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每日观察:关注《Draw Something》用户数量下滑(5.3)

发布时间:2012-05-03 10:25:18 Tags:,

1)App Promo(手机应用发展策略、营销及盈利解决方案供应商)最近报告指出,80%的手机应用开发商创收不甚理想,将近60%开发者入不敷出,主要原因是这些工作室的开发经验不足。

app promo graph(from pocketgamer)

app promo graph(from pocketgamer)

App Promo发布的信息图表显示,91%开发商认为市场营销是产品能否获得成功的重要因素,但有52%受访者根本没有营销预算。

有11%开发者声称目前已收获至少50万次的下载量,有12%受访者表示至今已创收至少5万美元。

报告信息表明,开发者要获得成功就必须投入一定的营销成本,顶级开发商在市场营销上平均投入3万美元。

2)据pocketgamer报道,The Atlantic Wire撰稿人Dashiell Bennett最近引用AppData数据指出,Zynga热门手机游戏《Draw Something》目前DAU已下滑至1000万左右(游戏邦注:Develop报道称该游戏自OMGPOP被收购以来已流失将近500万日活跃用户,它在4月3日最高峰时的日活跃用户为1430万,但目前已下滑至1040万)。

draw something DAU(from AppData)

draw something DAU(from AppData)

Bennett指出,《Draw Something》在全盛时期看似《愤怒的小鸟》接班人(甚至被Zynga称为“史上发展最迅速的原创手机游戏”),但后者长踞排行榜之首已一年有余,而《Draw Something》发展到颠峰后就开始迅速下滑。

据福布斯报道,Zynga股价自3月初以来已下跌近50%,这表明投资者对Zynga管理层的信心有所欠缺。

3)Spry Fox日前通过Twitter指出,Android游戏盈利性发展潜力乐观,《Triple Town》的iOS版本每创收1美元,其Android版本收益就是67美分。《Triple Town》这两个版本的用户规模基本相当,付费转化率也较为相似。虽然iTunes用户的ARPU值略于高Google Play用户,但Spry Fox仍然看好Google Play的IAP创收前景。

tiny village_infographic(from insidemobileapps)

tiny village_infographic(from insidemobileapps)

手机游戏开发商TinyCo此前也曾发布数据称,旗下游戏《Tiny Village》在Google Play收益相当于iOS版本的65%,如果排除平板电脑用户,这一数据则上升至82%。

另一家公司Robot Unvader游戏《Wind-Up Knight》则有60%的收益来自Google Play平台,其Android用户盈利性甚至比iOS用户高2倍,得益于运营商计费系统,其Android用户ARPU值也高于iOS用户。

4)据gamasutra报道,Kickstarter冒险游戏融资项目开发商Double Fine日前宣布将采用Zipline Games基于Lua语言的Moai Game平台开发游戏,并计划于2013春季发布游戏。

Moai SDK于去年公开测试,支持开发者使用一种语言编码,Double Fine认为这种编程环境更易于创建原型,并向多个平台发布游戏。

据该公司技术总监Nathan Martz所称,Moai是一个开源代码,因此他们可以根据自己需要改变代码,另外Moai也支持他们使用一种核心代码库向PC、平板电脑和手机平台发布游戏,因此Moai是Double Fine团队的理想选择。

5)Facebook日前通过其开发者博客宣布,公司在4月份已向绑定Facebook功能的手机应用输送1.6亿访问用户,这些从中受益的手机应用包括Zynga的With Friends系列游戏,Spotify、Pinterest等热门应用。

facebook_logo(from gadgetoz.com)

facebook_logo(from gadgetoz.com)

目前通过Facebook访问iOS和HTML5应用的用户访问量达11亿次,平均每名用户访问6次以上(游戏邦注:今年2月份Facebook宣布已向手机应用输送6000万以上用户,平均每名用户每月访问5次)。

Facebook还指出,在iOS营收榜单前10名应用中,有7者绑定了Facebook单点登录或Open Graph功能,在Android营收榜单前10名中也有6款应用采取了同样行动。

6)年仅27岁的手机社交游戏平台OpenFeint创始人Jason Citron日前宣布成立自己的新游戏公司Phoenix Guild,打算针对平板电脑及触屏设备开发游戏。

jason citron(from blog.games.com)

jason citron(from blog.games.com)

Jason Citron曾在2006年参与开发DoubleFine的《Brutal Legend》项目,在2008年App Store首日开业当天发布了自己的iPhone游戏《Aurora Feint》,在2011年又以1.04亿美元向GREE出售了OpenFeint。

Citron预计于今年底发布自己亲手开发的Phoenix Guild首款游戏,据其所称,他想在5年内将团队打造成像Funzio一样的“中度硬核”游戏公司(游戏邦注:Funzio最近也刚被GREE收购),并针对平板电脑制作具有掌机游戏体验的内容。

7)Halfbrick首席营销官Phil Larsen最近透露,公司通过付费游戏创造的收益多于之前的情况。

他认为付费游戏在当前充斥大量免费游戏的App Store中仍占据重要席位,因为“付费”一般都是高质量产品的象征,99美分的定价理念虽然也很棒,但付费游戏如果受到用户欢迎也仍会很有市场。

Jetpack Joyride's Profit_Bird(from gamesindustry)

Jetpack Joyride's Profit_Bird(from gamesindustry)

8)RIM在最近的2012年黑莓大会上承诺,通过黑莓质量认证的应用或游戏,如果没有在发布头12个月中创收1万美元,RIM甘愿掏钱为开发者补足差额。

需注意的是,黑莓尚未公布具体的质量认证标准,目前仅知这一认证过程将由RIM指定的第三方公司主导,很可能包括技术和可用性检验。这些通过认证的应用将优先在App World上架,并将获得更好的应用商店推广位置。(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)6 out of 10 mobile developers don’t generate enough revenue to break even

by Keith Andrew

Conducting its first ever sweep of mobile developers, App Promo has claimed 80 percent of studios don’t earn enough revenue to support their business, with almost 60 percent failing to break even.

The company, which provides strategy, marketing and monetisation solutions, said its annual developer survey has revealed the number of developers enjoying the app experience is in the minority.

Much of the problem for those suffering tough times, however, may stem from a lack of experience.

Spend to succeed

Marketing, it seems, is being overlooked.

According to an infographic published by App Promo, while 91 percent of developers think marketing is crucial for the success of their titles, 52 percent have no budget whatsoever to spend on it.

On the flip side, 11 percent of developers claim to have amassed half a million downloads or more to date, while 12 percent earn $50,000 or more in revenue.

The message as a whole is that developers need to be prepared to spend money to earn money, with top earners spending an average of $30,000 on marketing.(source:pocketgamer

2)Dropping Draw Something DAUs making Zynga investors nervy

by Keith Andrew

Investors are increasingly concerned Zynga’s $180 million buyout of OMGPOP may have been a ‘serious miscalculation’, with unofficial statistics suggesting the number of people playing Draw Something on a daily basis is dropping like a stone.

That’s according to Forbes, which claims a decline in Zynga’s stock price – down by almost 50 percent since the beginning of March – is a reflection of falling confidence in the firm’s management.

Down with the DAUs

It’s an argument expanded on by writer Dashiell Bennett on The Atlantic Wire, who – using data sourced from AppData – claims Draw Something is now attracting 10 million DAUs.

That’s not a miserly number, of course, but it represents a major drop from the reported 15 million users a day the game boasted at the time of OMGPOP’s acquisition.

As such, it’s claimed Zynga may have made a move for the firm when its lead game was at its peak, with some claiming its current decline was inevitable for those on the outside looking in.

“At the time, Draw Something looked like the next Angry Birds, but whereas that game – with its upgradeable levels and expanding challenges – has stayed at the top of the charts for more than year now, Draw Something has collapsed almost quickly as it peaked,” writes Bennett.

“For OMGPOP, the sale could not have been timed more perfectly. Had Zynga not stepped in, the company would be out of money right now, and frankly, few people would have missed it or its game.

“Instead, it’s Zynga’s management, which has seen its stock price struggle since its IPO late last year, that has to wonder where it all went wrong.”

A question of numbers

It’s worth noting AppData’s statistics are based on Facebook logins – something which Draw Something encourages its users to do, but it isn’t a requirement.

Of official statistics, Draw Something downloads topped 50 million in the game’s first 50 days back at the start of April, with Zynga branding the game as the “fastest growing original mobile game olf all time.”

In comparison, Angry Birds Space recently passed 50 million downloads in 35 days, though said downloads were spread across PC and Mac as well as mobile platforms iOS, Android and BlackBerry PlayBook.(source:pocketgamer

3)Google Play doesn’t monetize? It does for free-to-play games that use carrier billing

Kathleen De Vere

Google Play has an undeserved reputation as platform that doesn’t monetize — at least according to several developers with free-to-play games. Companies as diverse as TinyCo, Spry Fox and Robot Invader are seeing Google Play revenues comparable to, and sometimes even higher than, their iOS earnings.

Google Play’s supposed difficulty in generating revenue has been well publicized. According to recent studies from Distimo and Flurry, Google Play earns one eighth the daily revenue of Apple’s iTunes App Store and generates just 23 percent of the average revenue per user (ARPU). Because Distimo and Flurry’s findings are based on broad averages, however, not every developer agrees with their reports.

Spry Fox’s CEO David Edery recently took to Twitter to set the record straight about Android earnings. According to Edery, for every dollar the popular puzzle game Triple Town earns on iOS, the Android version brings in 67 cents. It’s also not a matter of having a much larger, but less lucrative overall userbase on Android — Edery tells us that Triple Town’s Android and iOS userbases are almost exactly the same size and have similar conversion rates. Although the game does return slightly higher ARPU on iTunes than on Google Play, Edery is still bullish on the platform as a whole, calling Google Play, “a very good source of revenue.”

Larger developers are also finding Google Play has plenty of paying users. Andreessen Horowitz-backed TinyCo released figures showing for every dollar its free-to-play game Tiny Village generates on iOS, it earns 65 cents on Google Play. Removing tablets from the equation, the number rises to 82 cents on the dollar. Overall, TinyCo’s Android earnings are much closer to Spry Fox’s than they are to what Flurry estimates the average Google Play ARPU is.

Glu Mobile is another company reporting Android revenues higher than analyst estimates. Although only 30 percent of Glu’s total free-to-play smartphone revenues in the fourth quarter of 2011 came from Android, both platforms deliver a similar ARPU according to the company’s SVP of sales and marketing, Adam Flanders. Glu is also seeing its Android conversion rate continually improve, something Flanders credits to Google Play bringing in more credit card through its store-wide sales and Google Check Out’s expansion of international carrier billing options.

Access to carrier billing is an important tool for Android developers with free-to-play games because it allows users without credit cards to purchase digital goods, boosting conversion and monetization rates. Carrier billing is one of the key reasons companies like DeNA are able to see conversion rates of up to 15 percent in Japan, compared to about 2 percent in North America. The lucrative South Korean market is also the result of carrier billing — Com2uS has a 10 percent conversion rate for its Android games in South Korea and a three percent conversion rate in the U.S.

Robot Invader’s game Wind-Up Knight makes 60 percent of its total revenue through Google Play, largely thanks to carrier billing according to company co-founder (and former Android developer advocate) Chris Pruett. Wind-Up Knight players are also twice as likely to monetize on Android than they are on iOS and when they do convert, Android users generate higher ARPU than iOS ones — once again, largely due to carrier billing.

“Android actually has a number of unique features that make it pretty profitable,” he explains. “One major feature is integration with carrier billing systems across the world.  In some regions (particularly Japan and parts of Europe), nobody buys anything on their phone with credit cards — they all want their purchases to get charged to their mobile phone account and show up on their bill at the end of the month.”

Overall, the story from developers both big and small is that there is money to be earned on Google Play, but the companies that are making the best use of the market aren’t paid apps, they’re free-to-play games that are able to tap into carrier billing internationally.(source:insidemobileapps

4)Double Fine’s Kickstarter-funded adventure game to use the Lua-based Moai platform

by Tom Curtis

It’s been several weeks since Double Fine raised a record-breaking $3.3 million for its Kickstarter-funded adventure game, and now that development has begun, the studio has revealed that it will develop the project using Zipline Games’ Lua-based Moai Game platform.

The Moai SDK, which went into open beta last year, enables developers to code their games using a single language, and Double Fine says this programming environment will help it more easily create prototypes and launch its game on multiple platforms.

“We like to control every aspect of our games in order to bring [Double Fine founder Tim Schafer's] ideas to life, and because Moai is open source we can change any line of code we need to,” said Double Fine technical director Nathan Martz.

“Plus the fans asked for Double Fine Adventure on five different PC, tablet, and mobile phone platforms, and Moai supports them all with a single core codebase. It was the best choice for us,” he added.

Double Fine plans to release its adventure game in Spring 2013. For more information on the Moai platform, visit its official website.(source:gamasutra

5)Facebook platform sent 160M users to mobile apps in April

Brittany Darwell

Facebook says it sent more than 160 million visitors to Facebook-integrated mobile apps last month, according to a post on the company’s developer blog.

Native mobile games like Zynga’s “With Friends” titles, popular apps from Spotify, Pinterest and now Viddy and Socialcam are among those that benefit from Facebook’s mobile discovery

channels. The social network’s mobile platform also helps web apps like the Washington Post Social Reader, Flixter and BranchOut.

Visitors from Facebook accounted for 1.1 billion visits to iOS and HTML5 apps, meaning an average of more than 6 visits per user. These numbers are up from February when Facebook said it drove 60 million users to mobile apps an average of about five times per month. Next month is likely to be much higher since the social network began supporting mobile discovery for native Android apps last week.

Facebook says iOS video sharing app Viddy now has more than 16 million registered users, in part because of Open Graph integration that shares user activity between the mobile and desktop versions. Because of similar functionality, networking web app BranchOut has seen more than 18 million people come in from the social network in the past 28 days. Facebook also highlighted movie review and info mobile web app, Flixster, which has seen a tenfold increase in the number of visitors from Facebook in the past four weeks. These visitors generated a total of 15 million visits in the same period.

Facebook also made a point in its blog post that seven of the top 10 grossing iOS apps and six of the top 10 grossing Android apps integrate with Facebook through single sign-on or Open Graph.

Facebook’s mobile platform allows HTML5 and native iOS and Android apps to get distribution through News Feed bookmarks and requests. When users navigate to mobile app links from Facebook, the appropriate native app will open on a user’s device or lead to a download page if the user doesn’t have it yet. Developers also have the option to integrate Facebook Open Graph, which lets games automatically publish stories about user activity, including reaching a new high score, leveling up, earning an achievement or surpassing another friend playing the game. These stories are distributed through mobile Timeline and News Feed and can drive traffic back to a mobile game.(source:insidemobileapps

6)OpenFeint founder Jason Citron reveals his new game company

By Josh Wittenkeller

At just 27 years old, Jason Citron carries quite the resume. He helped develop DoubleFine’s Brutal Legend in 2006. He released his 2008 iPhone game Aurora Feint on the day that the App store opened. Then, in 2011, he sold his social gaming network OpenFeint to GREE for a whopping $104 million. With so much success at such a young age, the question over the past year has remained: What will Citron do next?

The answer? As expected, Citron is making his own games again. It is, after all, what he does best. With his new game company (named Phoenix Guild), he aims to create games for the constantly expanding tablet and touch-screen market.

Citron, who is currently coding a new game by himself, aims to release Phoenix Guild’s first game by the end of the year. While he could simply buy out a team of his own with the capital he’s raised so far, he still finds himself compelled to complete a lot of work on his own.

He’s motivated by a sentiment often mentioned but not often accomplished by other developers: he wants to create console experiences for tablet devices.

Citron cited Funzio, which has produced hit “mid-core” titles like Crime City and Modern War, as a comparison point for Phoenix Guild. “We want to [be] Funzio, but fast forward that by five years,” he said. Ironically, just like Citron’s OpenFeint, Funzio was just bought by GREE in another multi-million dollar deal.

If there’s anyone that can create a true console experience for tablet devices, Citron is definitely a strong candidate. He has experience in hardcore game development, and knows plenty about creating games for the App Store. He also has quite a bit of capital.

With those powers combined, it’ll be exciting to see what game hits us from Phoenix Guild by the end of the year.(source:gamezebo

7)Paid games still alive and kicking on iOS, says Halfbrick

by Keith Andrew

Halfbrick CMO Phil Larsen has reacted to those claiming iOS is dominated by free releases by revealing that the Australian studio is making more money from paid games than ever.

Speaking during an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Larsen said it doesn’t help developers to think of the App Store as an either-or market.

Paid and free-to-play releases can coexist alongside each other perfectly happily.

Alive and kicking

“Some people say paid is dead and that’s wrong, it’s not dead than all,” Larsen told the site.

“We made more money on paid than we ever have it’s just that free is growing alongside it. At the time you’re going to see that shift in balance and it’s up to the consumers to see where that goes.”

Indeed, the wealth of free games on the market means that those still that come with a price tag do gain a certain advantage in the eyes of many a consumer.

“Paid games do have a different perception on the App Store, they do have a higher perception of quality about them,” he added.

“99 cents for a game is cool, but people want to spend more if they like it. And we want to have that ability to let them spend more if they want to.”

Design decisions

Larsen stresses that knowing when to go the paid or free release is a question of learning more about the marketplace in question.

At the end of the day, however, the decision should be based on the design of the game itself, rather than the market pressures of the time.

“We know what we’re going to make and if a game that we’re making is built around a paid design or a free design we’ll decide,” he concluded.

“With Jetpack Joyride we gave it a lot of options. It had those legs to be able to change and adapt.

“I’m a big fan of paid content, but the free model has helped get more people into gaming and now they have been eased into it perhaps they will be enticed to pay for content. Then we need to market it correctly and explain why something is paid for and why we’re asking for money upfront.”(source:pocketgamer

8)BlackBerry World 2012: RIM guarantees ‘quality’ BB 10 apps and games will make at least $10,000

by Jon Jordan

The details have yet to fully explained, but one of the most interesting announcements from BlackBerry World 2012 has been RIM’s financial commitment to get developers ready for its new BB 10 OS.

One element of this has been giving away over 20,000 PlayBook tablets; the company has said all PlayBook apps will run on the new OS, making it the ‘gateway to BB 10′ – a phrase used by RIM executives.

Another – announced today – is the news that RIM will guarantee that BB 10 apps and games, which pass its quality certification, will make $10,000 in their first 12 months on App World.

If they don’t, RIM will write a cheque to make up the difference.

Grease the palm

It’s all part of RIM’s investment in its app ecosystem for the BB 10 launch; something developer relations VP Alec Saunders revealed will be costing the company over $100 million.

Exactly what that quality certification will be hasn’t yet been revealed. The process will be handled by third party company for RIM and likely involve meeting technical and usability thresholds.

No doubt, using RIM’s BB 10 toolkit, not to mention BBM and Scoreloop for social interaction, will tick some of those boxes.

Apps that qualify will spend less time in the pre-release queue, also getting better promotional slots on BlackBerry App World.(source:pocketgamer


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