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

免费模式的未来走向是否有利于行业发展?

作者:LeeBradley

行业的未来显然是免费模式。随着商店的关闭及零售收益的下滑,越来越多工作室将免费商业模式视作他们的救命稻草。受此模式在PC和移动平台表现不俗的鼓舞,游戏机开发者如今开始试图参与其中。但这是否是件好事?

免费模式游戏帮助潜在用户移除准入门槛,让他们能够免费体验众多内容。进入游戏中后,玩家就会面临众多消费选择,以支撑免费体验,所有这些内容都需要付费。集结免费和付费内容,这一模式被称作是免费增值模式。

免费增值模式取得突出成绩。在移动和PC平台,这一类型的游戏比付费内容带来更多收益。从《宝石迷阵闪电战》到《军团要塞2》,MMO游戏通过脱离此付费模式获得众多用户,游戏内容消费频率和收益水平都出现显著提高。简单来说,这是个可行模式。

因此游戏机开发者开始对此投以关注。

在上周的台北GDC大会上,Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney表示,免费增值模式游戏是行业未来的必然发展趋势。他表示,“我们创造出《战争机器》之类的作品,你走进商店,购买一塑料盒。你只需购买这一DVD。这很快就会发生改变。”

并非只有他这么认为。《孤岛危机》开发者Crytek最近宣布公司转投免费增值模式。很快,他们制作的所有内容将采用免费模式。该公司首席执行官Cevat Yerli表示,“在我看来,这是即将改变行业的新型游戏,是最人性化的商业模式。”

积极作用非常明显。就理论上来看,这意味着你无需在尚未试验之前就投入60美元购买一款糟糕作品。这同时还降低风险,开发者可以根据作品的热门程度在游戏中添加内容。在设计得当的情况下,这能够带来更有趣、更低风险的游戏。这些都是有利因素。

但免费增值模式是否真的是“最人性化的商业模式?”就目前来看并非如此。

cevat yerli from ps3trophies.org

cevat yerli from ps3trophies.org

免费增值模式的设计方式和付费游戏截然不同。其成功完全依赖于促使玩家购买商品。显然内容需要富有趣味,但若你没有投入任何资金,那么设计师最终将以失败告终(游戏邦注:因此,免费增值模式的游戏通过各种技巧促使玩家进行消费)。

这通常意味着,非付费玩家将处于不利地位,他们较少拥有强大设备,面临时间限制和内容限制。设计这类游戏通常意味着,如果你愿意掏钱,那么你就能够有效通过付费胜出。这不是围绕技能、反应、或是解决问题的技能,这主要围绕资金问题。糟糕的免费增值模式完全算不上真正的游戏,而是设置巧妙的陷阱。

《超级食肉男孩》开发者Edmund McMillan对此持有更加强烈的看法。他在最近的博客中表示,“如今这一模式包含众多错误举措,从滥用及操纵性赚钱策略,到完全性的抄袭。”

“在我们看来,移动平台的主要失误之处在于,不尊重玩家。似乎有很多公司将他们的用户看作是“哑巴的牛羊”,将他们聚集起来榨取乳汁,然后把他们饥肠辘辘地潜回。”

他继续表示,“光凭语言无法表达出这给游戏、玩家或整个平台带来的糟糕影响。这一商业技巧对真正的游戏设计来说是个侮辱,体现移动/休闲电子游戏领域的错误所在。”

言辞犀利。但继这一模式取得突出成就之后,这一行为如今开始影响硬核AAA游戏。EA首席执行官John Riccitiello在去年的股东大会上谈及公司未来的免费模式计划。这让人看着心生恐惧。

“当你投入6小时体验《战地风云》,耗尽自己所存储的弹药,游戏通过收取1美元让你重新加载内容时,你此时多半不会对此价格感到敏感。”

Riccitiello from ps3trophies.org

Riccitiello from ps3trophies.org

“最终结果是,也就是先体验后付费模式具有可行性的原因是,用户着迷于某资产中。随后当他们深入游戏中后,他们就在其中投入大把资金。”

Riccitiello继续表示,“到那时,投入性就变得相当高。这是个相当不错的模式,代表更美好的行业未来。”

游戏是更美好的行业未来,但显然不是针对玩家而言。滥用免费增值模式的做法已导致不少移动领域的用户心生愤怒,若干发行商(游戏邦注:包括Capcom)不得不给月消费数量设定上限。当某业务需要靠此方式进行管理时,这对消费者来说是否有益?显然不利。

那么那些未采用免费增值模式的游戏呢?《刺客信条》之类的叙述体验未来是否会通过收费让你解锁各章节、武器、位置和任务?我们是否需要付费查看故事的最后剧情画面?非免费增值模式的游戏设计是否会不复存在?这些都不利于玩家。

免费模式不是适合所有开发者的解决方案。传统AAA巨作的收益将继续超越免费增值模式。在精华版和付费版之类的订阅服务中,传统模式依然有其发展空间。但事实情况是,未来我们将看到越来越多的免费模式游戏。

电子游戏领域以惊人速度持续发展,变化是件好事。但当此未来发展危及游戏的设计方式时,当未来瞄准付费加载之类的荒谬方向时,当未来发展围绕利用手段时,这就会带来严重问题。

主机游戏也许会朝免费模式方向发展,但我们期望行业能够找到既有利于玩家,又能够给发行商带来丰厚收益的模式。(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

The Future is Apparently Free-to-Play, But is That a Good Thing?

By LeeBradley

The future is free, apparently. With stores closing and retail revenues dropping, an increasing number of studios are looking to the free-to-play business model as their saviour. Encouraged by its success on PC and mobile, console devs are now looking to get in on the act. But is that such a good thing?

Free-to-play games remove the barrier of entry for prospective users, allowing them to play a chunk of content for nothing. Once engaged, the player then has a number of purchasing options with which to supplement the free experience, all of which comes at a price. A combination of free and premium, the model is referred to as freemium.

Freemium has been a huge success. On mobiles and PC, games of this type generate far more revenue than their premium counterparts. From Bejewelled Blitz to Team Fortress 2 and any number of MMOs, the switch away from premium has led to rocketing users, healthy in-game purchases and significantly increased revenue. Put simply, it’s a model that works.

As such, console developers are starting to sit up and take notice.

Speaking at GDC Taipai last week, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said that freemium titles represent the inevitable future of the industry. “We’ve been building these games like Gears of War where you go into the store and you buy a piece of plastic!,” he said. “You just buy this DVD. That is going to change rapidly.”

He’s not the only one that thinks so. Crysis devs Crytek recently announced their commitment to the freemium model. Very soon, everything they make will be free-to-play. “I think this is a new breed of games that has to happen to change the landscape, and be the most user-friendly business model,” said CEO Cevat Yerli.

The positives are clear. In theory, it means that you’ll never spend $60 on a rubbish game before you’ve even played it. It also reduces the risk for developers who can steadily add to the scope of the game according to popularity. In the best case scenario this leads to more interesting and less risk-averse games. These are all good things.

But is freemium really “the most user-friendly business model”? Not on current evidence.

Freemium games are designed in a completely different way to premium games. Their success rests entirely on their ability to suck you into buying things. Sure they have to be fun, but if you don’t spend any money then the designers have failed. As such, freemium games employ various tactics to encourage you to invest.

This usually means putting the non-paying user at a disadvantage, with less powerful equipment, time caps and content restrictions. The design of such games often means that if you’re willing to spend money you can effectively pay to win. It’s not about skill, or reactions, or problem-solving acumen, it’s about cash. The worst freemium games aren’t really games at all, but skilfully constructed traps.

Super Meat Boy developer Edmund McMillan has even stronger opinions on the subject. In a recent blog post he said, “There is a whole shit load of wrong out there these days, from abusive and manipulative money making tactics, to flat out stealing.

“To us the core of what is wrong with the mobile platform is the lack of respect for players. It really seems like a large number of these companies out there view their audience as dumb cattle who they round up, milk and then send them on their way feeling empty or at times violated.”

He continued, “Words cannot express how fucking wrong and horrible this is, for games, for gamers and for the platform as a whole. This business tactic is a slap in the face to actual game design and embodies everything that is wrong with the mobile/casual video game scene.”

Harsh words. Yet following the startling success of the model, such behaviour is now set to infect core AAA games. Speaking at a stockholder’s meeting last year, EA CEO John Riccitiello outlined the company’s vision of a free-to-play future. It makes for terrifying reading.

“When you are six hours into playing Battlefield and you run out of ammo in your clip and we ask you for a dollar to reload, you’re really not that price sensitive at that point in time.”

“So essentially what ends up happening, and the reason the play-first, pay-later model works nicely, is a consumer gets engaged in a property. They may spend ten, twenty, thirty, fifty hours in a game. And then, when they’re deep into a game, they’re well invested in it.

Riccitiello continued, “At that point in time the commitment can be pretty high. It’s a great model and it represents a substantially better future for the industry.”

A better future for the industry, perhaps, but certainly not for gamers. Aggressive implementation of the freemium model has already led to consumer outrage in the mobile market, with some publishers – including Capcom – forced to introduce caps on monthly in-game purchases. When a business needs to be regulated in this way, is that good for consumers? Clearly not.

And what about games that don’t lend themselves to the freemium model? Will narrative experiences like Assassin’s Creed charge you to unlock each chapter, weapon, location and mission? Should we prepare to pay to see the story’s final cutscene? Or will non-freemium-friendly game designs simply cease to exist? None of those things are good for the consumer either.

Free-to-play isn’t the answer for everyone. The profits on traditional AAA blockbusters continue to outstrip those of freemium titles. Add in subscription services like Elite and Premium and there’s life in the old model yet. However, the fact remains that we’re going to be seeing a lot more free-to-play games in years to come.

The world of video games is evolving at a hugely accelerated rate and change is good. But when that future threatens the very way in which games are designed, when that future points to ridiculous things like paying to reload, when that future involves exploitative practices, then there’s a very serious problem.

Console games may be heading towards a free-to-play future, but let’s hope a way is found to make that news as good for gamers as it is for publishers’ bank balances.(Source:ps3trophies


上一篇:

下一篇: