游戏邦在:
杂志专栏:
gamerboom.com订阅到鲜果订阅到抓虾google reader订阅到有道订阅到QQ邮箱订阅到帮看

每日观察:关注Zynga与2K Games或推体育社交游戏(1.31)

发布时间:2012-01-31 12:22:17 Tags:,,,,

1)据Fusible报道,Zynga最近收购了ZyngaSports.com这个域名,并将其转移到其合作的IP法务公司Keats McFarland & Wilson,Zynga已经拥有ZyngaFootball.com、ZyngaFootball.net和ZyngaFootball.org这三个域名,此举或表明Zynga将进军体育类游戏市场,与EA展开正面交锋。

football-game(from fusible.com)

football-game(from fusible.com)

但目前尚不明确Zynga是否已在开发体育类游戏,该公司在2010年4月就已收购ZyngaFootball域名,但至今尚无动静。

观察者认为,从EA体育类社交游戏的表现情况来看,Zynga进军这一领域或许是个好主意。

据AllFacebook数据显示,《EA Sports FIFA Superstars》目前每月用户约150万,《Madden NFL Superstars》则是50万,《Bowling Buddies》是16万,《World Series Superstars》为8万,《EA Sports PGA Tour Golf Challenge》是5万。

2)据insidesocialgames报道,根据AAA游戏发行商2K Games体育题材游戏工作室Visual Concepts的招聘启示可以看出,该公司目前正开发一款未公开的体育类社交游戏(游戏邦注:2K Games首款社交游戏是《CivWorld》,在2011年8月达顶峰状态的MAU为56万7790,但随后用户流失情况严重,目前MAU仅3万左右)。

recruitment (from insidesocialgames)

recruitment (from insidesocialgames)

该公司招聘对象是一名助理制片人,主要职责是“监管新款体育类社交游戏的开发、发布和运营事务”,要求至少有两年社交和免费游戏工作经验,了解吸引用户、留存用户、盈利和微交易模式,但该招聘启示并未透露所开发的新款体育类游戏题材是什么,它是否由原来的2K体育类游戏改制而来。

2K一向是EA在体育类游戏领域的直接竞争对手,但目前在社交体育游戏占主导地位的是EA,后者旗下的《FIFA Superstars》、《Madden NFL Superstars》和《NHL Superstars》MAU合计达220万,这一领域的其他竞争对手包括Nordeus(代表作《Top Eleven》MAU为350万)以及Vostu(代表作《GolMania》MAU为60万)。

据AppData数据显示,目前在Facebook前10名热门体育类游戏中,足球题材游戏占据6个席位。

3)Casual Games Association最新报告显示,社交游戏玩家主力军多为40岁左右的中年女性,而一般掌机游戏玩家却多为37岁左右的男性。2011年美国社交游戏用户约6920万,预计2012年底将增长至7790万。

虚拟商品交易在社交游戏收益中占比60%,广告收益占比20%,剩下的20%来自赞助服务。

whale(from news.cnet)

whale(from news.cnet)

在付费玩家中,鲸鱼用户所占比例不足15%,但却为游戏创造了50%以上的收益,他们每月平均消费25美元以上。中级付费玩家每月消费5-10美元,这类群体在玩家中占比25%-40%,为创造收益约占25%。多数玩家每月消费低于5美元,为游戏创造收益不足15%。

从游戏类型来看,益智、街机、养成、模拟类游戏每用户平均每日创造收益为1-5美分;寻物解谜、冒险、比赛类游戏的用户日均收益为3-7美分;RPG、博彩、扑克类游戏的这一数据则是5-10美分。

2009年全球社交游戏市场规模为18.4亿美元,2010年是36.5亿美元,2011年是49.4亿美元,预计2012年这一数据将达62亿美元,2013年达到74.9亿美元,2014年达到86.4亿美元。

4)据serkantoto报道,野村综合研究所(The Nomura Research Institute)最近报告预测,日本社交游戏市场规模将在2016财年达到3935亿日元(约合51亿美元),几乎是2011年的两倍。

social-game-market-size-japan(from nomura)

social-game-market-size-japan(from nomura)

以下是其他日本调研机构的相关数据(目前1亿日元相当于1300万美元):

JP Morgan在2011年6月预测,2011年日本社交游戏市场规模为2134亿日元,2012年为2672亿日元,2013年为3084亿日元;

Seed Planning在2010年12月预测结果:

social-games-market-japan(from seed-planning)

social-games-market-japan(from seed-planning)

摩根斯坦利在2012年1月预测结果:

size-japanese-social-game-market(from Morgan Stanley)

size-japanese-social-game-market(from Morgan Stanley)

Yano在2012年1月预测结果:

social-game-market-japan(from Yano)

social-game-market-japan(from Yano)

5)商标搜索服务Trademarkia支持用户通过关键字检索已被他人注册的商标,会在搜索结果中显示某商标在美国专利商标局中的注册年份、类型,甚至是“商标霸权者”(这里指那些依仗权势“欺凌”弱小企业,反对其注册某商标的大公司)、“受害者”、“作梗者”(这里包括故意寻事拖延其他公司注册某商标的企业)等信息。

据Trademarkia的2011年资料显示,Kwllogg North America是2011年排名第一的“商标霸权者”,紧随其后的依次是The Lance Armstrong Foundation、苹果、Zynga、K-2(滑雪板制造商),Facebook则位居第8名。

6)据Shacknews报道,《摇滚乐队》开发商Harmonix最近正针对XBLA、PSN和Facebook平台开发一个未公开项目,这种情况很罕见,因为该公司甚少涉猎Facebook领域。

但Harmonix的惯例就是完成项目后再公布消息,因此目前尚无法得知该游戏详细情况。

7)据games.com报道,社交游戏发行商RockYou最近也趁势宣布将推出博彩类游戏《Bingo by Ryzing》(其开发商是Ryzing),并将为后者提供“分析、产品管理、广告和盈利方案”等支持。

Bingo by Ryzing(from insidesocialgames.com)

Bingo by Ryzing(from insidesocialgames.com)

在此之前,RockYou已裁员100人左右,并中止发行Loot Drop游戏《Cloudforest Expedition》。

8)据Facebook开发者博客消息显示,Facebook目前正测试一项仅针对游戏内容的活动消息功能,它将把用户所有好友的游戏消息集中到同一个区域,并考虑取消出现于canvas应用的游戏ticker。

activity feed(from insidesocialgames)

activity feed(from insidesocialgames)

这个新型的活动消息功能名为“Friend Activity”,它实际上是应用和游戏仪表盘的一个子菜单选项,用户选中时,就可以把所有好友的游戏消息组织到同一个空间。该博客消息指出,由于原先的游戏ticker功能并没有明显提升游戏流量,所以Facebook正寻找可“优化和简化”游戏体验的其他选择。

9)继iPhone游戏开发商Nimblebit声称Zynga山寨《Tiny Tower》之后,另一家开发商Buffalo Studios近日也指责Zynga最新游戏《Zynga Bingo》抄袭其Facebook游戏《Bingo Blitz》(游戏邦注:该游戏目前在Facebook的DAU已超过100万)。

这是Zynga一周内第二次遇到同种情况,Buffalo还效仿Bimblebit发布对比图的声明,指出了两款游戏的相似之处。从《Triple Town》开发商Spry Fox近日起诉6Waves Lolapps游戏《Yeti Town》涉嫌抄袭的情况来看,最近行业似乎已产生游戏“克隆”现象的连锁反应。

BingoBlitz Congratulations(from buffalo-ggn.net)

BingoBlitz Congratulations(from buffalo-ggn.net)

本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,拒绝任何不保留版权的转载,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

1)Zynga may be going after EA’s sports game market share

By Mike Thompson

Say what you want about Zynga, you can’t accuse the developer of being afraid to go after new audiences. It’s just been revealed that the company is possibly going to start putting out sports titles, which could put it in direct competition with game giant Electronic Arts.

Fusible is reporting that Mark Pincus’s company recently acquired the domain ZyngaSports.com and transferred it to IP law firm Keats McFarland & Wilson (whom Zynga has worked with in the past). Fusible also noted that Zynga already owns ZyngaFootball.com, ZyngaFootball.net, and ZyngaFootball.org.

Now, whether or not Zynga has any actual sports games in the works remains to be seen; after all, the casual game behemoth acquired the ZyngaFootball domains in April 2010 and hasn’t seemed to do much with them since.

That said, Zynga has a lot to gain by getting in on the sports game market, based on the number of monthly active users for EA’s sports games (courtesy of All Facebook):

•EA Sports FIFA Superstars— 1.5 million

•Madden NFL Superstars—500,000

•Bowling Buddies—160,000

•World Series Superstars—80,000

•EA Sports PGA Tour Golf Challenge— 50,000

Of course, this is all speculation at this point. Zynga has yet to actually announce any real plans, so we’ll just have to wait and see what its next move is.(source:gamezebo

2)2K is hiring for a new social sports game

Kathleen De Vere

Triple-A publisher 2K Games is working on an as-yet unannounced sports based social game.

According to a job posting for its sports-oriented Visual Concepts studio, the company is seeking to hire an associate producer to “oversee the development, release and operation of an exciting new sports-based social game.”

The position, as posted on Creativeheads.net, calls for a minimum of two years of experience working in social and free-to-play gaming and an understanding of user attraction, retention, monetization and microtransactions.

The position does not elaborate which sport the game will focus on, or if it will build off an existing 2K Sports franchise.

While 2K is often in direct competition with rival EA for dominance of the sports game genre, so far EA has taken the lead in the social space. EA is currently one of the most successful social sports game publishers on Facebook, with its games FIFA Superstars, Madden NFL Superstars and NHL Superstars boasting a combined 2.2 million MAU. Other competitors in the genre include Nordeus, with its game Top Eleven (3.5 million MAU) and Vostu’s GolMania (600,000 MAU).

Although 2K has been highly successful in the sports genre it may be at a disadvantage on Facebook, as unlike EA it does not have an existing soccer franchise. According to our traffic tracking service AppData, six out of the 10 most popular sports game on Facebook are soccer themed.

2K’s first social game was CivWorld, a social version of its studio Firaxis Games’ classic franchise Civilization. CivWorld has failed to find traction on Facebook. The game peaked at 567,790 MAU in August, shortly after its official release, but users dropped off quickly. The game currently has 30,000 MAU.(source:insidesocialgames

3)Social Games Market To Hit $8.64 Billion in 2014, Could Overtake Consoles

by Steve Peterson

Tweet According to a report released by the Casual Games Association, the average social game player is a 40-year-old female. Compare that to the average console game player, who is a 37-year-old male. The social game audience in the US is estimated at 69.2 million in 2011, and that is estimated to grow to 77.9 million by the end of 2012.

Monetization is always a critical issue, and according to this study it’s not all about virtual goods. While virtual goods represent 60% of the revenue from social games, advertising accounts for 20%, and the remaining 20% of the revenue comes from offers. The revenue breakdown from virtual goods buyers is interesting; as you might have guessed the big spenders (“whales”, borrowing from the parlance of the casino industry) represent less than 15% of a game’s paying users, but typically account for more than 50% of the revenue, spending more than $25 per month on average. Moderately paying players, who spend between $5 and $10 per month, represent from 25% to 40% of the players and account for some 25% of the revenue. Most players spend less than $5 a month and generate less than 15% of a game’s overall revenues.

The expected daily average revenue per user varies according to the type of game being played. Puzzle, arcade, caretaking and simulation games generate from 1 cent to 5 cents per day per user; Hidden Object, Adventure, and Tournament games net 3 cents to 7 cents per user; and RPGs, Gambling, and Poker games generate between 5 cents and 10 cents per user on average.

The worldwide social gaming market has grown from $1.84 billion in 2009, to $3.65 billion in 2010, to an estimated $4.94 billion in 2011. The study projects worldwide revenues for social games to hit $6.2 billion in 2012, $7.49 billion in 2013, and $8.64 billion in 2014.

The study also noted that 2012 will probably be the peak year for Facebook as a social game platform worldwide, as niche social networks are expanding their offereings and social game companies look to diversify their revenue streams.

If you look at the whale revenue numbers given by the study, and figure that Zynga has about 45 million Daily Average Users (with, from their IPO filing, about 3% of the users paying), you can derive the estimate that only a little over 200,000 people are responsible for over 50% of Zynga’s revenue. Zynga is probably striving to know all they can about those very special people, and keep them as happy as possible.

As a point of comparison, the overall software sales for console titles in the US in 2011 (excluding handheld consoles) was approximately $7.5 billion dollars, or about the level expected from social game sales worldwide in 2013. If console software continues to have lower sales every year, and social games continue double-digit growth rates, it won’t be long before social game revenues surpass console game revenues. (source:industrygamers

4)Nomura: Japanese Social Gaming Market To Double In Size By 2016 [Social Games]

by Dr. Serkan Toto

I have listed up several stats from several sources trying to size up Japan’s social gaming market in recent months (see below).

The Nomura Research Institute says that Japan’s social gaming market will likely be worth 393.5 billion yen (US$5.1 billion) in fiscal 2016, roughly doubling in size when compared with 2011.

Here is a full overview from the main sources (100 million yen are US$1.3 million currently):

Projection from Seed Planning, December 2010:

Projection from JP Morgan, June 2011:

2011: 213.4 billion yen

2012: 267.2 billion yen

2013: 308.4 billion yen(source:serkantoto

5)Apple, Zynga, listed as top trademark bullies of the year

By Mike Thompson

Trademarks are tricky beasts, especially during these litigious times. When you’re naming your company, product, or service, you have to be very careful to avoid using a word that someone might drag you into court (or demand a fee) for. Companies that are particularly sue-happy when it comes to trademarks are known as “trademark bullies.” But who’s the worst bully around these days? Here’s a hint: it’s not Tim Langdell.

TechCrunch has an excellent write-up about startup Trademarkia, allows you to search for trademarks by company, product, theme, and even filing attorney. While that’s certainly useful, the service now contains a new feature that lets you check out who the biggest trademark bullies are. Surprisingly, the biggest bully of 2011 was Kellogg North America (you know, the folks who make cereals like Frosted Flakes and Rice Krispies). Not too far behind, though, were Apple, Zynga, and Facebook.

Apple sits firmly at the number three position on the list; Zynga and Facebook came in at fourth and eighth places, respectively. Apple, it turns out, claims it owns “pad” and likes to bully people who use “app” and “pod.” Zynga likes to go after anyone using “ville” and Facebook — unsurprisingly — often sues companies when they have “book” or “face” included in their names.

Trademarkia’s bully list seems like a service that would be especially useful for any small developer (literally) looking to make a name for itself. Word to the wise, everyone: spending a couple of hours familiarizing yourself with which words are likely to land you in legal hot water will likely save you a lot of headaches further down the line.(source:gamezebo

6)Rock Band creator making Facebook game, sans guitar controller?

by Joe Osborne

We sure as hell hope so, because $100 plastic drum sets and Facebook games aren’t exactly a perfect match. Shacknews reports that Brian Chan, senior designer at Cambridge, Mass.-based

Harmonix on Rock Band 3, is working on an unannounced project for Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA), PlayStation Network (PSN) and Facebook. Usually, the third word in that list is “WiiWare” or “PC”, so understand our confusion.

According to Chan’s résumé (PDF link), whatever he’s currently working on as lead designer will be simultaneously released on XBLA, PSN and Facebook. Given Harmonix’s pedigree of music-based games for consoles and even mobile devices, it’s tough to imagine this cross-platform release being based around anything other than music.

Then again, Harmonix did make this little motion-controlled gem, as Joystiq points out. And it looks like the next tidbit we’ll learn of the mysterious game will come just as piecemeal (or with a liberal serving of snark).

“As we’ve stated before, our studio is growing and hard at work on a variety of titles,” Harmonix said in a statement. “In a storied Harmonix tradition, our designers start working on those games before they’re publicly announced. We’re excited to confirm more information soon, probably via a LinkedIn update or something – we haven’t decided.”(source:games

7)RockYou hops on the Bingo bandwagon, publishes Bingo by Ryzing

by Joe Osborne

Given the current climate, this is probably the smartest move a company could make if it wants to enter a social game sub genre. Redwood City, Calif.-based social games publisher RockYou announced that it will publish Bingo by Ryzing. That doubles as both the Facebook game’s title and the name of the Philadelphia, Penn.-based social games developer, Ryzing. Confusing, we know.

RockYou’s publishing unit, Studio Partners, will provide Bingo by Ryzing with “analytics, product management support, advertising and monetization solutions,” according to a release. In short, it’s now RockYou’s job to make sure Bingo by Ryzing finds more players and sells in-game items and boosts like hotcakes.

Bingo by Ryzing doesn’t appear to be vastly different from the current stable of Bingo games on Facebook, save for one major detail. Players can earn real-life money and prized by entering free sweepstakes, which Ryzing will continue to manage under the new publishing deal.

“Our real-prize Bingo model moves quickly to keep players engaged with social chat and slot machines that deliver an enhanced play experience,” Ryzing CEO Manu Gambhir said in a release.

“Our in-game sweepstakes drive high lifetime revenue per player as compared to other bingo games that solely feature virtual rewards. RockYou will help us drive traffic and strong retention while we focus on improving the game for our players.”

This news follows the unfortunate announcement that RockYou had laid off 100 of its staffers and declined to continue publishing Loot Drop’s Cloudforest Expedition. In addition to a publishing deal with Australian strategy game maker 3 Blokes, this looks like RockYou’s attempt at making good on the promises of its publishing service.(source:games

8)Facebook tests “games only” activity feed, might drop games ticker

AJ Glasser

Facebook is testing a games-only activity feed that groups all friends’ game stories in one place. The social network is also considering scrapping the games-only ticker that appears along side canvas apps.

As detailed on the developer blog, the new games-only activity feed is actually a sub-menu option under the apps and games dashboard called “Friend Activity.” When selected, the view condenses all friends’ game stories into one feed organized by most recent stories first. This effectively creates a one-stop destination for games on Facebook — which is something the social network has tried to avoid in the past even as Google+’s rival games platform embraces it.

Meanwhile, Facebook is deciding whether or not to keep the games activity ticker. The blog reports that the feature hasn’t been a significant driver of traffic and that Facebook is looking into other options “improve and simply” the games experience. Games bookmarks are here to stay for the time being, however, as Facebook reports they do drive significant traffic and re-engagement. Both features have been updated several times since launching over the summer.(source:insidesocialgames

9)Bingo Blitz developer accuses Zynga of copying

by Mike Rose

Following accusations by iPhone game developer Nimblebit that social games giant Zynga has ripped off its popular mobile title Tiny Tower, another developer has now also accused Zynga of game cloning.

Buffalo Studios is the developer behind popular Facebook title Bingo Blitz, which sees over 1 million daily active users on the social networking website.

The company has put together a side-by-side comparison of its game against Zynga’s recently announced Bingo game, claiming that Zynga has “obviously played” Buffalo’s game.

This is the second time in the space of a week that Zynga has been called out for cloning, as Nimblebit has previously said that Zynga’s game Dream Heights is a clone of Nimblebit’s own

Tiny Tower. As part of Buffalo’s comparison, the company explained that it was inspired by Nimblebit’s recent calling out.

“Hello Zynga. We are moved that your new game was so inspired by our innovative product, Bingo Blitz,” reads the statement from Buffalo.

“You’ve obviously played our game Bingo Blitz a lot,” it continues. “Please tell your thousands of employees and shareholders that we hope they enjoy playing the games we’re cooking up next!”

This is just the latest in a string of “cloning” incidents that have come to light recently. Triple Town developer Spry Fox revealed at the weekend that it has filed a copyright infringement suit against casual game studio 6Waves Lolapps over its latest release Yeti Town, which Spry Fox claims is a “blatant copy of Triple Town.” (source:gamasutra


上一篇:

下一篇: