从结果比较出发：开发者谈为什么以及如何做系列游戏

原作者：Christian Fonnesbech 译者：Willow Wu

如果我们这些游戏开发者想要自己的事业获得长远发展，我们就别只把自己的作品设定成独立的艺术物品，而是系列。

作为一个游戏公司负责人兼咨询人，我完成的项目已经超过50个了。我很清楚大多开发者都渴望做一个完全独立的超级成功产品，愿意为它倾尽所有，然后再继续做一个风格迥然的项目。这种想法都非常糟糕。

开发一个独立式游戏要承担非常大的风险，投资者和发行人都明白这一点。

为什么有风险？

独立式游戏的成功机会只有一次。所有参与其中的人——投资者、员工、发行人甚至还有玩家——他们到最后落得两手空空的可能性非常高。如果你请求某人为一个独立式游戏投入时间、金钱或者关注，其实这不叫投资，这叫赌博。

所以，另有他法？做一个可以让你持续扩展、优化的产品，用户数量以及忠诚程度能够随着时间而逐渐提升，除此之外你的专业技能也能随着内容的发布次数更加精湛。当然，你的独立式游戏有成功的机会，但如果你所打造的游戏世界、角色、玩法能够以游戏、季节内容或者其它定时活动为基础逐步拓展、丰富起来，成功的机会相对会高很多。

与其把项目定死成一个独立式游戏，在初期的时候它就应该是一个潜在的系列内容游戏——拥有一个可扩展的宇宙，可能会发展成好几个不同的项目，甚至是进入其它媒体领域。

一旦你这么思考，你的项目推广介绍也开始变了：你可以向投资者表示“这是学习过程的第一步”而不是“这就是瞎射飞镖”。

有什么好处？

很多。讲几个比较吸引人的：

首先，你的粉丝数量会逐渐增长，品牌认知度也会逐渐提升。即使游戏刚发行时没有得到热烈的反响，但首批玩家已经了解了你的创作，也就是游戏宇宙、角色以及玩法，其他人后续也会通过各种途径接触到你的产品。就算是很不起眼的成功也不一定是失败：因为滩头堡已经建立，可以通过同一系列的新项目继续扩建。

第二，在日后的发行中你能累积到更多更宝贵的经验和知识，为下一次打下更好的基础。为什么即使是经验丰富的团队也不能保证一款原创游戏会轰动市场？因为每个新游戏从本质上讲就是一个细分市场产品——你需要花时间去了解用户的具体需求，最终成为这一领域的领导者。如果你做的是同系列的产品(无论规模有多小)，那么后续的发行将直接受益于之前的经验教训。而每次你开始一个全新类型的游戏，创造一个全新的宇宙，之前的经验教训你几乎都用不上。

Star Wars Pinball(from yingyong)

第三，你在市场上的影响力更持久。你的系列产品终于爆红，这时进一步、持续提高市场占有率的准备条件都已具备。因为你已经创作出了宇宙背景以及其它内容，你可以在此基础上继续开发其它项目。或者你可以选择外包出去，自己开始研究新系列。

总而言之，你不用再从零开始——每次你制作同系列的游戏，成为热门产品的概率也在逐渐提升。

会有什么样的结果？

我们可能也会遇到这样的情况：有些玩家不喜欢同系列的内容，他们想要全新的东西，每次都是。为他们做游戏当然没有错——但是要记住他们只是市场中的一小部分群体。遗憾的是，有很多开发者扎堆在那一小块地方，这就是为什么我们经常会收到朋友和同行人士的求助。主流市场，也就是多数人还是想确保他们的投资能得到回报。

然而，投资者喜欢系列产品——他们会因此抬高你公司的价值。你会成为一个专业人士，拥有一个长期策略。更妙的是，成功的潜在机会变得更大了，而这种潜在成功的潜在规模也在成倍增长。你的公司甚至会成为最值得投资的对象之一。可靠的发展策略能够吸引更多投资者、媒体公司甚至是优秀人才。这样的好资源不是那么容易就得到的。

最终，它还可以带来跨媒体推广机会、拍摄大电影等等。是的，这是一条很长很长的路，但是投资者们已经思量过了，毋庸置疑。

当然，有可能成发展成系列游戏并不能保证你的游戏质量过硬，可以继续做其它衍生项目。你还是得先把这个游戏做好，证明有人对你的游戏有兴趣。设法吸引人们的关注，将游戏传播出去。但是，如果你在第一个游戏发行之后才来想系列内容就太晚了。

发展系列游戏需要所需的条件？

需要很多东西，但是先从IP开始，说起来也不复杂：

1.游戏角色有趣&有特色
2.构建一个可以发展多个故事线的游戏宇宙
3.有识别度的画风
4.游戏的整体感觉要不一样，但又不能太过与众不同

让我们来一个个详解：

1.游戏角色有趣&有特色

超级马里奥、铲子骑士、蜘蛛侠、《神秘海域》主人公Nathan Drake，还有《黑暗之魂》海报上那个戴着头盔的角色。这些都是游戏中的角色——有辨识度、趣味十足、令人难忘。你能想象你的角色被印在T恤上吗？那样看起来会很酷吗？如果你的回答是否定的，那就从头再来吧。

2.构建一个可以发展多个故事线的游戏宇宙

听起来很复杂，但是实际并不一定。把你的游戏世界想成是一个舞台，想象有越来越多的游戏、剧情上演。不太可能？重新设计去。

3.有识别度的画风

你得在市场中鹤立鸡群，不然的话谁都不会注意到你。不要做平庸的中世纪骑士模拟器！不要做一个扔进二战游戏堆就找不出来的二战题材游戏！你需要不一样的东西——如果你做对了(如果有一两个难忘的角色)，那么游戏就可以受到法律的保护，你的IP就有了。你的游戏感觉跟其它有些像？重新设计去。

4.不一样，但又不能太过与众不同

但是你得谨慎一点，如果太显眼，主流用户可能会觉得这个游戏很奇葩，他们一般不会买这样的游戏。所以内容要有趣，不要怪异。

当然，如果你的人生目标是当一个艺术家，那上面说的都不适用于你了。艺术家们的首要目标是表达自己——但是不要指望靠这个谋生。

本文由游戏邦编译，转载请注明来源，或咨询微信zhengjintiao

If we want a long career, we game developers need to stop thinking of our games as standalone art objects. Instead, we need to start thinking of them as franchises.

I’ve completed 50+ projects as game entrepreneur and consultant and it’s clear to me that most of us yearn to make a single, great game, to put everything into it – and then move on to something completely different. This is a terrible idea.

A single, standalone game is simply too risky to make – and both the investors and publishers know it.

Why is it risky to make a standalone game?

A standalone game only has one shot at success. For everybody involved — investors, employees, publishers, and even players — the chance of a one-shot game failing is way too high. If you’re asking anybody to invest time, money or attention in a standalone, you’re not really asking them to invest; you’re asking them to gamble.

So, what is the alternative? Make something that allows you to keep building over the long term: something where audience size and loyalty can be built over time – and where your expertise grows over multiple releases. Sure, you can get lucky with a standalone game, but the chances are much better if your world, characters and gameplay are made to grow over multiple games, seasons or episodes.

Instead of your project being ‘a single game’, it should from the very beginning be a potential franchise – a universe with the potential to span multiple projects and even leap into other media.

As soon as you start thinking like this, your pitch to investors starts to change: instead of saying “this is a shot in the dark,” you’ll be saying, “this is the first step in a learning process”.

What are the benefits?

There are many. Here are some good ones:

Firstly, you get a continuously growing fanbase and awareness. Even if your first launch isn’t a smash hit, it will still have established the universe, characters and gameplay in the minds of the initial fanbase – and others will have begun to hear of it. This fanbase and awareness can grow through later instalments. Even a mediocre success is not necessarily a failure: it has established a beachhead that can be expanded through new projects, within the same franchise.

“Once you launch that first game, it’s too late to start thinking about franchises”

Secondly, each launch allows you to get better, build experience and gather more knowledge for future launches. The reason why even experienced teams can’t guarantee that an original game is a hit is that each new game is a niche in itself – it takes time to master that niche, know what that specific audience wants, and so on. If you’re working within an existing franchise (however small), then subsequent launches benefit directly from the lessons learned earlier. Every time you start on a completely new kind game, in a completely new universe, you are throwing all that away. You have set yourself up to master a niche. Your niche.

Thirdly, you get longer staying power in the market. When your franchise finally hits, it will be ready to expand and to keep expanding. Since you’ve already developed the universe and everything else, you can keep develop more projects within the same universe – or you can choose to outsource it to somebody else, while you start developing your next ‘franchise’.

Basically, you’re no longer starting from scratch – each time you make a new project within the same franchise, the chances of it becoming a hit will become greater.

What can this result in?

We might as well face it: some players will not like it. They want something completely new, every time. Making games for them is fine – but be aware that they are a small part of the market. Unfortunately, there are a lot of developers in that very small part of the market, which is why it is easy for us to get caught in a ‘friends and colleagues’ bubble. The mainstream market, which is most of the market, wants a guaranteed return on their investment.

Investors, however, will like it – and they will set your company value higher as a result. You’re being a professional, with a long-term strategy. Even better, your potential chance of achieving success has become greater – and the potential size of that potential success has become exponentially greater. Your company might even be worth investing in! This will lead to interest from more investors, media companies and even talented employees: there’s a solid plan, here. Not many of those around.

Ultimately, it can also lead to cross-media promotional opportunities, merchandising, movie tie-ins and so on. Yes, this is a long way down the line, but the investors are already thinking ahead – you can be very sure of that.

Of course, having the potential to become a franchise doesn’t guarantee that your game is good enough to warrant more projects. You still have to make a great game. You still have to prove there is an audience for it. It still has to keep people’s attention and spread itself. But — and this is the catch — once you launch that first game, it’s too late to start thinking about franchises.

What does it take to make my game into a potential franchise?

It takes a lot of things, but it starts with the IP, and this is quite simple to describe:

1. You need characters that are interesting and memorable
2. You need a fictional universe big enough for more than one story
3. You need a recognisable visual style
4. And you need the whole package to be different, but not too different.
Let’s tackle them one at a time:

1. Characters that are interesting and memorable

Super Mario, Shovel Knight, that guy with the helmet on Dark Souls posters, Nathan Drake, Spider-Man. They’re all characters – recognisable, interesting, memorable. Can you imagine your characters on a T-shirt? Would they look cool, there? If not, back to the drawing board.

2. A fictional universe big enough for more than one story

Sounds complicated but doesn’t have to be. Think of your game world as a stage: imagine more games and stories playing out on that stage. Not possible? Back to the drawing board.

3. A recognisable visual style

You need to stand out in the market – otherwise nobody will notice you. Don’t make a generic looking medieval knight simulator! Don’t make a WWII game that looks like every other WWII game! You need something different – and if you get it right (and if there is a memorable character or two), then it can be protected legally. Then you’ve got an IP. Does your game look like all the other games? Back to the drawing board.

4. Different, but not too different

But you have to be careful. If you stand out too much, the mainstream audience will think you’re weird. Mainstream audiences don’t buy weird games. So be interesting – but not weird.

Of course, if your goal in life is to be an artist, then none of this applies. For artists, the foremost goal should be to express themselves — just don’t expect to make a living doing it.

（source:gamesindustry.biz ）