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对比分析App Store免费VS营收榜单的区别

发布时间:2013-11-05 09:15:39 Tags:,,,,

作者:Yaniv Nizan

进入榜单前列是多数游戏开发者梦寐以求的目标。关于某游戏如何从斥资购买庞大安装量的大型发行商所占据的曝光度中突围的报道,激发了小型开发者的无数想象。出现于App Store的成功热作,无一例外都会出现在榜单前列。

在App Store发布早期,该应用商店收益基本来自付费应用,而营收榜单也基本上是付费榜单的翻版。自F2P游戏登台并占据主流地位以来,热门付费榜单与收益榜单的关联性日渐减弱,付费榜单与收益榜单差别甚大。值得注意的是,仅有2款游戏同时出现于前25名付费榜单和收榜榜单。其重叠率仅为8%。

Free-Grossing(from gamasutra)

Free-Grossing(from gamasutra)

独立游戏

热门收益榜单极少出现由小型工作室推出的游戏,后者的作品更常见于热门免费榜单。如果某天你去看看免费榜单,就会发现在前25名中就有10-15款游戏出自小型工作室之手。出现这一情况的部分原因是,大型公司更关注和题材的选择。另一个原因是快速进入收益榜单前列的游戏一般很快就会让其开发商跻身富豪公司的行列,迅速摆脱其独立开发者的身份。

另一个有趣的趋势就是,免费榜单前列还包含那些由采用工厂批量生产方式的公司推出的游戏。这些公司每个月都会推出几款游戏,并且会关注热门游戏题材。这种方法令他们得以在一系列自产游戏中交叉推广新游戏,并以较低投入快速传播游戏。

top free(from gamasutra)

top free(from gamasutra)

波动

收益榜单前列的游戏一般都会长期维持其榜单排名,而免费榜单的游戏排名变化起伏较大。高收益游戏通常有较为积极乐观的LTV-CPI数据,令其发行商得以在用户获取方面增加投入,从而维持他们在领先地位。

孩子

现在关于孩子滥刷家长信用卡购买游戏IAP虚拟道具的新闻常见报端。关注儿童群体的游戏更常见于免费榜单前列。孩子们可能更容易冲动下载新应用。在我看来关注儿童用户的应用开发者也应该负有责任,他们应该避免引诱孩子执行无意识购买行为。

续作

免费榜单的续作远超过营收榜单。我认为这可以归结为两个原因。首先,续作可以得到免费宣传,并且更易于获得App Store推荐。其次,发行商在原作中会交叉推广这些续作。再加上原作本来就收获的用户信任等积极影响,

这些续作一般发布头几天就能收获超过10万次的下载量。但是从结果来看,多数续作并未获得足以助于晋升到收益榜单前列的庞大拥趸。

free games(from gamasutra)

free games(from gamasutra)

博彩游戏

博彩游戏、纸牌游戏、老虎机、bingo和其他赌博游戏经常出现在收益榜单前列,但却甚少在免费榜单露面。一个主要原因就是这些游戏获得了极高的LTV,这真是令人沮丧的现实。

战略题材

战略游戏也是营收榜单的常客。这里我指的是让用户打造一个帝国的模拟游戏。这些游戏通常需要玩家投入大量时间,但同时从玩家那里获得的收益也比较高。这些中核游戏更吸引那些更像“游戏玩家”,更常为游戏付费的用户。

好莱坞电影、电视&体育界

免费榜单前列有些游戏则取材于流行电影或电视节目。用户更可能下载这些游戏,媒体也更可能对其进行评价,苹果也更可能推荐游戏。我们在营收榜单也可以看到一些含有强大外部IP的游戏,但此类游戏更常见于免费榜单。

结论

我的第一个念头就是,这小型开发者来说是个好兆头。有几天时间能够进入前25名下载榜单,仍然意味着你确实摸着门道,小型开发商可以抓住这一机会。小型开发商还可以采用游戏工厂式的做法,积累到一定时间这更可能成功。

晋升至营收榜单之首要求开发者关注纯游戏玩法之外的参数。而好消息就在于这是可以学习的经验。准备迎向更高挑战,并准备投入时间和精力的独立开发者当然也可以向营收榜单发起进攻。

而略为大型的公司,则可通过采用以下方法同时在两个榜单获得成功:

*同好莱无坞或电视IP进行授权合作,然后据此创造一款战略游戏。

*推出续作游戏的授权,但要关注能够创收的题材。

*在休闲游戏中结合博彩元素,例如King在《Candy Crush》和《Pet Rescue Saga》中的做法。(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

Top Free Chart vs. Top Grossing Chart

by Yaniv Nizan

The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community.

The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.

Most game developers are dreaming of making it to the top charts. Stories of how your game will naturally grow from there just from the exposure boost motivated bigger publishers to buy installs and spiked the imaginations of smaller developers. When we think of games that ‘killed it’ in the App Store and became very successful, they all appeared in the top charts at some point.

In the early days of the App Store, the revenue was coming from paid apps and the top grossing chart was aligned with the paid chart. Since free 2 play games started dominating the space, the Top Paid Chart became irrelevant and there is a very big difference between the Top Free chart and the Top Grossing chart. In fact the difference is so big that only 2 games appear in both Top 25 charts. That’s 8% overlap for the record.

Indie Games

The top grossing chart rarely includes games by smaller studios it’s common to see indie titles make it to the top free chart. If you take a snapshot of the free chart in a given day, it’s likely you will see 10-15 out of the 25 top games coming from smaller studios. Part of it is the focus of bigger companies on monetization and their genre selection. Another reason is that a game that makes it to the top grossing charts quickly turns the company who launched them into wealthy companies who grow quickly and move out of the Indie category.

Game Factory Studios

Another interesting trend is that the top free chart includes game that were created by companies who adopted a factory approach to game development. These companies will create a few titles every month and will focus on popular genres. The approach allows them to cross promote new games in a large number of self-owned titles and reach quick distribution with low investment.

Volatility

While the top grossers tend to stick around for long periods, the top free charts have rapid changes. Top grossing games usually reach a positive LTV-CPI number and allow their publishers to increase investment in user acquisition. This gives them means to maintain their leadership position.

Kids

Any major news outlet shared a story about some kid draining his parents credit card account by purchasing virtual goods via In-App Purchases. Reality, however, shows that games that focus on kids are much more common in the top of the free chart. It could be that kids are quicker on the trigger with downloading new apps. I’m also giving some credit to the app developers who focus on kids.

They try not to trick them into making unintended purchases.

Sequels

The top free chart contains more sequels than the top grossing chart. I’m attributing that to two things. First, sequels enjoy free publicity and often get featured in the App Store. Second, the publishers cross-promote them in the original titles. Combine that with a positive level of trust from the users and you can see how these games can get over 100K downloads in the first few days. it seems however, that many of them don’t deliver on the hype and fail to engage the users enough to be top grossers.

Casino Games

Casino games, card games, slots, bingo and other gambling oriented titles dominate the top grossing charts. You can’t see them at all in the top free charts. The main reason is the high LTV these games return. This is a bit sad to see.

Strategy Genre

Strategy games are also much more common in the top grossing charts. I’m referring to simulation games where the user builds an empire. These games normally requires a high time investment from the user but at the same time the revenue from a paying user is much higher. These mid-core games are appealing to users who are more ‘gamers’ and are more used to paying for their games.

Hollywood, TV & Sports

Some of the games in the top free chart are based on a popular movie or TV show. This is pretty obvious. Users are more likely to download, press is more likely to review and Apple more likely to feature. You can see some games with strong external IP in the top grossing charts but they are more dominant in the Top free.
So what do we think about all that?

My first thought is that it’s a very good sign for smaller developers. Being in the top 25 downloaded games even for a few days still means you are killing it and that opportunity is open for small developers. More over, small developers can adopt the Game Factory approach which is more likely to succeed over time.

Being a top grosser requires focusing on parameters that are beyond pure game play. The good news is that these can be learned. Indies that want to step up to the next level and are prepared to invest time and efforts can certainly make it to the top grossing charts as well.

Focusing on slightly bigger companies – there is a way to be successful at both top charts and really knock it out of the park by adopting one of the following methods:

Partnering up and licensing Hollywood or TV IP and then building a strategy game on top of that.

Licensing the rights for a sequel game but focusing on a grossing genre.

Combining casino elements in casual games like King has been doing with Candy Crush and Pet Rescue Saga.(source:gamasutra


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