作者：Julien Codorniou

越来越多社交游戏公司在世界各地兴起（现在的热点城市是俄罗斯的莫斯科、以色列的特拉维夫和芬兰的赫尔辛基）。因为工作，我每天都要接触许多游戏开发商。无论这些游戏公司的规模大小、所在地区或专注的平台，他们经常提到的问题是：

1、社交游戏可以变成手机游戏吗？

2、游戏开发商正在脱离Facebook而转向手机吗？

3、如何让玩家发现并安装我的游戏？

以下是我给出的答案。

1、社交游戏可以变成手机游戏吗？

手机游戏如果具有社交性将更加优秀的一个原因便是：和朋友一起玩游戏更有趣。自古以来，游戏就具有社交属性（从西洋双陆棋到国际象棋再到桌面游戏）。因此，好友成为游戏体验的中心部分，包括发现、玩和讨论游戏。无论玩家在什么平台上玩游戏—-电脑网页或越来越多的手机，社交设计概念总是在起作用。随着在线游戏玩家群体愈发多样化，使游戏发展壮大的最好办法就是，让不同平台上的人都来玩这款游戏。

手机游戏开发商可以将他们的应用与Facebook工具一体化，使之具有社交性，包括增加Facebook登录功能和多人游戏模式。当你把手机游戏从单人变成多人，游戏对玩家的吸引力以及玩家发现游戏的概率便有可能会直线上升。社交手机游戏的推广依靠的是玩家每天与好友分享的活动，如发送邀请、竞争排名和发布动态消息—-这是最能吸引玩家关注游戏的方法。社交游戏业的发展过程是，先发展游戏，再通过Facebook进行推广。而社交手机游戏的发展将再次瓦解游戏产业，就像7年前社交网页游戏那样。

人们越来越倾向于随身带手机—-而从本质看来手机也就是人们的社交工具。最近的数据显示，58%的智能手机用户至少每小时查看手机1次。手机游戏的兴起使人们无论身在何处，都可以快速进入游戏世界。

许多领先的开发商已经证明，如果能在Facebook上做大做强，他们定也能在手机上取得成功。Wooga的《Bubble Island》和 《Diamond Dash》，Jellyvision Games的《You Don’t Know Jack》，Nordeus的《Top Eleven》，King.com的《Candy Crush Saga》和Playtika的《Slotomania》都是先在Facebook上热门起来，然后将热潮进一步蔓延到iPhone和/或Android平台。

现在正是开发社交手机游戏的良机。目前在iOS畅销应用排行榜上，前400名中有45%的游戏是从Facebook上发展起来的。不久以后，这些应用将不再被归类为“社交手机游戏”，而是被简单地称作“游戏”。

2、游戏开发商正在脱离Facebook而转向手机吗？

开发商不必在Facebook或手机之间做选择—-你应该考虑的是，Facebook和手机二者兼得。Facebook用户有10亿，而通过移动设备活跃于Facebook平台的用户有6亿。不开发这些Facebook手机用户实在是个损失。从Zynga 《Words With Friends》和PopCap的《Bejeweled Blitz》到FreshPlanet的《SongPop》，FishSticks Games的《Slots Journey》和Supercell的《Hay Day》，许多社交手机游戏已经高居排行榜。

事实上，有将近20万款手机应用和游戏是建立在Facebook的API上。无论何时，收益最高的iPhone应用中总有6到8款是与Facebook相结合的。今年入选苹果编辑精选的是Bad Robot Interactive的《Action Movie FX》，这也是与Facebook相结合的应用，

3、如何让玩家发现并安装我的游戏？

“曝光率”是手机开发商面临的最大挑战之一。实名制、好友和社交推广可以解决这个问题。

为了让你的应用在众多竞争对手中脱颖而出，你必须先理解以下几点。

不同的平台，相同的渠道：玩家是无处不在的

当人们听说一款好游戏时，他们不会考虑它适用于哪个平台。他们只是想玩。而Facebook能够将不同平台上的玩家们聚在一起。

多年来，Facebook游戏借助该网站（包括动态消息，书签，请求以及新手机应用安装广告等功能）成功吸引了许多玩家的关注，而游戏社交手机游戏也能通过相同的方式发展起来。无论是“手机至上”的公司还是从Facebook起步正在向手机进发的开发商，这个方法都是可行的。

King.com的跨平台游戏《Saga》在Facebook和手机平台上都表现出色，原因是它鼓励不靠滥发邮件的分享。《Bubble Witch Saga》（Facebook.com和iOS）和《Candy Crush Saga》（Facebook.com和iOS）让King.com晋升为Facebook开发商的前五强，它拥有的月活跃用户已超过5千万。

与好友竞争

songpop(from techcrunch)

社交手机游戏为好友之间的竞技玩法提供了最佳平台。玩家想开启下一关，想超过好友，想炫耀自己的进程，而正是这些想法吸引了更多好友加入游戏，从而形成一个像病毒一样传播的循环圈。结果是，通过Facebook连接的玩家往往更愿意在手机应用上耗费更多时间和金钱。

例如，《SongPop》从Facebook版本发展到网页、iPhone和Android。如果是和陌生人一起，这款音乐游戏几乎没什么乐趣。65%的《SongPop》的手机玩家是通过Facebook注册，这些玩家比不是通过Facebook注册的玩家花费的时间和金钱多了35%。

更新

如果说过去五年社交游戏开发商吸取了什么教训的话，那就是这个生态系统以极快的速度发展着，如果你创新的速度不够快，别人就会超过你。

至于Facebook Insights，开发商可以将游戏服务化，借此收集用户的反馈，然后根据分析结果改进游戏。过去，开发商们在发行完游戏后只会坐等下一个版本的更新，而现在，这样的日子已经成为历史。如今的社交游戏不再区分版本。它们之所以存在就是为了提供持续不断且高品质的体验，人们也始终都在期待看到最优秀的游戏。

Buffalo Studios对《Bingo Blitz》就是采取这种策略的。这款跨平台游戏为了吸引玩家，源源不断地更新场景，玩家为了获得限时的游戏内容会不断重返游戏世界。结果是，四分之一的玩家成为月活跃用户，并且坚持了一年或以上。

快速成功游戏vs.基于长期留存率的游戏

与电影和音乐行业一样，游戏也变成了基于快速成功的产业。现在的社交游戏开发商，要么追求快速成功，要么立足于长久的发展，但他们应该准备好应对这两类成功的自然过程。

注重快速成功的开发商必须做好曲折发展与持续地制造轰动的准备，这样他们的品牌才不会过时或流失玩家。另一方面，如果你设计游戏是为了长期的留存率，比如《Texas HoldEm Poker》、《DoubleDown Casino》和《Battle Pirates》，那么游戏体验将会随着更多好友的加入而越来越好。在我们的平台上，这两类游戏都能生存。

硬核游戏便是长期型应用的代表，因为它们吸引的是忠实的玩家，收益与玩家的游戏寿命成正比。Kixeye的游戏，如《War Commander》有逼真的画面，其忠实玩家的平均游戏时间达到9个月至1年。

超过10%的Kixeye玩家是付费玩家，玩家回到游戏中的频率是每天3到4次，每次游戏时间超过30分钟。特别要提的是，《Battle Pirates》的收益中有25%来自游戏时间达到12个月或以上的玩家。《War Commander》的玩家平均每天至少进入游戏2次，并会花1.5小时与好友/敌人作战。

社交促进免费模式

绝大多数的手机开发商采用的是免费模式。在这种模式下，“曝光率”便是关键。吸引眼球才能提高安装率，进而增加收益。

Buffalo Studios利用社交元素增加手机游戏的收益。在手机版《Bingo Blitz》的收益中，有80%来自Facebook用户。平均下来，通过Facebook登录游戏的玩家多产生了三倍的赢利，并多玩了两轮游戏。

利用假期的机会

今年的圣诞假期，苹果预期售出4650万台iPhone。当人们打开新手机设备时，他们当然会问朋友和家人该安装什么应用。好好利用这个持续一年的社交发现和亲友口头推荐机会便能够有效地推广自己的应用。

（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）

What’s Next For Social Mobile Games?

by Julien Codorniou

New social gaming companies are emerging around the world (hot spots right now are Moscow, Tel Aviv and Helsinki), and in my role I get to speak with developers every day. Regardless of the size of the company, their locale, or the platform on which they’re building, I typically hear the same questions:

Do social games translate to mobile?
Are game developers leaving Facebook for mobile?
How do I get my game discovered and installed?
Here are my answers for why social is good for mobile games.

1. Do social games translate to mobile?

Mobile games are better when they are social for one simple reason: Games are more fun with friends. Games have always been social, from backgammon and chess to board games. Along the way, friends have been a central part of the game experience, including how we discover, play and talk about games. Social design concepts work wherever people are playing games – on desktop web and increasingly on mobile. As the online gamer demographic becomes more diverse, the best way for an app to grow is by reaching people and their friends across all screens.

Mobile developers can integrate their apps with Facebook SDKs to make them social, including adding Facebook Login and enabling multiplayer gameplay with friends. When you take a mobile app from solo to social, the opportunities for greater engagement, discovery and growth can be exponential. Social mobile apps plug into channels powered by the activities people share with friends every day, including sending invitations, passing one another on a leaderboard, and – the biggest driver of traffic to apps – posting to the News Feed. The social games industry got its start through games growing and getting discovered on Facebook.com. Social mobile innovation will disrupt the games industry the same way social web games did seven years ago.

People are increasingly bringing their phones – an inherently social device – with them everywhere. Recent data suggests that 58 percent of smartphone users check their phones at least once every hour. The emergence of mobile gaming has introduced a way for people to quickly jump into games from wherever they are.

Many top developers are also finding that if you’re big on Facebook, you can be big on mobile. Wooga’s Bubble Island and Diamond Dash, Jellyvision Games’ You Don’t Know Jack, Nordeus’ Top Eleven, King.com’s Candy Crush Saga, and Playtika’s Slotomania all became popular apps on iPhone and/or Android after getting big on Facebook first.

This is an ideal time to build a social mobile game. Currently more than 45 percent of the top 400 grossing iOS apps are built with Facebook. Soon we will no longer call these apps “social mobile games”; they will simply be “games.”

2. Are game developers leaving Facebook for mobile?

Developers don’t need to choose between Facebook or mobile – you should be thinking, Facebook and mobile. There are 1 billion people on Facebook and 600 million people actively engaging with Facebook on mobile devices. Not reaching these Facebook-connected mobile users is a missed opportunity. From Zynga’s Words With Friends and PopCap’s Bejeweled Blitz, to FreshPlanet’s SongPop, FishSticks Games’ Slots Journey, and Supercell’s Hay Day, there is a range of social mobile games that have propelled to the top of the charts.

In fact, nearly 200,000 mobile apps and games are built with Facebook APIs. At any given time, 6-8 of the top-grossing iPhone apps are integrated with Facebook. This year’s Apple’s Editor’s Pick is Bad Robot Interactive’s Action Movie FX, an app integrated with Facebook.

3. How do I get my game discovered and installed?

Discoverability is one of the biggest challenges mobile developers face. Real identity, friends and social distribution can solve this problem.

In order to have your app found among the masses, you need a good understanding of the following areas.

Different Screen, Same Channels: Be Everywhere Your Players Are

When a person hears of a great game, they don’t think about which platforms it’s available on. They just want to play. Facebook is the connection that brings friends together across devices.

Social mobile games can get discovered and grow the same way games on Facebook.com have for years – including News Feed, Bookmarks, Requests, and the new mobile app install ads. This is true for “mobile-first” companies, as well as developers who started on Facebook.com and are updating to mobile as well.

King.com’s cross-platform Saga franchise has excelled across Facebook.com and mobile by encouraging sharing without spamming. Bubble Witch Saga (Facebook.com and iOS) and Candy Crush Saga (Facebook.com and iOS) have made King.com a top-five developer on Facebook, with more than 50 million monthly active users.

Trash Talk Is Gold

Social mobile games are a perfect setting for competitive play among friends. Players want to reach the next level to one-up a friend and brag about it on their timeline, which brings their friends into the game and creates a viral loop. As a result, Facebook-connected players tend to spend more time and money in mobile apps.

For example, SongPop grew with Facebook across web, iPhone, and Android. Playing a music trivia game isn’t nearly as fun if you play with strangers. Sixty five percent of SongPop’s mobile players sign in with Facebook, and those spend about 35 percent more time and money than those who do not login with Facebook.

Inform, Iterate And Impact

If there’s anything social game developers have learned over the last five years it’s that the ecosystem moves quickly, and if they don’t innovate fast enough, someone else will.

With Facebook Insights, developers can produce games-as-a-service, where they can gather user feedback and iterate based on what’s working or not working. Gone are the days of publishing a game and putting it on the shelves, only to wait for the next version to make updates. Today’s social games don’t have versions. They exist to provide ongoing quality experiences, and people increasingly expect the best.

Buffalo Studios has taken this approach with Bingo Blitz. The cross-platform game provides players with changing landscapes to keep them engaged and coming back for graphics and backgrounds that are available for a limited time. As a result, a quarter of players have been monthly active users for a year or more.

Fads vs. Franchises

Similar to the movie and music industries, games have historically been a hits-based business. Today’s social game developers can build either quick hits or long-term franchises, but they should be prepared for the natural growth associated with each.

Developers with hits-based games must be ready for fluctuating growth and continue to pump out hits so their brands don’t go stale and they don’t lose users. Alternatively, if you design a game aimed at high retention, such as Texas HoldEm Poker, DoubleDown Casino, and Battle Pirates, you’ll create an experience that gets better as more friends play. Our platform can support both of these types.

Hardcore games are an example of long-term apps, as they attract a loyal user base that monetizes well over a period of time. Kixeye’s games, such as War Commander, have immersive graphics and engaged audiences, where the average length of time a player spends in the game is nine months to a year.

More than 10 percent of Kixeye’s players are paying customers, and the average player comes back three to four times a day, for more than 30 minutes each session. Specifically, 25 percent of revenue for Battle Pirates comes from people who have played the game 12 months or longer, and War Commander gamers play more than two sessions a day and spend 1.5 hours battling their friends/enemies on an average day.

Social Enhances The Freemium Model

An overwhelming majority of mobile developers are building their businesses with a freemium model. Discovery is still key here. Eyeballs lead to installs, which can lead to money.

Buffalo Studios uses social to its financial advantage with its mobile games. Eighty percent of Bingo Blitz‘s mobile revenue comes from Facebook-connected players. On average, people who log into the game with Facebook generate three times the amount of revenue and play twice as many rounds.

The Santa Opportunity

This holiday season Apple is expected to sell a record-setting 46.5 million iPhones. As people open their new mobile devices, they’ll inevitably ask friends and family which apps they should install. Imagine fueling this type of social discovery and word of mouth at scale among friends and family all year long, where your game is the app being recommended.

Be part of the disruption. Build the next great social mobile game.（source：techcrunch）