作者：Zen Terrelonge

2004年，GREE作为只面向PC平台的社交游戏网站诞生了，但是因为竞争对手的相继涌现，该公司不得不转向手机平台（2007年）。

GREE是最早使用免费（游戏邦注：基于应用内部购买和广告的免费模式）下载平台的公司，5月份，当日本政府开始免费游戏的合法性时，该公司遭受了重创，并导致股票下跌了500日元。

gree_mobile(from uptodatetech）

今年，GREE致力于向美国市场而扩展，所以在美国成立了好几家工作室，同时他们也收购了像Funzio等手机游戏开发商。

今年夏季，该公司通过在伦敦的科技城开设工作室而正式进入欧洲市场，并以此巩固了自己的地位。现在，该公司共拥有40多名员工，并且有一半是来自于工作室；他们计划共聘请100名员工。

最近，他们公开了首个英国合作伙伴，即游戏发行商Thumbstar。Thumbstar将把GREE平台的社交功能整合进自己的首款应用《The Adorables》中。

ME与来自GREE欧洲办公室的Kyoko Matsushita以及游戏工作室副总裁Tsuyoshi Tanaka展开了交谈，希望进一步了解他们征服英国市场的计划。

你们在日本所遭遇的免费模式问题是否对公司的发展产生了影响？

日本政府只是对我们的游戏机制产生质疑。如今游戏产业中已经出现了许多举措能够有效控制游戏，从而让我们能够呈现出优越的用户体验，并遵循一定的标准。

在过去一年里，你们展开了频繁的收购行动，收购了包括Funzion，Paprika Lab，App Ant Studios等公司。这些收购行动对你们的发展有何重要性？

对于我们来说，投资和收购都非常关键，我们也将继续在全球范围内继续进行收购行为，而不只是面对一块区域。因为我们希望产品趋于多样化，并进一步提高我们游戏和内容的质量。我们必须以适当的资源去维持与新公司之间的业务关系。

你们已经从亚洲市场走向美国，甚至进入了欧洲。对于这种扩展你们有什么计划？

我们已经在亚洲，美国和英国市场建立了10家工作室，现在我们也正在开发多款面向全球市场的游戏。我们希望英国工作室所创造的游戏能够具有欧洲色彩和独特风味。Mind Candy便是我们的一大合作伙伴，我们正帮助他们将《Moshi Monsters》推向手机平台。我们希望创造出迎合欧洲玩家喜好，同时也能吸引全球玩家的游戏。

你们是如何与Mind Candy展开合作？

是共同的目标以及类似的公司愿景促成了我们的合作。比起开会，两家公司的首席执行官是通过一起玩《街头霸王》去拉近彼此间的关系。我们共同创造了两款游戏，即模拟游戏《Moshi Village》以及纸牌游戏《失落的岛屿》，并计划在2013年以这两款游戏正式登上英国“舞台”。

日本市场与欧洲市场有什么区别？

我们曾经为Capcom和Namco Bandai制作过主机游戏《鬼泣》，所以我们知道如何面向欧洲市场创造游戏。有时候我们需要面对特定市场对应用进行本土化完善，但是这种方法却不适用于法国市场，因为法国用户非常喜欢日本漫画和日式风格的内容。

日本玩家非常喜欢纸牌类手机游戏和益智游戏，但是英国玩家则更喜欢射击，行动和模拟游戏。所以在制作《Moshi Monsters Village》时我们便考虑到这一点。

除此之外，日本玩家喜欢游戏中的文本内容和各种引导，但是英国玩家却排斥过多的文本。这都是我们需要多加考虑的细节内容。我们将在6个月内搞清楚游戏策略是否适合当地玩家，并且在这一过程中我们也将始终保持着学习的态度。

你们已经通过使用免费模式获取了巨大的成功。为什么你们认为玩家更喜欢应用内部购买而不是预先付费？

付费下载模式仍然存在着，但是我们认为用户更希望在确保产品质量或名声后才掏钱。休闲游戏中的免费模式之所以如此有效是因为它能提供给用户免费的体验，然后让他们自行选择是否通过花钱而进一步完善游戏玩法，换句话说，如果他们觉得游戏足够有趣，他们便会自动为其掏腰包了。

你是否认为应用内部广告或应用内部购买能够有效地推动收益发展？

不可否认的是，应用内部购买是大多数游戏的主要赚钱手段，尽管广告也能带来收益，但主要还是取决于我们所使用的广告模式。

你们是否会尝试着推动英国开发商们去使用GREE平台？

对于日本以外的市场，我们的平台还处于测试阶段（在日本，这一服务已经取得了多年的成功），我们也在不断添加新功能去完善它。而在面向西方市场推出更多游戏的同时，我们确实也在向该领域推广着这一平台。

你们已经面向美国展开了许多独立投资和项目，是否也会将这种积极性延伸至英国？

我们对此充满了野心，并在进军欧洲市前就做好了各种功课。我们想要发展与当地开发商之间的关系，并在媒体间建立起一定的名气。我们计划着创造属于自己的产品，同时也希望与其它公司在内容上展开合作，以此推动我们的发展。

虽然这里的初创公司不如美国来得多，但是我们也会根据公司目标与文化去挑选最合适的合作伙伴。

（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）

INTERVIEW: GREE on invading the UK to command, conquer and cooperate

by Zen Terrelonge

GREE was born as a PC-only social games network in 2004, but a rival service was soon launched, prompting the company to move to mobile in 2007.

The company was an early adopter of the freemium (free-to-play with in-app purchases and advertising) download platform, which came under fire in May when the government looked into the legalities of F2P gaming. This saw company shares fall by 500 yen as a result.

GREE has been busy expanding outside of its native Japan and into the US this year, which has seen the opening of multiple American offices, while it has acquired the likes of Funzio and other mobile games developers.

The firm continued to strengthen its position by moving into Europe to open a UK office in London’s tech city during the summer. Indeed, the site now boasts more than 40 staff members, with around half working in the studio, and they’re looking to hire 100 employees in total.

The first UK partnership was recently announced, with games publisher Thumbstar integrating GREE Platform social features into their debut app, The Adorables.

ME spoke to vice president of developer relations Kyoko Matsushita and game studio vice president Tsuyoshi Tanaka to find out more about their plans for for conquering Britain.

How did the freemium scandal in Japan affect the company?

The government was questioning the mechanics of our games. There are now industry initiatives to regulate the titles, thus ensuring we give a decent user experience and adhere to certain standards.

You’ve made a large number of acquisitions over the past year, including Funzio, Paprika Lab, App Ant Studios. How important is for you to make takeovers?

Investments and acquisitions are key, and we’ll continue to look out for them on a global basis; it’s never just about one region. The bottom line is that we want to diversify our product portfolio and look at quality content and games. It’s important to have the right resources and chemistry to proceed in a business partnership with new firms.

You’ve moved from Asia to the US, and now into Europe. What’s the big plan of attack?

We have ten studios in Asia, the US, and now the UK, and there’s multiple titles in development for the global market at the moment. Our focus is to make games out of the UK studio with European colour and flavour. One of the existing partnerships is with Mind Candy and we’ll be driving their Moshi Monsters franchise to mobile. We want to make titles that will work on a continental level, but also on a global level.

How did the Mind Candy partnership come about?

We have a shared vision, and our similar company cultures sealed the deal. Instead of having a meeting, the CEOs ended up playing Street Fighter, which was a great way to break the ice. We’re producing two games; Moshi Village is a simulation-based game, while Lost Islands is a card game and the pair will mark our UK debut in 2013.

What are the differences between Japan and the European markets?

We have experience producing console games like Devil May Cry for Capcom and Namco Bandai, so we know how to make games fit for the European space. Sometimes we’ll really need to localise an app for specific markets, but in France for example, French consumers are big fans of manga and Japanese styles and localisation isn’t really necessary.

In Japan, consumers really enjoy card-based mobile games and puzzlers, but Brits really enjoy shooters, action and simulation. We’ve taken the latter into consideration with Moshi Monsters Village.

Japanese gamers really enjoy text and guides too, though people in the UK will be put off by too much text. It’s those subtle differences that we need to take on board. In six months time, we’ll know whether our strategy to fit the region is working or not, we’re still learning.

You’ve used the freemium model to great success. Why do you feel that gamers are more inclined to pay within an app, but not to pay premium prices?

The pay-per-download model is still there, but people want to make sure they pay for quality or well-known games. Freemium works well with casual games because they give users a free experience, which then leaves the choice down to them whether they want to make a purchase to enrich the gameplay, or if they’re happy with the level they’re on.

Do you find in-app advertising or in-app purchases is a better revenue driver?

In-app purchases are definitely the main bread and butter for the company in general across the majority of games, but advertising still brings in profits, supported by the multiple ad formats we use.

Are you actively trying to encourage UK developers to begin using the GREE Platform?

It’s still in a beta stage outside of Japan, where the service has been successful for a number of years, but it’s still being improved with added features over here. We’ll definitely start pushing it more once we have more titles produced for the Western market.

You’ve started lots of US-based indie investments and projects, will you repeat these initiatives in the UK?

We’re very ambitious and proactive in that sense and we’ve learned a lot since arriving here. We really want to build our relationship with developers and become a familiar name in the media. The plan is to build our own products, but also partner with other companies for content to accelerate our growth.

There’re not as many startups over here as there are in the US, but we’ve got our eyes on a number of companies and we’re looking for partners with the same company vision and chemistry as GREE.(source:mobile-ent)