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韩国时报:韩国手机游戏发展迅速但难免多种挑战

发布时间:2011-04-12 12:07:11 Tags:,,,

智能手机改变了人们生活的方方面面,对许多用户来说,玩手机游戏或者那些可在手机、移动设备上运行的电子游戏,已成为其手机最主要的用途之一。

据韩国开发银行报告显示,全球手机游戏市场营收在2007年至2012年的平均增长率将达14.3%,预计到2012年其市场规模将达110亿美元,占整个游戏产业的8%。韩国本土手机游戏市场去年营收也增长了22%,达到4000亿韩元(游戏邦注:约合3.66亿美元)。

Illusia-Gamevil

Illusia-Gamevil

智能手机的发展和无线网络的普及,是手机游戏兴起的重要动力。这类游戏征服了年轻和硬核游戏玩家,就连一向喜欢轻量级休闲游戏的三四十岁用户,也成了手机游戏的铁杆粉丝。

除此之外,多家应用商店的崛起,也为开发者打开了多扇市场大门,从而刺激了手机游戏的快速发展。

Mirae Asset Securities公司的分析师Jung Woo-chul表示,在手机文化迅速从传统功能性手机扩展到智能手机的过程中,手机游戏行业也获得了越来越多发展机遇。它打破了全球手机游戏服务的障碍,让许多国家的手机游戏得到了发展,但也正是因为极低的准入门槛,才造成了今天如此激烈的竞争局面。”

Gamevil和Com2us是韩国两大领先的手机游戏公司,前者去年的营收为285亿韩元,而后者同一时期也获利280亿韩元。Gamevil的棒球类游戏至今下载量已达1300万次,其运营利润率高达54%。

智能手机游戏飞速发展,也改变了整个行业格局,加剧了不同风格游戏之间的竞争。

韩国KT经济经营研究所(游戏邦注:KT Business and Economic Research Center)的调查人员Choi Yoon-Jung在一份报告中表示,“过去的游戏公司都是各自为阵,在自己的在线、手机或掌机平台上竞争,但平台融合的趋势,迫使大家卷入同一个巨大的市场进行竞争。另外,在线游戏开发公司Nexon及以NHN为代表的门户网站运营商,也开始通过自己的手机游戏项目,意欲分食这一利润丰厚的市场蛋糕。

这些公司采用的是多平台发展策略,支持用户在个人电脑、智能手机和平板电脑等多个平台体验游戏。

在苹果App Store的35万款应用中,游戏比例约占15%,娱乐应用占据11%,这两者均是最被开发商看好的应用类型。他们希望搭上高端手机硬件的顺风车,利用其先进功能,开发具有教育、培训或推广等多功能的手机游戏,即所谓的严肃游戏——帮助用户从娱乐中获得有价值的内容,而不只是单纯地玩乐解闷。

LG Economic Research Institute的分析师Kim Jong-dae表示,“如果要玩严肃游戏,用户不但要购买游戏软件,还需要拥有掌机或体感控制设备等游戏硬件,这种经济成本,再加上游戏设备需受限于地理位置的特点,限制了严肃游戏的发展。”

他认为智能移动设备的发展,为游戏添加了更多价值。手机游戏提供的持续服务,远程通信网络速度的提升,也有助于用户体验画面更佳的游戏。

但对韩国手机游戏产业来说,韩国法律规定的游戏发布的预审制度却是该产业发展的一大障碍。Choi Yoon-Jung认为,“发布时间对智能手机游戏来说极为关键,这种预审制度限制了个人开发者的参与,于由受到开发商群体和游戏行业的批评,韩国国民大会立法与司法委员会不得不在上个月修正了该法案,允许智能手机游戏省略发布前预审的环节。

虽然预审制度已经作废,但韩国政府正计划加强对游戏的管制,以免让少儿群体陷入其中不能自拔。所以这对手机游戏的发展来说,仍然是一个重要的威胁。(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,转载请注明来源:游戏邦)

Smartphone changes game industry landscape

Smartphones have changed every aspect of our life, and games are no exception. Mobile games, or video games played on mobile phones or other portable smart devices, are taking a bigger slice of the pie.

According to a report by Korea Development Bank, the global mobile game market is expected to mark an average 14.3 percent annual growth from 2007 to 2012. The market is estimated to grow to $11 billion by 2012, taking 8 percent of the total game industry. The local mobile game market also grew by 22 percent to 400 billion won last year.

It owes its growth to the smartphone boom and wider availability of wireless Internet. Smartphones and the broadband network make game applications available anywhere, anytime. Games are not only for young, heavy users who enjoy hardcore games. Those in their 30s and 40s, and those who prefer light, casual games have also become consumers of mobile games.

The open market or application stores have accelerated the growth of the mobile game industry. It enabled mobile game developers to approach bigger markets.

“As the mobile culture has rapidly expanded to smartphones from traditional feature phones, mobile game businesses are getting more opportunities,” said Jung Woo-chul, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities. “It has broken down barriers to global mobile game services, and they have released new games in many countries,” he said. “The competition is also fierce due to easy entry,” he added.

Gamevil and Com2us are the country’s leading firms in the mobile game industry. Gamevil marked 28.5 billion won sales last year and Com2us recorded 28 billion won. Gamevil’s baseball game has had 13 million downloads here, and its operating profit ratio stands at 54 percent.

The surge of mobile games amid the smartphone boom has changed the industry landscape as well. It has become an all-round competition among diverse genres of games.

“In the past, game companies competed on their own platform, such as online, mobile or console games. But the fusion of the platforms make all compete together in one huge market,” said Choi Yoon-Jung, researcher at the KT Business and Economic Research Center, said in a report. Not only mobile companies but also online game producers like Nexon or portal operators like NHN have set up mobile game businesses to compete in the lucrative market.

They are taking a multi-platform strategy. The user can play games on diverse devices, from computers to smartphones or tablets.

High-end handsets accelerating growth

Among over 330,000 applications registered at Apple’s App Store, games took around 15 percent, and entertainment applications took over 11 percent. These applications have become the most promising content for developers. They are expected to take a bigger share upon development of handsets, as high-end devices can equip games with diverse functions such as education, training, or promotion. These games are called serious games ― the users not only seek fun but also earn some real value while enjoying the game.

“To enjoy serious games, the users buy not only the software, but also hardware like game consoles or motion sensing interfaces. Such economic burdens, along with limitations in location, restrict the expansion of serious games,” said Kim Jong-dae, a researcher at LG Economic Research Institute.

He said that the development of smart devices give some additional value to the games. Long term evolution services, which will pull up the speed of telecommunication networks, will also enable users to enjoy games with advanced graphics.

The pre-release screening system on mobile games, however, has been a big obstacle to the industry. “For smartphone games, time is crucial. The screening process has limited participation from individual developers,” KT’s Choi said in a report. Amid mounting criticism, the Legislation & Judiciary Committee at the National Assembly approved the revision bill last month so that smartphone games could be released without pre-release screening.

Even when the screening system is scrapped, the government plans to impose a curfew on games to curb game addiction among children and teenagers. This still remains as a threat to the mobile game business. (source:koreatimes


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