开发者谈日本游戏市场已走出封闭期

原作者： Guest Author (Sponsored) 译者：Willow Wu

日本手游市场一直以来都被看作是一个独特的地方。

现在很多西方游戏用到的游戏机制，比如说gacha、自动玩法，日本在很早之前就用上了。

虽说很多地方的游戏设计都是跟着日本走，但其实很多日本游戏在国内并没有得到非常热烈的反响，反而在国外它们一年能狂捞几百万甚至是几十亿美元。

类似地，长期以来外国的开发者们也很难打开日本市场，因为这里大部分都是由本土游戏主导的。

然而，还是有一家公司能够帮助开发者以及发行商克服这个困难，它就是Yengage，DAC独立出来的一个工作室，日本最大的数字媒体买手。

“我们可以充分利用本地的广告公司、发行商，建立合作关系，同时，作为一个新公司还能提供100%的透明性以及灵活性，” Yengage COO Kazuhiro Kimura说，

“我们还能在影响者营销和公关方面提供帮助。”

japanese game (from 1up)

开放

Kimura说虽然以前的日本游戏市场绝大部分都由本地的游戏开发公司和发行商占据，而且还有一大群喜欢漫画以及IP改编游戏的玩家，但现在的市场不一样了。

确实，在最近这几年我们看到有更多来自美国、欧洲、中国和韩国的游戏公司在日本市场获得了成功。Kimura说这些外国游戏中，能引起最大反响的是那些能带来新鲜感的游戏，而不是那些模仿热门游戏的套皮产品，就比如说Mobile Strike、Fate/Grand Order和Puzzle & Dragons在日本就非常受欢迎。

“你看下日本地区的App Store，畅销榜前100的游戏有20%~30%都是非本土游戏，”Kimura说，“尤其是中国的游戏公司，成绩十分突出。

“毫无疑问，这些优秀的开发者们都制作出了高质量、高水平的游戏，它们在游戏画面、剧情、角色设计以及社区支持上都下了很多功夫。

“然而，最重要的是这些游戏公司做了研究，有去了解日本游戏市场以及用户的特殊性，而且还找了日本本土的合作伙伴一起定制策略。

“我的意思并不是要每个开发者都这么做。对于大多数游戏工作室来说，在目标市场地区成立办公室、组织运营、营销团队要花掉很多人力物力。而在当地寻找一个不错的合作伙伴，一起制定策略，其实也能达到和前者差不多的效果，而且花费还更少。”

营销渠道

尽管日本市场有些特殊，但在营销方面还是有一定的相似之处。

就跟在其他国家一样，开发人员在定制用户获取策略时应该利用不同的流量来源，比如Facebook、Twitter和当地流行的LINE等社交媒体、还有广告平台和游戏网站。

有个关键不同点就是大量利用电视广告推广游戏。

“在日本，电视广告仍然是影响力最大的渠道。如果你看了日本的广播电视（大多数家庭都看），你就能发现游戏广告真的很多，” Kimura说，

“对于大多数游戏工作室来说，投放电视广告也许是一笔难以承担的费用。然而，影响者营销也发展得越来越好了。”

在日本，影响者营销的最大平台还是YouTube。但你可以根据你的目标用户群体选择更小规模的营销渠道。

有一点要特别说的就是日本主播的YouTube频道在英语国家并没有很多人订阅，这很大程度上是由于语言障碍。

“我们得知客户希望用一些具有巨大社会影响力的人物来推广产品，但我认为这样做不一定每次都奏效，”Kimura说，

“虽说这样你能接触到更多更广泛的用户群体、得到更多反馈，但你的账单也会成倍地增长，所以你的利润实际上并不多。

“还有，这也可能会造成观众的视觉疲劳，毕竟日本市场规模不大，同一个影响人物可能会在很多渠道出现。”

“你需要考虑的就是找一个对你的游戏非常投入的人，而且还要有很多订阅用户；或者是开拓小众市场以获得更高的游戏沉浸度。”

正如Kimura所言，日本游戏市场已经走出封闭期了，换句话说就是对于世界各地的开发者和发行商而言，日本游戏市场现在有很多可观的盈利机会。

虽然它是一个独特的市场，但是它也是世界上最具价值的游戏市场之一。

Kimura说：“我希望有更多开发者们来尝试。如果你选择Yengage作为本地的营销合作伙伴，那我当然是乐意至极的。”

本文由游戏邦编译，转载请注明来源，或咨询微信zhengjintiao

The Japanese mobile games market has always been a peculiar one with its own unique quirks.

Many of the features you see in Western games today, such as gacha and autoplay, were utilised by Japanese developers long before they notably came to the West.

Yet while the sector has been a trendsetter for the rest of the world to follow, many local developers have struggled to match home success – sometimes generating hundreds of millions to billions of dollars per year – abroad.

Similarly, the Japanese market has long proven a tough nut to crack for international publishers, with the space largely dominated by homegrown studios.

One company that’s helping developers and publishers tap into this seemingly tough market is Yengage, a spin-off from DAC, the largest digital media buyer in Japan.

“That means that while we can leverage the full capabilities of a Japanese advertising agency with local partnerships with ad networks and publishers, we can also provide the full transparency and flexibility of a start-up,” says Yengage chief operating officer Kazuhiro Kimura.

“We can also help with influencer marketing and PR.”

Opening up

Kimura says while in the past the Japanese games market has had a high concentration of local games developers and publishers – with consumers in particular fans of Manga characters and IPs they are familiar with – things are changing.

Indeed, the last few years have seen more developers from the USA, Europe, China and South Korea find success in the market. And Kimura says the most successful foreign games are the ones that bring a new style of play to the sector, rather than copying what’s already a hit, like local heavyweights Mobile Strike, Fate/Grand Order and Puzzle & Dragons.

“If you look at Japan’s top 100 grossing games in the App Store, 20 per cent 30 per cent are non-Japanese titles,” says Kimura. “Chinese studios in particular are having great success.

“Of course, those games developers who continue making great hits develop high quality games with aspects such as graphics, story, great character design and also good customer service.

“However, the most important thing is that they do research and try to understand the uniqueness of the Japanese market and users, as well as have a local partner to build a strategy together.

“I am not saying you should necessarily follow their path. For most studios, it will cost a lot of resources to build local offices, operations and marketing teams like those companies. You can achieve similar results with a good local partner and build a strategy together with a much lower investment.”

Marketing channels

Despite the market’s uniqueness, the marketing process is not all that different in many respects.

Like in other countries, Kimura says its developers should utilise different kinds of traffic sources when putting together a user acquisition plan, from social media like Facebook, Twitter and the locally popular LINE, to ad networks and games websites.

One key difference however is the prolific use of TV adverts to promote mobile games.

“TVCM still has the biggest impact. If you watch broadcast TV in Japan – which most households do – you’ll see many games advertising on TV,” says Kimura.

“For most studios, this might be out of reach in terms of budget. However, we also see influencer marketing is getting bigger and bigger.”

The main focus for influencer marketing in the country is on YouTube, though there are smaller local channels to consider depending on your target demographic. It’s a topic Yengage goes into further detail on here.

It should be noted however that the size of each YouTuber’s subscription base is much smaller than in English speaking countries, in large part due to the language barrier on the international stage.

“We get enquiries that clients want to use influencers who have a huge social presence, but I don’t think it’s always the right way to approach this,” says Kimura.

“You’ll get broader reach and views of course, but they will be exponentially more expensive, so return on investment will be lower.

“Also, it might make viewers get bored due to the high frequency from other channels, as Japan is a much smaller market.

“What you need to think about is finding an influencer who has high engagement with your game and lots of subscribers, or go after the niche segments for higher engagement.”

As Kimura now puts it, the Japanese games market has “come out from its closed-off period”, meaning there are now potentially lucrative opportunities from developers and publishers across the globe in the country.

While it’s a unique market, being one of the most valuable mobile games markets in the world also offers lots of opportunities.

“I want many game developers to try,” says Kimura. “Also, of course, I will be happy that if you would choose Yengage as your local marketing partner.（source：pocketgamer.biz ）