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开发者从实际案例谈IP授权游戏的成功秘诀

发布时间:2018-07-13 09:10:22 Tags:

开发者从实际案例谈IP授权游戏的成功秘诀

(Fatshark CEO Martin Wahlund分析为什么《战锤:末世鼠疫》会成功以及其它游戏的失败原因)

原作者:Haydn Taylor 译者:Willow Wu

如果要说游戏行业中有哪类产品名声很差的话,那就是IP授权游戏了。从不靠谱的电影捆绑销售游戏《美国队长:超级战士》(Captain America:Super Solider)到渣优化游戏《落水狗》(Reservoir Dogs),这类游戏给人的印象就是名声大,质量差。

但是回顾这些年的IP授权游戏,《战锤》系列可以算得上是一股清流——它不像其它游戏只在乎销量,而是真正交出了诚意满满、令玩家满意的作品。

90年代发行《战锤:角鼠之影》(Warhammer:Shadow of the Horned Rat)时,开发者们只是想将桌游移植到主机以及PC上;而《战锤40k:星际战士》(Warhammer 40,000:Space Marine)的目的是创造快节奏、暴力的游戏体验,该系列也成为了Games Workshop的代表作,成为了IP授权游戏中的“异类”。

《战锤:末世鼠疫》(Warhammer: Vermintide)是这一系列的最新游戏,或许也是IP授权游戏的最佳典范。这款第一人称多人动作游戏的开发商&发行商Fatshark也收获了200万+的销售成绩,2016年10月,也就是PC版发行的一年后,Fatshark还发行了主机版本。

Warhammer 40000: Freeblade(from pocketgamer.biz)

Warhammer 40000: Freeblade(from pocketgamer.biz)

在《战锤:末世鼠疫2》发行之前,GamesIndustry.biz成功约到了这家位于斯德哥尔摩的游戏工作室CEO Martin Wahlund,谈谈制作IP授权游戏的挑战,以及《战锤》系列改编成功的秘诀是什么。

之前的《战锤》游戏大部分都比较注重策略玩法,比如近几年的《全面战争:战锤》系列。而《战锤:末世鼠疫》打破了这种模式,给玩家带来全新的游戏体验,口碑、盈利双丰收。

从Fatshark以往的“怪游戏”来看,比如《逃离死亡岛》(Escape Dead Island )和《玫瑰战争》(War of the Roses),实在是很难想象这个“局外人”是如何说服Games Workshop授权个这个类似《求生之路》(Left 4 Dead)的第一人称多人合作游戏的。

“我们很高兴可以尝试不同于前作的内容,”Wahlund说,“我们知道《战锤》系列的老粉对之前的游戏还是比较满意的。《战锤:末世鼠疫》肯定会跟初代游戏有很大不同,因为当初的开发者们在游戏中保留了桌游元素。在市场已经满足的情况下,我们觉得换一个方向可能会吸引到更多玩家,Games Workshop应该也是这么想的。”

Wahlund表示市场肯定是原因之一,但是更重要的是他们对《战锤》系列的挚爱和深刻理解促使他们拿下了这款非传统《战锤》游戏。

“从第一天起,Games Workshop就感受到了我们对这个IP的热爱,”他说,“我们的制作人和总监是《战锤》系列的死忠粉,他们非常了解这些游戏,能够说上一整天。虽然我也经常玩,但是我的知识储备还达不到他们的水准。总而言之,这就是Games Workshop授权给我们的原因之一。”

然而,签协议和做游戏是两件不同的事,而且还有一个问题需要解答——同是IP授权游戏,为什么《战锤》能够成功而其它游戏接连遭遇失败? Wahlund表示,其实这很简单:一是开发团队和授权商之间有良好的合作关系,二是开发团队有足够的自主权——Games Workshop在这一点上做得尤为突出,Fatshark甚至能够自己决定发行日期。

“控制发行日期是一件很重要的事,”Wahlund说,“游戏是我们自己筹资、发行的,因此我们也能自主决定发行日期。就比如现在,我们觉得《战锤:末世鼠疫2》很好玩了,是时候发行了。”

“IP授权游戏的最大问题就是你要跟上原作的发行时间,不能间隔太久。比如说书的出版、电影上映、电视剧开播,所以经常有游戏匆匆忙忙就发行了,也顾不上游戏质量到底怎样。”

“Games Workshop多年来领悟到的精髓就是好游戏是需要花时间的,操之过急会直接毁掉你的游戏。多花几个月的时间,游戏质量可能就会得到显著提升。”

所以,成功的IP授权游戏和雅达利大崩溃级别的失败产品之间的区别在于是否把游戏就交给了对IP有所了解的团队对以及他们是否有自主决策的权力。这些年我们见过那么多遭人唾弃的垃圾IP游戏,谁能想到其中的原因就是这么简单呢?

本文由游戏邦编译,转载请注明来源,或咨询微信zhengjintiao

If there’s one thing in the industry that has a bad reputation, it’s licensed games. From the shonky movie tie-ins of Captain America: Super Solider through to the remarkably tone-deaf Reservoir Dogs, licensed games have a legacy of being bad.

But throughout the industry’s long history of poorly received licensed games, the Warhammer franchise has been silently putting out games that do more than just sell, but actually appease fans and receive a warm critical reception.

From the early days of Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat when developers were simply trying to translate the tabletop game into a virtual experience, through to Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine where the goal was to create fast-paced, brutal action, the iconic Games Workshop franchise has been an anomaly in the world of licensed games.

Warhammer: Vermintide is the most recent and perhaps best example of a licensed Warhammer game done right. Fatshark, the studio behind the co-operative first-person hack ‘em up, managed to find genuine success selling over two million units since the game’s launch in October 2015, and even getting a console port in early 2016.

Ahead of today’s release of Vermintide II, GamesIndustry.biz caught up with Martin Wahlund, CEO of the Stockholm-based studio to discuss the challenges of making a licensed title, and what makes the Warhammer franchise so well suited to game adaptations.

There is an established approach when it comes to developing Warhammer titles that, aside from a few notable examples, leans heavily towards strategy games, as demonstrated by the recent success of the Total War: Warhammer series. But not only did Vermintide break that mould, offering up an entirely new Warhammer experience, it was also a critical and commercial success.

How then does a relative outsider like Fatshark – with a back catalogue of oddities such as Escape Dead Island and War of the Roses – persuade Games Workshop to relinquish the license for a first-person co-operative title in the realms of Left 4 Dead?

“It felt good to do something that was not like the games that had come before,” says Wahlund. “We knew that those games kind of satisfied the classic Warhammer player. I don’t think Vermintide would have worked as the first Warhammer game, because it needed to be something similar to the actual board game. But with that satisfied in the market already, we felt that going in a different direction with this was more appealing, and I think Games Workshop felt the same.”

While market forces certainly played into the decision, Wahlund says that a deep understanding and genuine love of the brand helped Fatshark press for a game that defied conventional wisdom.

“From day-one Games Workshop saw how passionate we were about the IP,” he says. “Our executive producer and game director are super fans of Warhammer, they are so into the lore and knew so much about it. Even though I had played a lot, I felt like a junior when talking to them, so that was one of the things that ticked their boxes.”

However, making an agreement and making a game are two very different prospects and the question lingers still, why does Warhammer enjoy success where other licensed games repeatedly fail? Well, according to Wahlund, it’s as simple as giving the studio autonomy and establishing a strong working relationship. But perhaps the most significant and obvious freedom Games Workshop grants developers is the ability to set their own release dates.

“Controlling your release dates is so important,” says Wahlund. “We self-funded our game, and self-published it, which gave us the freedom over our release dates. Like now, we feel the game is really fun to play so we can release it.

“The biggest issue with licensed properties is that you have to fit in with a book release, or movie release, or start of a TV series, and you often end up releasing the game, no matter if its good or bad.

“That’s the key thing Games Workshop has learned over the years; those games do well really if they are good games and that takes times to do. They have learned that pushing stuff out too early is the best way destroy a game. Just a couple of months extra can be all it takes.”

Ultimately, the difference between a successful licensed game and a fiasco on the scale of the infamous Atari flop, ET: The Extra-Terrestrial, comes down putting a license in the hands of a studio that understands it, and giving that development team the autonomy to make it. Given how many licensed disasters we’ve seen over the years, who would have thought it was that simple?(source:gamesindustry.biz


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