作者：Ted Brown

你可能是个行业资深人士，对那些驾着跑车的人给你施加的工作感到疲惫和厌烦。你也可能是个学生，相信自己总有一天能够挺立于这个世界，获得众人的关注。

或者你像我一样，足够幸运能参与AAA游戏的开发并从中吸取经验，但却没有机会能够展示自己的才华。设计是你的专长，你可以编程并完成些许美术设计。如果有人相助，便想转变成独立开发者。

在今日的电子游戏市场中，我们完全可以利用自己的优势来获得盈利，使其从每用户每天几便士增加到上百万。我们可以利用某些分布极广的平台来获得可观的盈利。现在，像iPhone和PC等游戏平台都已成为普通的商品，不再是某些极客的玩物。数字游戏销售已经显现，而且没有遇到零售营销的障碍。

基本上可以说，现在是凭借原创概念成为成功独立开发者的最佳时机。

尽管我知道免费应用能够获得大量的盈利，但是下文我将着重阐述的是独立开发者应当注意的问题。

你把自己的将来都押在游戏概念上。那么，什么才是获得成功的最佳途径呢？要回答这个问题，就先要探讨以下问题：哪些是最普遍的失败条件？

failure-success(from mikemccready.ca)

失败原因1：入不敷出

你的团队共有X美元的资金，每月的消耗的成本是C。你的游戏需要花T时间来完成。那么满足X/C=T就可以了吗？如果游戏发布之后，无法带来足够支付C费用的盈利，那又会怎样呢？最糟糕的情况是，你因游戏而负债，团队解散，你也失去了许多朋友。

很显然，你需要在银行中留有足够的资金来解决发布后的成本问题，但这并非我此处要探讨的重点。这不是个资金花费的问题，而是个盈利问题。

失败原因2：缺乏曝光度

独立游戏就像植物一样，你需要水（即金钱）和营养（即工作）来让其发芽。当然，这株植物的种子就是游戏想法！但是，如果植物让太阳照射的时间不足（游戏邦注：即对潜在用户的曝光度不足），那么植物就会死亡。此刻，营销便成为你最亲密的朋友。

失败原因3：在首个平台上境况不佳

你在银行中存有足够的资金，游戏曝光活动也很活跃，并且将游戏发布到了iPhone上。

你知道每天提交到苹果App Store的应用平均有120个吗？你知道游戏行业巨头已经开始掌控手机平台市场吗？你准备好参加这场战斗了吗？

虽然iOS系统上出现过许多独立游戏成功的故事，但是彻底失败的独立游戏非常之多。这是个过于拥挤的平台，通常情况下游戏的发现都是偶然的。你不能完全信赖这个平台。

Xbox Live上的情况也是如此。将自己的游戏投放到与《光晕》或《使命召唤》相同的平台上的想法固然很诱人，但是你最好看看前辈们这么做的后果如何。

失败原因4：不再追踪游戏表现

你的游戏有结局吗？这是个很危险的事情。游戏一旦结束，就很可能被遗忘。你必须要保持人们谈论游戏的兴趣，因为生意需要新的顾客才能够存活下去。

成功条件1：新颖的玩法以及持续更新

游戏必须有“新颖的玩法”，这样才能保持人们不断回到游戏中。只要他们这么做了，就有更多的可能性与他们的朋友谈论起游戏，这便实现了游戏得到曝光的目标。

如果这种新颖内容充满协作性、竞争性或创造性（游戏邦注：玩家可以在游戏中表达自己的想法），玩家便有很有可能加入或创建游戏的在线社区。这些社区便可以产生盈利。

这种模式在免费游戏上已经有将近两年的历史了！而且，似乎正在向全世界扩散。但是，你也不一定非要采取这种模式。如果你在游戏发布后不断进行更新，便会吸引玩家回到游戏中。你也可以让产品体现出一定的价值，让游戏对那些抱着观望态度的人更有吸引力。《挖矿争霸》和《军团要塞2》采用的就是这种模式。但是这是否意味着那些失败的游戏采用“一次性付费购买游戏，然后免费获得扩展包”的模式便能够获得更大的成功，这还有待讨论。

成功条件2：在PC上发布

我坚信PC平台能够提供最佳的曝光度和下载量。目前，我也在积极寻找支持此论断的研究资料。

我经常访问indiegames.com或rockpapershotgun.com之类的站点，阅读独立游戏相关文章，观看视频或某些截图之后，我发现自己就会有购买的冲动。

这种效能是可以估量的，你可以适当地考察网络上有关自己游戏的新闻。

成功条件3：讨论你的游戏

大部分人会选择购买优秀的游戏。还有小部分群体会购买他们所支持的人开发的游戏。这是种完全不同的目的！我购买Project Zomboid的游戏并不因为我喜欢他们游戏中的美术设计，而是因为我喜欢他们的设计目标，对他们表示支持。换句话说，我想要帮助他们脱离困境。纵然游戏没有获得成功，我也会为这种支持性的行为感到欣喜。

在网络上，信任的基础便是信任，就像是从山上滚下的雪球一般越滚越大。随着更多的人和媒体在Tweet和博客上表示支持，那些观望的人也会参与进来。他们会渐渐投入时间并产生出些许兴趣，所以要尽量让人们谈论游戏，包括你是何人、你在做的是什么、你制作游戏的原因、你遇到的问题以及你已经解决的难题。

换句话说，游戏产生的故事能够对游戏销售有所帮助。

总结

我想再谈谈我自己的独立游戏《Ninja Baseball》。我们实现了所有上述目标，包括创造出有新颖玩法的游戏并发布在PC上、通过开发故事来促进销售为游戏开发提供资助、计划用免费更新来支持游戏。在这个项目中，我们想到的好主意是通过大众融资网站Kickstarter来募集资金。我们的感觉是，如果我们无法在游戏曝光中获得成功，或者无法让玩家对我们的开发故事和游戏想法产生兴趣，那么或许就是概念出了问题。

我们会因为资金和时间不足而降低测试版本的质量吗？当然不会这么做。事实上，我们正处在首个失败条件——入不敷出的境况中。但是至少这个月的情况还好，希望我们能够有好运。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Building Indie Success

Ted Brown

You might be an industry veteran, tired of an unhealthy life/work balance hoisted upon you by the guys in the sports cars who made their biggest money years ago. You might be a student and believes — actually, knows — you can make the world sit up and pay attention.

Or maybe you’re like me: you been lucky enough to soak up experience working on AAA titles, but never got the royalty checks to show for it. Holistic design is your forte, you’re able to program and do a little art. And while you’ve got a mortgage, a family, and some chickens that would prefer being fed to being eaten, you want to give it a go as an indie developer.

That part with the chickens might just be me. Sorry if I shrunk the Venn diagram too much there.

In today’s video game market, economies of scale can be leveraged to our advantage, turning pennies a day, per user, into millions a month. We are reaping the benefit of nearly a decade of widespread, dedicated tools development. Amazing game platforms like the iPhone and the PC are commodities now, instead of hobby purchases. Digital game sales have turned the corner, removing the obstacle posed by retail distribution.

Basically, there has never been a greater time to go indie with an original concept.

And while I know the big money is in free-to-play apps, I’m talking to the garage developers right now.

So: you’re banking your future on this game concept of yours. What is the best, most predictable path to success? To find our answer, let’s flip that question to: what are the most common ways to fail?

Fail Condition: Overwhelmed by Burn Rate

Your team has (X) dollars, and a (C)ost per month. Your game will take (T)ime to complete. Does X/C = T? Great! But what happens if your game is released, and you don’t start generating enough revenue to cover C? Worst case scenario: you go into debt, the team splits up, and you lose a lot of friends.

You need enough in the bank to cover costs after launch, clearly, but that’s not my point here. It’s not a spending problem, it’s a revenue problem. (thank you, Congress of the United States of America, for recently highlighting the difference in such a… positive way)

Fail Condition: Lack of Exposure

An indie game is like a plant. You need water (money) and nutrients (work) to get it out of its seed. Yes, Captain Obvious, the seed is the game idea! But without enough exposure to the sun, your potential customers, it will die. Marketing is now your closest friend. Scott Steinberg has written an excellent primer on this, as he as with so many other topics. You can read it on gamesindustry.biz.

Fail Condition: Bad First Platform

So you have money in the bank, a discovery campaign in full swing, and a game on the iPhone.

Oh. Well… about that. Did you know 120 games per day are submitted to the Apple App Store? (It was “only” 80 less than a month ago!) Did you know that titans of the game industry already pretty much control the market on mobile platforms? Is that a battle you’re equipped to join?

There are many indie success stories on iOS, but far, far more indie also-rans and outright failures. It’s an overcrowded, controlled platform, where, all to often, discovery is accidental. You can’t rely on that.

This is also true of Xbox Live. The thought of putting your game on the same system you play Halo or Call of Duty on is almost too tempting to resist, but do yourself a favor, and read about people’s experiences with it so far.

Fail Condition: No Long Tail

Does your game have an ending? That’s a risk. A game, once finished, is likely to be discarded, and never discussed again. You have to keep people talking about your game, because a business needs new customers to survive.

Win Condition: Emergent Game Play and/or Constant Updates

The accepted wisdom is that a game must have an “emergent gameplay” component to keep people coming back. When they do, they are more likely to talk about it with their friends, which ties back into your goal of getting discovered.

If this emergent content is co-op, competitive, or creative (expressing yourself in the game), players are more likely to join or start an online community for the game. And these communities can generate revenue.

This is the model that free-to-play games have been leveraging for… er… well, for about two years! And they’ve taken over the world, it seems. But it’s not restricted to them. If you release a game, and continue to update it, owners of the game will return to check it out. You will also be building value into your product, making it more lucrative for people previously on the fence. This is the model used for Minecraft and (until it went F2P) Team Fortress 2, among others. (Does this mean that if failed “episodic games” had used this method of “buy once, get the expansions for free”, they would have met with greater success? Discuss!)

Win Condition: Release on the PC

I firmly believe that the PC platform has the best synergy between discovery and download. (I am also actively searching for research material supporting or contradicting this statement vs. smart phones!)

I have often gone to a site like indiegames.com or rockpapershotgun.com, read a feature on an indie game, and — after watching a video or seeing some screenshots — found myself at the checkout page with a credit card in my hand, thinking “Oh wow, that was fast. I have a new game!”

That kind of efficiency is estimable. Especially if you are properly canvassing the internet with news about your game.

Win Condition: Discuss Your Game

Lots of people will buy a good game. A smaller, but still effective, segment will buy a game from someone they support. There’s a big difference! I sent money to the folks at Project Zomboid not just because I was in love with their aesthetic, but because I liked their design goals, and sympathized with their position. I wanted to help them out, in other words. Even if the game didn’t pan out, I felt good about supporting their indie endeavor.

On the internet, trust builds on trust, like a snowball rolling down a hill. As more people and media outlets pile on their Likes and +1’s and Tweets and Tumblings and old-fashioned blog posts, people on the fence will start coming over to your side. They are investing their time and an iota of interest, so make it worth their while and discuss, discuss, discuss your game. Who you are, what you’re making, why you’re making it, problems you’ve encountered, mysteries you’ve solved.

Stories sell games, in other words.

Wrapping It Up

I need to get back to my own indie project, Ninja Baseball. We’re doing all of the above: creating a game with emergent play on the PC, funding it by selling the story of its development, and planning to support it with free updates. The wrinkle here is that we’re raising our money through Kickstarter. Our feeling is, if we can’t succeed in the art of discovery, and if we can’t get people interested in our development story or the game idea, then maybe the concept isn’t ready.

Would we prefer money in the bank and time to develop a proper demo? Absolutely. We are totally at risk of failure number one: overwhelmed by burn rate. But at least for this month, we’re living free. It’s not a win condition, but it’s close.

Good luck out there. (Source: Gamasutra)