1）Distimo最近报告指出，2014年1月份在美国iOS和Google Play应用市场中，来自免费游戏的微交易收益占比高达79%，超过了去年同期时的66%。在2012年1月，这一比例仅为46%。

尽管如此，相比中国和日本，美国付费购买应用的用户比例仍然较高。Distimo发现中国和日本应用商店中有94%收益来自免费游戏。

iOS-Google Play(from tech-thoughts.net)

Distimo还同应用营销平台Chartboost合作分析了主流市场的玩家潜在收益，并发现日本、澳大利亚、韩国、英国和美国用户获取成本相对较低，而每下载量平均收益却相对较高，其中日本市场极具盈利性（平均来看每次下载价值5.32美元）。

2）NPD Group最近针对6000名13周岁以上的美国人的调查报告显示，约36%美国用户玩已下载游戏，他们通过Steam等成熟的分销平台购买和体验游戏，但使用Xbox Games Store、索尼PSN、任天堂eShop等可下载服务的比例也在不断增长。约16％受访者表示自己已经抛弃了实体盒装游戏。

Xbox gamers(from lazygamer.net)

NPD分析师Liam Callahan指出，多数数字玩家（无论使用的是哪种设备）只会在发现自己喜欢的内容时才掏钱，不会预先付费购买。

3）据gamaustra报道，热门手机游戏《Threes》开发者Greg Wohlwend最近分享了极简主义游戏设计的心得，并表示如果游戏还不足以吸引人们的注意力，那就说明游戏还需要改进。

Threes(from gamezebo.com)

报道指出，Wohlwend与另一名开发者Asher　Vollmer曾有6个月以上的时间尝试设计这款益智游戏，他们试图添加障碍、怪物和闪光标志以便取悦玩家，最后终于发现了《Threes》的基本挑战（在有限的空间中滑动数字贴图，以便赢得最高分）具有令玩家持续回访游戏的吸引力。

4）据gamsutra报道，苹果日前收购了因手机测试平台TestFlight而得名的软件公司Burstly。但目前两家公司都没有对Burstly软件的未来作出评论。

testflight(from cultofmac.com)

苹果发言人Kristin Huguet对媒体表示，苹果经常收购一些小型科技公司，但一般不会公布收购用意和计划。值得注意的是，TestFlight最近宣布计划停止新团队使用其SDK（但当前用户不受限制），并将于下月起停止支持TestFlight的Android版本。（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）

1）Report finds free-to-play microtransactions make up 79% of U.S. app store revenues

Jeffrey Grubb

If you want to make money on mobile, give away your game — especially in Japan, Australia, South Korea, the U.K., and the U.S.

Microtransactions from free-to-play games accounted for 79 percent of all revenue on the iOS and Google Play app markets in the U.S. in January, according to a report from app-tracking firm Distimo. That’s up from a 66 percent market share from the previous year. In January 2012, that figure was only 46 percent. This is in line with the rest of the world, where free-to-play is dominating mobile revenues in both established and emerging markets.

“One of the most evident trends in 2013 was the steadily growing revenue share of the freemium business model,” Distimo analyst Christel Schoger wrote in the report. “Free apps with in-app purchases generate the majority of the revenue in the app stores.”

While 79 percent is a huge chunk of a market, the U.S. actually still has a sizable audience paying an upfront price for apps. That’s especially true compared to markets like China and Japan. Distimo found that a massive 94 percent of the revenue generated in the app stores in those countries comes from microtransactions in free-to-play games.

For its report, Distimo also worked with app-marketing platform Chartboost to determine the potential revenue that developers could squeeze out of gamers in certain markets. The two companies found that Japan, Australia, South Korea, the U.K., and the United States offer the best opportunity due to their relatively low user-acquisition costs compared to average revenue per download (ARPD).

Distimo’s chart measures ARPD versus the cost per install.

Japan is especially lucrative.

“On average, one download is worth $5.32 in Japan,” wrote Schoger. “[This validates] the enormous potential of the Asian app market.”

Developers are already taking advantage of the Japanese mobile gold mine. Developer GungHo Online Entertainment’s role-playing title Puzzle & Dragons earned around $5 million a day at points in 2013. Western developers like Supercell and King also made concerted efforts to establish a presence in that market.

Despite free-to-play’s growth, Distimo still found benefits of a paid-app strategy.

“Our analysis showed that the paid business models generate a higher ARPD and can still be a viable monetization option despite lower download volumes,” wrote Schogel.

But the analyst also noted that free-to-play is where mobile is making its banks.

“Even though the overall ARPD for the freemium business model is lower, free apps with in-app purchases are the dominant business model and proved to be the most profitable with the largest revenue shares.”（source：venturebeat）

2）Ditching the physical: 16% of consumers play digital only

Jeffrey Grubb

Publisher Electronic Arts isn’t planning to abandon its online store/platform, Origin, any time soon. That’s because more gamers than ever are purchasing their games digitally.

Around 36 percent of U.S. consumers play downloaded games, according to an NPD Group survey of 6,000 U.S. residents 13 and older. They’re purchasing and playing games through established distribution networks like Steam, but they’re increasingly using the downloadable services like Xbox Games Store, PlayStation Network, and Nintendo’s eShop on consoles, handhelds, as well as mobile. Around 16 percent of respondents confirmed that they have dropped physical packaged games altogether.

“Most digital players, regardless of device, don’t plan their purchases,” NPD analyst Liam Callahan said. “They purchase simply when they find something they like.”

The console audience, however, is more likely to preorder games. Callahan thinks that the new systems from Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo — with their expanded digital offerings — will see more gamers turn to downloads as an option.（source：venturebeat）

3）Threes co-creator Wohlwend on the value of minimalist game design

By Alex Wawro

“If the game isn’t compelling enough to hold someone’s attention, then the game needs to be better.”- Greg Wohlwend, co-creator of Threes, speaks to Re/code about minimalist game design.

Re/code published a brief feature today about the development of iOS puzzle game Threes that offers some thoughtful insight on minimalist game design from co-creator Greg Wohlwend.

According to Re/code reporter Eric Johnson, Wohlwend and fellow Threes progenitor Asher Vollmer experimented with the design of the tile-sliding puzzle game for more than six months.

They tried adding in obstacles, monsters and flashy symbols in an effort to keep players entertained, before finally realizing that the basis challenge of Threes — slide numbered tiles together in a confined space to try and earn the highest score possible — were compelling enough to keep players coming back for more.（source：gamasutra）

4）Apple now owns popular mobile app testing platform TestFlight

By Alex Wawro

TechCrunch reports that Apple has acquired Burstly, the software company best known for running mobile app testing platform TestFlight.

We don’t yet know what this means for developers who use TestFlight to distribute early versions of their mobile games and apps to beta testers and reviewers, rather than relying on limited supplies of App Store promo codes provided by Apple.

Neither Apple nor Burstly has provided any meaningful comment on the future of Burstly software.

“Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans,” stated Apple representative Kristin Huguet when pressed for comment by TechCrunch reporters.

It’s worth pointing out that TestFlight recently announced plans to stop new teams from using its SDK — current users may continue unhindered — and cease supporting TestFlight for Android next month.（source：gamasutra）