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前Xbox总裁Don Mattrick何以成为Zynga救星?

发布时间:2013-07-12 15:58:21 Tags:,,,,

作者:Josh Williams

你应该已经听说了有关Zynga的一些新闻。在这家休闲游戏公司的最新形势变化中,马克·平克斯让出了首席执行官的位置。而微软Xbox分部的前总裁Don Mattrick将接替他坐上这个位置。

毫无疑问,在过去这段时间里Zynga一直经历着各种坎坷。面对着手机领域的爆发式发展以及Facebook游戏生态系统停滞不前,Zynga并不能快速 做出转变。与此同时,一些领悟性较强的公司已经开始创造自己的休闲和社交游戏,就像King和Kabam都比Zynga更能有效地应对这种市场变化。在这 一局势快速改变期间,Zynga未能有效做出调整的两大关键领域便是:平台策略和游戏内容。

Don Mattrick(from videogamer)

Don Mattrick(from videogamer)

甚至连Zynga也承认自己在手机领域的落后—-许多人已经把握了更多优势。在King和Kabam尽早抓住时机投资于该领域并从中赚取巨大利益的同时,Zynga已经被远远甩在后面,尽管所有发展趋势都指向手机游戏,它仍紧紧地依附在Facebook平台上。这便是Zynga自身所犯的主要错误。

除此之外,Zynga的游戏还很肤浅。就像《FarmVille》,尽管一开始很有趣,但是渐渐地会让人觉得它是一个虚伪的斯金纳箱(游戏邦注:新行为主义心理学的创始人之一的斯金纳为研究操作性条件反射而设计的实验设备)。轻敲屏幕并获得奖励的设置能让玩家对游戏快速上手,但是缺少深度也意味着玩家不能获得足够的挑战,并且反复获得奖励也会让它们失去价值。

尽管这些简单的机制在早期的Facebook游戏生态系统中非常有效,但是如今的市场已经厌倦了经典的Zynga“城镇类”游戏。相比之下,来自King,Kabam以及Supercell等大型开发商和发行商的现代免费手机游戏和网页游戏都将深度的游戏玩法与真正的挑战性,成就感和奖励有效地整合在一起。

这便是Zynga所面临的主要问题。比起今天市场上最受欢迎的游戏,Zynga的游戏已经不再具有吸引力,从而导致早期聚集的玩家基础以及应用内部购买的下滑。根据一些公开数据,Zynga所有游戏的日活跃用户平均收益(ARPDAU)大约在3至5美分。而像Kabam这些公司的ARPDAU均在50美分以上。并且像Supercell的《Hay Day》等休闲游戏的成绩也大大超过了Zynga的游戏。但是这并不意味着我们就需要去创造出更复杂的游戏。像King的《Candy Crush Saga》便是一个典型的例子,即有效利用了简单的理念(3消游戏)并进行适当调整而有效地吸引了玩家的注意并推动着他们消费。

就是在这方面上,Mattrick也许能够带给Zynga很大的帮助。对于将适当的游戏瞄准适当的平台运行这方面,他具有很足够的经验,而这也是当前Zynga迫切需要的。他曾创造并卖掉了自己的游戏公司(游戏邦注:Distinctive Software,在1991年被艺电所收购),他也曾致力于许多大受欢迎游戏的创造,如《极速快感》,《FIFA世界足球》以及《模拟人生》等。Mattrick也曾制定了非常有效的平台策略:早前在艺电中极力拥护数字平台,将Xbox Live的玩家从6百万玩家提升到5千万,并为Xbox用户基础的8倍增长(即获得8千万玩家)做出了巨大贡献。

如今摆在Zynga面前的最大问题应该是缺少能够赚钱的手机游戏品牌。而基于Mattrick拥有的25年游戏开发经验以及创造过多款成功游戏的傲人成绩,接下来只需要良好的合作伙伴和适当的平台便可。相信在Mattrick的领导下,Zynga将能够出现爆发性的增长。毕竟Zynga拥有足够的资源去赢回主导地位。该公司仍然拥有世界上最大的免费用户基础,拥有产业中最大的资产平衡表之一,大规模的技术性基础设施以及丰富的专门知识。但也许最重要的还是,Zynga拥有数百名优秀的员工,他们不仅具有足够的积极性,同时还具有创造性领导能力,这足以帮助他们创造出更多优秀的游戏。

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

Why ex-Xbox boss Don Mattrick may be Zynga’s savior

Josh Williams

By now you’ve already heard the news about Zynga. In the latest turn of events for the embattled casual gaming company, Mark Pincus has stepped down as its CEO. In his place, Don Mattrick, the former president of Microsoft’s Xbox division, will be taking his place.

There’s no question that Zynga has been going through a rough patch. As the Facebook game ecosystem stagnated and growth in mobile erupted, Zynga failed to switch gears fast enough. Meanwhile, savvy companies who also got their start in casual and social games, like King and Kabam, have managed to handle the evolution of the market much more effectively than Zynga. During this critical period of change, the firm failed to adapt two critical areas: their platform strategy and their game content.

Even Zynga admits it was late to the mobile party – and others have taken advantage of that. While King and Kabam invested early in the space and were rewarded hugely as a result, Zynga lagged behind, sticking primarily to Facebook even as all signs pointed to a mobile gaming explosion. This was a major mistake on Zynga’s part.

Additionally, Zynga’s games are notoriously shallow. Titles like Farmville, while initially fun, can eventually feel like a glorified Skinner Box. Tap the screen and get a reward. This makes them easy to pick up and use, but the lack of depth means players are rarely challenged and the rewards start to feel hollow over time.

While these simplistic mechanics worked early on in the Facebook game ecosystem, the market seems to be getting tired of the classic Zynga “Ville-style” games. By comparison, modern free-to-play mobile and web games from top developers and publishers like King, Kabam, and Supercell incorporate deep, rich gameplay with real challenge and a real sense of accomplishment and reward.

This has become Zynga’s major problem. Their games just don’t engage players nearly as well as today’s market leaders, which leads to early drop-off and less in-app spending. Based on publicly disclosed figures, Zynga’s average revenue per daily active user (ARPDAU) is around 3 cents to 5 cents across its portfolio. Meanwhile, companies like Kabam are estimated to monetize at over 50 cents ARPDAU, roughly an order of magnitude greater monetization per user. And more casual games, like Supercell’s Hay Day, are also estimated to far outperform Zynga’s offerings. But that doesn’t mean the answer is to make every game overly complex. King’s Candy Crush Saga is a perfect example of taking a simple concept (match-3 games) and tweaking it enough to get players hooked and spending.

This is precisely where Mattrick may be able to help turn Zygna around. He has a long history of championing the right games for the right platform, which is exactly what the struggling firm needs. He created and sold his own game company (Distinctive Software, which EA bought in 1991), and he has since been responsible for establishing numerous hit franchises, like Need for Speed, FIFA Soccer, and The Sims. Mattrick has also called the right shots on platform strategy: championing digital platforms early on at EA, growing Xbox Live from 6 million players to 50 million players, and leading the eightfold expansion of Xbox’s base to 80 million players.

Zynga’s biggest problem right now is its lack of profitable mobile franchises. And Mattrick’s 25 years of game development experience and track record of building successful games, partnerships and platforms may be just what it needs. With Mattrick at the helm, Zynga could be primed for explosive growth. After all, Zygna definitely has the resources to mount a comeback. The company still have the largest free-to-play user base in the world, one of the biggest balance sheets in the industry, a high-scale technical infrastructure, and analytics expertise. But perhaps most importantly, Zynga also has hundreds of talented employees who, with the proper motivation and creative leadership, are capable of creating great games.

All Zynga needs is the right person to steer it back on track, and Mattrick may be just the man to do it.(source:venturebeat)


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