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影响未来游戏开发的4大付费趋势

发布时间:2013-02-22 11:39:10 Tags:,,,,

作者:Jennifer Schulz

在过去一年里,10个美国人中便有一个购买了一件数字产品。如今的玩家拥有更广泛的平台,付费方式以及产品等选择,毫无疑问,数字产品将继续发展着。

如果你是一名在线游戏开发商或发行商,你在决定如何通过游戏内容盈利时需要先回答许多问题,包括怎样的平台最适合游戏环境,如何吸引不同地区的玩家,玩家会购买什么类型的产品,该如何为这些产品设定价格等等。尽管这些问题都不存在单一的答案,但是随着全球以及当地付费选择的发展,游戏交易变得越来越简单了。

以下我将列出4种可能对未来游戏开发带来积极影响的付费趋势:

1)玩家正在使用各种付费渠道

根据最近PlaySpan所赞助的Magid调查,玩家购买虚拟商品便意味着他们在使用各种各样的付费方式。像信用卡或借记卡等传统付费方式仍然很受欢迎,但是其它付费方式也一直涌现出来,并深得广大玩家的拥护。所以我们不免会思考“全球”在线游戏的发展规模以及世界各地的各种付费选择。

在调查中,有超过10%的受访者表示预付游戏卡,智能手机付费应用以及来自个人银行帐号的个人转账与传统付费方式一样受欢迎。游戏内部的积分和虚拟货币也是非常受欢迎的付费方式,甚至超越PayPal等服务。

paypal(from askthetipster)

paypal(from askthetipster)

数据显示,不存在单一的付费方式远胜于其它方式的情况。面对拥有如此广泛的付费选择的玩家,开发者应该更加谨慎,切忌将自己局限于单一的货币类型中。如果没有各种付费选择,发行商便有可能错失那些想要基于某种特定工具付钱的玩家。

2)可选择的付费方式提供给玩家更多好处

虽然市场上已经有许多玩家可选择的付费方式,但这一数量还有可能急剧上升。

根据调查数据,玩家更喜欢使用那些可以无需填写信用卡信息的可选择付费方式。调查揭露了一些优势,包括:可选择付费方式能够让玩家更轻松地获得忠诚积分和奖励,并避免信用卡被偷的风险,同时还能获得像电影票,汽车票或飞机票等福利。

超过一半的受访者表示他们对这些功能“感兴趣”或“非常感兴趣”,这便意味着这是主流消费者们所钟爱的付费方式。

3)应用内部购买主导着不断发展的手机平台

当智能手机和平板电脑游戏开始成为主流,手机应用将从根本上改变游戏产业中的价格结构。如今大多数开发者都将游戏价格设定为1.99美元而不是过去的10美元。但是这一模式也将快速被侵蚀。

如今,在iPhone App Store中,排行前10的畅销游戏中只有一款不属于免费游戏(游戏邦注:即《愤怒的小鸟》)。根据游戏产业市场研究公司Newzoo的报告,应用内部购买占据了Android和iOS游戏收益的91%(不包括广告收益)。

多亏了手机游戏市场的发展,全球游戏内部购买收益将从2011年的20亿美元提升至2016年的50亿美元。到那时候,如果开发商们想通过游戏获得盈利就必须整合自己的应用内部购买模式。

4)电子钱包获得认可,但不同性别间还是存在着很大的差异

与其它可选择付费形式一样,玩家也越来越能接受电子钱包和智能手机付费模式。实际上,研究表明77%的玩家愿意使用像Visa的V.me这类型电子钱包,不管是用于在线购买还是销售点购买。

但是当提到电子钱包对于不同性别玩家的吸引力时还是存在着显著的差异。电子钱包付费用户中有50%以上的男性用户,而在非电子钱包用户中,比起女性(31%),更多男性(41%)表示愿意在未来使用电子钱包。

这些趋势对于游戏开发商们来说意味着什么?

手机,PC和主机平台正在逐渐靠拢着,所以将不存在任何完全之策。消费者将在不同游戏,设备和环境之间转换着,他们希望付费模式能够同时应用于各种不同的设备。根据玩家的兴趣与喜好,他们所选择的优先付费模式也各有差异。随着玩家行为的发展,开发商们必须定制他们的游戏以准确瞄准这些玩家。在采用各种新技术的同时,玩家也为开发商们提供了广阔的试验场地。现在的开发商们能够利用这一趋势并提供必要的选择去帮助自己更有效地获得盈利。

随着可选择付费模式和电子钱包得到广泛接受,特别是对于那些具有全球性吸引力的游戏来说,开发商和发行商们必须考虑采取更加开放的付费平台方法。

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

4 payment trends that will shape the future of game development

By Jennifer Schulz

Nearly one in 10 Americans has purchased a digital good in the past year. Today’s gamers have an unprecedented range of platforms, payment options and preferences to choose from, and there is little doubt that the digital goods economy will continue to grow.

If you’re an online game developer or publisher, there are a lot of questions to answer to determine how to best monetize game content — what platform is best suited to the game environment, how to attract and convert players in different countries, what types of goods will gamers purchase and what fee should be charged for these items? While there’s no single answer, the recent growth of global and local payment options have at least made transactions easier to facilitate.

With this in mind, PlaySpan took a deeper look at four key payment trends that will have a positive impact on the future of game development.

1) Gamers are using multiple channels to make payments

In a recent Magid survey sponsored by PlaySpan, gamers purchasing virtual goods indicated using a wide variety of payment methods. Traditional payment options like credit or debit cards continue to be popular, but alternative payments have increased in popularity and are now being used by a much wider audience of gamers. It’s not surprising considering how “global” online games have become and the myriad of payment options that people are comfortable with around the world.

In the survey, closed loop prepaid game cards, smartphone payment apps, and electronic transfers from personal bank accounts proved to be equally popular to traditional payment methods with more than 10 percent of respondents. In-game credits and virtual currency were also popular payment methods, ahead of services like PayPal.

The data shows there’s no single alternative payment method that stands above the rest. With such broad payment preferences among gamers, developers should be careful not to limit themselves to a single currency type. Without multiple payment options, publishers risk turning away gamers who might not have access, the means or desire to pay with a particular tool.

2) Alternative payments offer appealing features and benefits to gamers

There is already a significant number of gamers who are using alternative payment options, but that number is expected to increase sharply.

The survey data indicates gamers prefer to use alternative payment methods that allow them to pay without entering credit card information each time they make a purchase. Some of the advantages uncovered in the survey results include: alternative payments gave gamers easy access to perks such as loyalty points and rewards, they eliminated the risk of lost or stolen cards and offered easy access to tickets for things like movies, buses and airlines.

More than half of all respondents to the survey revealed they were either “interested,” or “very interested” in these features, which bodes well for greater adoption among mainstream consumers.

3) In-app purchases dominate the growing mobile platform

When smartphone and tablet games began to move into the mainstream, mobile apps fundamentally changed the pricing structure of the gaming industry. In many cases developers could earn more charging $1.99 for a single game than they had charging $10 in the past. However, this model is quickly eroding.

Currently, on the iPhone App Store, of the top 10 highest-grossing games, only one (Angry Birds) is not free to play. And according to Newzoo, a gaming industry market research firm, in-app purchases make up a staggering 91 percent of Android and iOS game revenue (not counting advertising).

Thanks to the growth of the mobile games market, it’s projected that revenue from in-game purchases will increase from the 2011 global total of $2 billion to almost $5 billion by 2016. By then, integrating in-app purchases will be a necessity for any developer wanting their game to succeed financially.

4) Digital wallets gain acceptance, but there are strong differences between genders

Along with other forms of alternative payments, gamers are showing a growing acceptance towards digital wallets and payments made by smartphones. In fact, research shows that 77 percent of gamers are now open to the idea of using digital wallets like V.me by Visa, whether for purchases online or at the point-of-sale.

There are notable differences however when it come to the sexes and the appeal of digital wallets. Awareness of digital wallet payments is almost 50 percent higher among men, and among non-digital wallet users, men showed that they were much more likely (41 percent) than women (31 percent) to adopt them in the future.

What do these trends signify for game developers?

Mobile, PC and console platforms are converging, and there’s no longer a single, one-size-fits-all solution. As consumers move between games, devices and environments, they need their payments to move seamlessly with them and work reliably from any device. Preferred methods of payments are as divergent as players’ interests and tastes in games themselves. As player behavior evolves, so too must developers tailor their games to target these users. In the adoption of new technologies, gamers have historically offered a fertile testing ground for developers. Now developers have the power to capitalize on this trend and provide the choices necessary to help more effectively monetize game content.

With alternative payment methods and digital wallets growing in acceptance, especially for those games with a global appeal, it’s important for game developers and publishers to consider adapting an open payment platform approach.(source:venturebeat)


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