam’s storefront.

IGN buys Humble Bundle

The folks at Humble Bundle surprised many of us this year by announcing that, after seven years in business, the bundle company built by indies would be acquired by IGN for a (still) undisclosed sum.

This is a big deal because shake-ups at Humble are likely to reverberate through the indie game industry. The company has expanded well beyond its (still significant) bundling business to now publish games, pay devs to make games for its subscription-based monthly game club, operate asubscription-based online game trove, and run an online game marketplace.

However, when the deal was announced back in October IGN exec Mitch Galbraith told Gamasutra that “the idea is just to feed [Humble] with the resources they need to keep doing what they’re doing.” Meanwhile, Humble cofounder John Graham suggested the company — and perhaps, by extension, the devs it works with – would benefit from having the support of IGN.

We’ll see how that bears out in the year ahead. Regardless, editorial types at IGN now have more to worry about when it comes to disclosures — and a longstanding pillar of the indie game dev industry now has new owners.

After nearly 20 years, Visceral Games shuts down

Many good studios met their end this year, but Electronic Arts’ decision to close Visceral Games and overhaul its big Star Wars project was especially notable because of how it prompted the game industry to ask: are single-player games dying?

The answer, of course, is no. You can’t kill an idea. But you definitely can kill a project because you think it won’t work out the way you want it to, which is basically what EA seemed to do when it announced back in October that it was changing the Star Wars game Visceral had been working on from a “story-based, linear adventure game” to more of ”an experience that players will want to come back to and enjoy for a long time to come.”

With that, a studio that had been in business of making games (Future Cop: LAPD, Dead Space, Battlefield Hardline) since 1998 was effectively shut down as its big project was handed over to a network of EA teams led by EA Vancouver.

Dead Space protagonist Isaac Clarke demonstrating the grim work of carving up an unfinished project

Only those involved know all the reasons why, but from outside it sure looks like one of the big ones was the rampant success of Destiny 2, Overwatch, and other $60 ”games-as-a-service” titles. These are games that keep players coming back, keep players paying, and as they (alongside other live game mainstays like Dota 2 and the newly ascendant PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds) dominate headlines and earnings calls it’s hard not to see the death of Visceral Games and its planned big-budget single-player adventure as a portent of things to come.

Electronic Arts drops a cool half-billion on Titanfall dev Respawn

Electronic Arts’ decision to close Visceral Games may also have been influenced by the fact that it apparently put up as much as $455 million this year to acquire Titanfall creator (and longtime EA partner) Respawn Entertainment.

The game industry runs on money, and while EA’s decision to spend roughly half a billion to snap up Respawn isn’t quite as hefty as some big buys in previous years (Tencent spending ~$8.6 billion on Supercell last year, Activision buying King for ~$6 billion the year prior), it’s enough to make us sit up and take notice.

The fact that EA reportedly made the decision after Nexon first offered to buy Respawn is even more intriguing; what do these big companies, which seem ever more focused on games as a service, see in a studio whose latest game appears to have been critically acclaimed but commercially overlooked? A game that (unlike its predecessor and most triple-A games) shipped with a critically-lauded single-player campaign packed withinteresting, one-off mechanics?

The answer, at least for EA, may be as simple as Star Wars. Respawn has been working on a Star Wars project with EA for some time, and here at the end of the year it sure looks as though EA has moved heaven and earth (and budgets, and projects, and people) to make sure its Star Wars ducks are all in a row.

These shifts affected scores of developers across multiple studios this year. What effect they’ll have on the industry going forward remains to be seen. (Source:gamasutra.com


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