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每日观察:关注社交卡牌游戏在北美市场发展情况(6.1)

1)据pocketgamer报道,日前有传言称Zynga将于今年夏季发布至少两款新游戏,其中包括吸引年轻男性群体的“中度硬核”游戏,另外也有可能宣布推出《FarmVille》等热作的继集游戏。

据称Zynga已经获得Unreal Engine授权,其新游戏有可能基于该工具开发而成。

zynga-japan-ayakashi(from serkantoto)

zynga-japan-ayakashi(from serkantoto)

2)据serkantoto报道,Zynga日本工作室日前推出第二款原创游戏《Ayakashi – Onmyouroku》(游戏邦注:该工作室于2月份向iOS平台推出首款IP游戏《Montopia》),这款社交卡牌战斗游戏仅登陆日本智能手机平台(先发布Android版本,之后再推出iOS版本),采用免费增值模式,并且没有绑定Mobage或GREE等任何社交游戏平台。

这款游戏现已入驻Google Play,允许玩家在其中登录自己的Facebook帐号,其画面极具日本漫画风格,已在Gamespot Japan等游戏媒体中获得了好评。

3)日本社交游戏公司GREE近日宣布将于今年夏季向北美引进旗下卡牌战斗游戏《Driland》。该公司曾在去年12月份透露,这款游戏每月IAP收益达20亿日元(约2600万美元)。尽管该游戏收益可能已受到Kompu gacha被禁风波的影响,但目前仍是日本iPhone应用营收榜单第三名。这款游戏还被Toei Animation改制成电视动画片,并以漫画形式出现在杂志上。

Driland--top 3(from insidemobileapps)

Driland--top 3(from insidemobileapps)

GREE另一款卡牌战斗游戏《Zombie Jombie》在北美市场也同样表现不俗,据AppData数据显示,它目前是iOS应用营收榜单第20名。GREE竞争对手DeNA的卡牌社交游戏《Rage of Bahamut》也已经在Android应用营收

榜单登顶一个多月,在iOS平台发布不到两个月就晋升至营收榜单第26名。这一系列情况表明,卡牌战斗游戏在北美地区同样很有市场。

GREE还宣布将在下周的E3大会展出5款新游戏,它们分别是第一方游戏《Wacky Motors》、Crowdstar游戏《Closet Wars》、Vostu游戏《Shaking Vegas》、Capcom游戏《Resident Evil VS》以及Gameloft卡牌战斗游戏《Gang Domination》。

4)Kixeye日前宣布在澳大利亚布里斯本成立新工作室,意在扩大公司的国际影响力,加速推出新产品。该工作室团队成员来自3 Blokes Studios工作室(游戏邦注:其代表作包括《Galactic Trader》),将由前Creative Assembly澳大利亚工作室任总经理。该团队目前正投入开发新游戏,并将进行扩招。

backyard-monsters(from venturebeat)

backyard-monsters(from venturebeat)

Kixeye成立于2007年,已经连续两年实现盈利,在2010年收益增长11倍,预计2012年将实现上亿营收,计划于明年将团队规模扩大至300人。

5)Pew Internet and American Life Project最近报告指出,从2011年5月至2012年2月,Twitter在线成人用户所占比例从原先的2%增长至15%(游戏邦注:其调查样本为2200多名不低于18岁的成人用户)。

twitter-adoption-age(from pew research)

twitter-adoption-age(from pew research)

约三分之一(31%)年龄介于18-24岁的网民是Twitter用户,而2011年5月份的这一比例仅为18%,可见这一用户群体在此期间增幅为74%。这一群体中有20%用户每天都使用Twitter,而去年同期的这一比例仅为9%。

有20%智能手机用户使用Twitter,13%智能手机用户每天都使用Twitter。调查还发现,手机功能越少,用户使用Twitter的概率就越低。

twitter-use(from pew research)

twitter-use(from pew research)

值得注意的是,Twitter普及率也许不会提高,但用户对Twitter的使用率却是有增无减。在2011年5月至2012年2月之间,有8%网民每天都使用Twitter,其使用率翻倍增长。

6)北京社交游戏公司乐元素日前宣布完成了对腾讯开放平台上著名游戏《演义三国》制作团队的合并和收购,但没有透露收购细节,即日起《演义三国》制作团队及其所有游戏产品将变更为乐元素品牌。(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)Rumours suggest Zynga will announce Unreal-powered ‘mid-core’ games

by Jon Jordan

Given its share price (NASDAQ:ZNGA) continues on the way down, commentators are keenly anticipating the next games from Zynga.

And according to multiple sources, it seems the company is refocusing for its future slate.

Although it won’t be announcing them at E3 – the company is working on building up its publishing business at the show – it’s expected that at least two new games will be announced later in the summer.

Raising the stakes

According to Colin Sebastian of private equity group Baird Equity (quoted by Gamasutra), these will include ‘mid-core’ titles that will appeal to a broader audience of gamers – notably a younger and more male audience.

Other companies targeting this very hot space include Glu, Kabam, Storm8, Machine Zone, Supercell and the now GREE-owned Funzio.

Zynga is also expected to announce sequels to existing franchises, such as FarmVille.

However, an even more intriguing rumour has been making the rounds. It seems Zynga has licensed the Unreal Engine, suggesting these games will be a significant step up in graphical quality compared to its typically isometric sprite-based titles. (source:pocketgamer

2)Zynga Japan Rolls Out 2nd Social Game With Original IP: Ayakashi – Onmyouroku [Social Games]

by Dr. Serkan Toto

Zynga Japan released their second game with original IP yesterday: just like role-playing game Montopia (released in February on iOS and in March on Android), the title is:

•mobile-only and free to play

•offered exclusively on smartphones (Android first this time, an iOS version might be launched later)

•available in Japanese only

•and “social gaming platform-free” (as in not using the Mobage or GREE networks).

Dubbed Ayakashi – Onmyouroku (roughly: Ayakashi – The Yin-Yang Chronicles), Zynga Japan decided to go with a social card battle game this time (explanation and popularity of this genre in Japan)

The title hit Google Play (together with a full English-language description of the story) yesterday.

In the game, players take on the role of an exorcist who is summoned whenever Ayakashi appear, Japanese sea ghosts that come forth during a shipwreck. Players use different cards to battle it out with other exorcists or to complete quests to get the Ayakashi under their control.

It’s possible to form teams, fuse cards (to get new ones or make existing ones stronger), play gacha, etc. – the usual ingredients of a Japanese social card game.

As Ayakashi is platform-free (again, it’s not using Mobage or GREE), Zynga Japan made it possible for users to log in with their Facebook accounts.

Just like in the case of Montopia, Zynga Japan has taken their time to release a mobile social game that looks quite nice from a technical point of view. The game’s design is significantly more “Japanese”/manga-esque this time, and it’s actually getting pretty positive early reviews, ie from Gamespot Japan.(source:serkantoto

3)GREE bringing $26M-a-month-earning card battle game Driland to North America

Kathleen De Vere

GREE has announced mega-hit Japanese card battle game Driland is coming to North America this summer. The game makes its debut at E3 next week.

Like many of the most popular and profitable mobile social games in Japan, Driland is a free-to-play role playing title that challenges players to battle monsters with a collection of virtual cards. Players can also trade cards and pit their collections against one another in battle to win rewards and prizes. Although card battle games are generally popular in Japan, Driland can only be described as phenomenally popular. In December, GREE revealed the game was earning more than 2 billion yen per month ($26 million) in revenue from in-app purchases.

While that figure was likely increased by the now-banned kompu gacha sales tactic (which greatly incentivized users to purchase randomized packs of additional cards), the app is still the No. 3 top grossing iPhone app in Japan today. The game is also being adapted into an animated TV series by Toei Animation and a serialized comic in Shueisha’s Jump Square magazine.

Driland has also been popular enough in Japan to generate piracy problems. In April, GREE had to suspend the in-game card trading system in the game to prevent players from illegally copying rare cards and reselling them for significant sums of real money. While it may seem minor, the problem was significant enough for GREE to detail the steps it was taking to address the problem during its third quarter earnings report.

Problems aside, the move is a logical one for GREE, as the card-battle genre appears to be off to a strong start in North America. GREE’s in-house developed card-battle game Zombie Jombie has been doing well on the top grossing iOS charts and is currently the No. 20 top grossing app according to AppData. Meanwhile, GREE’s rival DeNA has racked up considerable success with its card-battle game Rage of Bahamut. The game has topped the Android top grossing charts for more than a month now. The title has also been a hit on iOS climbing to No. 26 on the top grossing chart in less than two weeks after its release.

GREE also revealed five other news games will be on display at its E3 booth: the first-party title Wacky Motors, Crowdstar’s Closet Wars, Vostu’s Shaking Vegas, Capcom’s tentatively titled Resident Evil VS and the previously announced Gameloft card battle game Gang Domination.(source:insidemobileapps

4)Kixeye expands to mobile games, creates Australian studio

Dean Takahashi

Kixeye has been one of a handful of large game developers that has been so successful on Facebook that it has never expanded beyond the social network. But the San Francisco company announced today that it will partner with Ngmoco to publish Backyard Monsters on mobile devices. The company is also expanding its game development to a new studio in Australia.

The moves show that Kixeye is becoming big enough to consider ways to expand to new markets without losing focus on what it does best: making hardcore games for Facebook fans. Brandon Barber, senior vice president of marketing at Kixeye, said in an interview with GamesBeat that partnership with Ngmoco is an experiment in moving to mobile.

“It is not like a major diversification because we are 99 percent focused on Facebook,” Barber said.”Mobile is not a core focus for us. But in conversations with Ngmoco, we found they had ideas on how to make Backyard Monsters fun on mobile while remaining true to the Facebook version.” He added, “We think our games can monetize anywhere.”

Kixeye’s chief executive, Will Harbin, has also said that the company’s priority is to focus on making high-end, high-quality games on the social network. He thinks other companies are fleeing to new platforms because they have failed on Facebook.

But Kixeye, which focuses on online combat strategy games, is growing big enough to cover its bets. Soon it will launch Kixeye.com to reach users who don’t want to play on Facebook. The company has nearly 200 employees in San Francisco and will add 10 more at its studio in Brisbane, Australia.

The new team comes from 3 Blokes, a development studio that worked on games such as Rome: Total War in the past. George Fidler, previously head of the Creative Assembly game studio in Australia, will be the general manager of the studio. The new team is now in production on a game and will add more people over time.

“The talent pool in Australia is exploding, and the 3 Blokes team is evidence of that,” said Harbin. “George and his team are highly driven and passionate game developers who aren’t afraid to push the limits of creativity and innovation. Those are the types of individuals we’re looking for to join our mission at Kixeye.”

With Ngmoco, Kixeye will publish its Backyard Monsters title on the worldwide Mobage platform, which is a social network for mobile gamers. The move is Kixeye’s first expansion into mobile games and will launch this summer on iOS and Android.

Backyard Monsters has had more than 20 million game installs to date, and players have played it for more than 175 million hours. In the game, players build and manage little empires. They harvest resources, place defensive towers, and fend off attacks from wild monsters.

Kixeye was founded in 2007. The company has been profitable for two years. It grew revenues 11x in 2010 and will do nine figures in revenue in 2012. On Facebook, Kixeye has 4.5 million monthly active users for Backyard Monsters, War Commander, Battle Pirates, and Desktop Defender. That’s small compared to Zynga, which has 247 million monthly active users. But Kixeye’s users are loyal, with a quarter of them coming back every day. And those loyal users tend to spend a lot of money in games.

Kixeye plans to grow to 300 employees in the next year and will relocate to a new headquarters in San Francisco in the next month. Barber said Kixeye has a number of new games coming this year.(source:venturebeat

5)Welcome to Generation Tweet: 31 percent of online 18 to 24-year-olds use Twitter

Jennifer Van Grove

It’s a new generation — of young 20-somethings who tweet from their smartphones.

From May 2011 to February 2012, the overall percentage of online adults who use Twitter barely moved the needle, growing by a measly 2 percent to 15 percent, according to research from the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Today’s youngsters, especially those in the 18 to 24 age range, are another story entirely.

Nearly one-third, or 31 percent, of 18- to 24-year-old Internet users are now Twitter users, Pew found. The figure represents 74 percent growth from May 2011 when just 18 percent of internet users in the 18 to 24 age bracket were Twitter users. Plus, 20 percent of these young adults now use Twitter on a typical day, up from 9 percent in May 2011.

Pew’s study findings are based on telephone interviews conducted in two batches earlier this year, each with more than 2,200 adults 18 and older.

Pew also found that one in five, or 20 percent, of smartphone owners are Twitters and that 13 percent of smartphone owners use Twitter on a typical day. The more basic the phone, the less likely internet users are to use Twitter, Pew found. As such, the research center believes there to be a strong connection between the rise of young Twitterers and increased smartphone adoption among this group.

“This correlation between Twitter adoption and smartphone ownership may help to explain the recent growth in Twitter usage among young adults,” Pew said in the report. “Those ages 18-24 are not just the fastest growing group when it comes to Twitter adoption over the last year — they also experienced the largest increase in smartphone ownership of any demographic group over the same time period.”

While the with-it and hip may be sweet on Twitter, older generations are either loving it or leaving it be. Twitter use by online adults in their mid-20s to mid-40s leveled off in the past year.

Here’s one thing worth nothing: Twitter may not be becoming more approachable to the overall online publication, but those that do use the service are using it more actively. Twitter usage doubled between May 2011 and February 2012 with 8 percent of online adults using Twitter daily.(source:venturebeat


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