1）Vision Mobile最近报告预测，2014年欧洲应用经济规模将达165亿美元，但其全球市场份额却从2012年的24%降至2014年的19%。

预计欧盟国家今年的应用收益将达165亿美元，2012年则是130亿美元，年增长率为12%左右。但全球应用经济发展的增长率是27%，是欧盟国家的两倍左右。

app-uk(from vision-mobile)

亚洲市场增长更为迅速，该地区智能手机销量在2013年与欧洲市场相当，印度和中国预计2014年将新增4亿以上的智能手机用户，这在一定程度上也刺激了应用市场的发展。

该报告其他发现包括：

*欧盟应用开发者比其他地区的开发者更关注外包开发项目。有31%开发者通过外包开发创收，外包是该地区开发者的首要收益来源。

*预计到2016年商务和企业应用市场规模将增长至580亿美元，随着该地区智能手机发展减缓，商务领域将在应用经济的发展中发挥更重要的作用。

*报告称应用经济为欧盟贡献了100万个工作岗位，2014年将有67个与应用领域直接相关的工作岗位，比2013年增长了26%。如果再算上“业余爱好者”的“探索者”，就等于再增加了25.5万名开发者。

*报告提出欧盟的初创企业比其他地区的公司具有更高的官僚化和劳动门槛，该地区初创公司的失败率极高，许多欧洲企业不得不转移到旧金山地区来创业或者扩大业务。

2）据gamasutra报道，King日前公布季度财报之后，其股价下跌超过20%。

该公司2014年第二季度总收入为6.11亿美元，同比去年增长27%，但却比今年第一季度下降5%（3000万美元）。

《Candy Crush Saga》衰退最为严重，即使是《Farm Heroes Saga》和《Bubble Witch 2 Saga》这些新游戏也无法抵消其收益下滑。

candy-crush-saga(from paperblog)

该季度King基于非GAAP的利润为1.883亿美元（去年同期为1.4814亿美元），但这却并不足以抵消投资者的恐惧，因为该公司收益为5.935亿美元，低于分析师所预期的6.06亿美元。该公司还指出下个季度总收入还将持续下滑，直到年底才有可能反弹。

King还宣布将为其股东（主要是其高管和创始人）支付1.5亿美元的特别红利，以便将他们继续留在公司直到宣布2014年财报结果（可能在明年初）为止。

除此之外，King还宣布收购了新加坡Nonstop Games工作室，后者由Wooga工作室前高管Henric Suuronen联合创办，目前专注于开发中核手机游戏。

3）据gamasutra报道，移动支付解决方案供应商Onebip最近调查显示，如果微交易中最贵的商品售价越高，玩家就越有可能付费（游戏邦注：该调查主要针对免费萨尔PC MMO和网页游戏，Onebip的调查分析了65个地区/国家全年的“数百万次”微交易行为）。

Onebip分析师发现瑞士拥有最高的平均交易售价，即15.09欧元（20.2美元），因为该地区移动运营商允许较高的交易售价点。

在意大利最昂贵的售价点增加50%后，平均交易价值也会攀升19%。数据显示，多数微交易的最大消费者位于欧洲，位于前三名的分别是瑞士、奥地利和英国。

Onebip发现，玩家在游戏中平均每笔微交易的消费投入为4.73美元（6.33美元）。

4）据gamasutra报道，纽约大学上周宣布将从2015年1月开始提供游戏设计学士学位。

该大学于2008年成立了纽约大学游戏中心，提供游戏设计教育，并于2012年开始提供游戏设计硕士学位，今年早期还推出一个孵化器计划，帮助学生开发者将游戏推向市场。

现在该大学将推出的本科游戏设计教育预计在2015年1月招生20人，并在秋季再招20名新生，将由纽约大学游戏中心主任Frank Lantz监管这一项目，其师资力量包括Clara Fernandez-Vara（The Last Symphony）和Bennett Foddy（QWOP）等6名开发者，该中心还将在未来4年引进8名游戏设计教授。

在此之前，北美提供游戏设计本科学历的大学还包括USC（美国南加州大学）和麻省理工，以及DigiPen这种新兴学校。

5）据gamasutra报道，Santa Ragione团队代表Pietro Righi Riva在GDC Europe分析自己的游戏《MirrorMoon EP》时曾说明了为何有许多自我标榜为“科幻”题材的游戏实际上并非名符其实。

他称科幻题材的电影和书籍的多数乐趣来自于让人们关注角色对知识的探索，并呈现了一个让人们自己用想象来填充的抽象、未来主义背景。

mass effect(from dcperry.com)

但许多电子却并没有妥当复制这一核心理念，比如《质量效应》、《光晕》和《死亡空间》，它们都没有关注科幻题材所围绕的核心原则。

Riva认为玩法本身必须是讲述科幻的一个设备，交互在这里的重要性甚于情境，在他看来，《The Dig》、《Rama》和《Captain Blood Damocles》才是真正的科幻游戏，因为它们的要点就是探索知识，而《质量效应》这类游戏更像是设置于未来主义世界情境中的角色扮演射击游戏。（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）

1）Europe’s got solid app growth, but it’s trailing Asia

R. Scott Raynovich

Europe’s “app economy” is still growing robustly and is expected to reach $16.5 billion in 2014, but its share of the global market has fallen to 19% in 2014 from 24% in 2012, according to a new research brief published by London-based Vision Mobile.

Vision Mobile expects app revenue in European Union nations to grow to $16.5 billion this year, compared to $13 billion in 2012, which is the equivalent to a 12% annual growth rate. But the app economy’s global growth of 27% is double what the EU is seeing.

It’s not like Europe’s app economy is stagnant — it’s growing quite well, and some people are even having a bit of trouble keeping up with demand. But the markets in Asia are growing much faster, so if European mobile tech companies want to contribute more, they will need to focus more on Asia, according to the report.

Asia accounted for approximately three times as many smartphone sales as Europe in 2013, with a large share of sales to new users. India and China alone are expected to add over 400 million new smartphone users in 2014, according to Vision Mobile. This is the kind of momentum that fuels the app marketplace.

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Despite these challenges, the EU app economy is robust and in some ways stretched, as a shortage of developers limits potential. “Demand outstrips supply with every self-respecting CIO or brand manager commissioning their own apps,” says the report.

Some other findings of the report:

App contracts are big: App developers in the EU are more focused on contract development compared to developers elsewhere, says the report. It estimates that 31% generate revenues via contract development, making it the top revenue source. This indicates strength in demand for commissioned apps. The EU governments should take action to restrict talent flight and create a supportive startup environment, says the report.

Enterprise growth: The business and enterprise apps market is expected to grow to $58 billion by 2016. Demand for contracted apps from EU verticals is driving this activity. Businesses will play a more important role in the growth of the app economy in the region as smartphone growth slows. Vision Mobile expects this market to reach $58 billion globally by 2016. This makes the enterprise app sector more attractive for growth and development than the consumer sector.

Engine of job growth: The app economy contributes a total of 1 million jobs in the European Union, according to the report. It estimates that there will be 670,000 jobs directly related to the app economy in 2014, representing an increase of 26% compared to 2013. But the number of jobs is higher if “Hobbyist” and “Explorer” segments are added, which means an additional 255,000 developers.

Startup barriers and talent flight are big risks: The report points out that startups in the EU have higher bureaucratic and labor barriers than some other regions. The failure rate of startups is very high, and many European entrepreneurs are moving to the San Francisco Bay Area to start up or expand their business. Policymakers in the EU will need to create better tax, labor, and immigration policies to incentivize startup investment.（source：venturebeat）

2）King’s stock loses over 20 percent on Candy Crush Saga weakness

By Christian Nutt

King announced its quarterly results today, and in the process spooked the hell out of investors. In after-hours trading, its stock fell in value by over 20 percent.

That’s most likely the reaction to the downturn in King’s bookings, or in-game sales. Gross bookings were $611 million for the second quarter of 2014. While they were up 27 percent year-on-year, they were down 5 percent ($30 million) as compared to the first quarter of 2014.

Candy Crush Saga was the big loser here, the company said; newer games Farm Heroes Saga and Bubble Witch 2 Saga couldn’t fully offset the downturn in its bookings.

The company warned investors it was over-reliant on the title as it prepared to offer stock, and its IPO faltered amidst these fears. Zynga stock nosedived as its fortunes waned, which set the stage for investor reactions to King.

The company turned a hefty profit for the quarter: $188.3 million on a non-GAAP basis, up from $148.1 million for the same period a year ago. That wasn’t enough to assuage investor fears, however, because revenues also missed analyst estimates: $593.5 million versus expectations of $606 million, Business Insider reports. The company also said that gross bookings would continue to decline in the next quarter before bouncing back at the end of the year.

King also announced that it would be paying a special dividend of $150 million to its shareholders — principally (80 percent) to its execs and founders, to keep them locked into the company until it announces its 2014 results (likely early next year.)

It also announced the acquisition of Singapore-based Nonstop Games, a studio co-founded by former Wooga head of studio Henric Suuronen which is currently focused on creating mid-core mobile games. King said Nonstop’s titles would launch in 2015. King paid $6 million for the studio, as well as a payout of $10 million to retain talent, with a possible $84 million earnout depending on how its games perform and how much talent stays with the studio post-acquisition.（source：gamasutra）

3）The higher the potential spend, the more players will spend

By Christian Nutt

In a new blog post, mobile payment solutions provider Onebip offers research that suggests players will spend more on microtransactions if they can: The higher the price of the highest-priced transaction, the more they’ll pay.

Onebip works primarily with free-to-play PC MMO and browser-based game developers, and it captured this data from transactions it completed for its clients. Onebip’s research analyzed “millions” of transactions across 65 countries for one full year.

In the course of conducting research, Onebip’s analysts noticed that Switzerland has the highest average transaction price — at €15.09 ($20.20) — because its mobile carriers allow higher price-points for transactions.

According to Onebip, when the most expensive price point was increased by 50 percent in Italy, average transaction values jumped by 19 percent. “Actually our analysis found that there was a direct correlation between countries offering higher pricer points as an option and an increase in the average transaction value,” the Onebip blog post says.

According to its data, most of the biggest average spenders on microtransactions (at least via mobile) are in Europe; the top three are Switzerland, Austria, and the UK. According to Onebip, players are spending an average of €4.73 ($6.33) per microtransaction for the games it services. （source：gamasutra）

4）Pretty soon you’ll be able to get a BA in game design at NYU

By Alex Wawro

New York University announced plans last week to start offering bachelor’s degrees in game design, starting in January 2015.

The new program seems like a notable milestone for NYU’s game design education initiative. The university founded its NYU Game Center in 2008 with a mandate to foster game design education, and the eventual goal of offering both undergraduate and graduate degrees.

In 2012 it began offering master’s degrees in game design, and earlier this year it launched an incubator program to help student developers bring their games to market.

Now it’s launching its undergraduate program, which is expected to accept 20 students in January 2015 and 20 more in the following fall. The curriculum is expected to draw from both NYU’s Game Center and its Polytechnic School of Engineering in order to approach game design from both a cultural and practical perspective.

NYU Game Center director Frank Lantz will oversee the program alongside six faculty members, including developers like Clara Fernandez-Vara (The Last Symphony) and Bennett Foddy (QWOP), and the Center hopes to bring on eight more professors of game design in the next four years.

When the program launches, NYU will become one more of the many North American universities that now offer undergraduate degrees in game design — including traditional institutions like USC and MIT as well as newer schools like DigiPen. Prospective developers who are interested in enrolling can find more information on the NYU Game Center website.（source：gamasutra）

5）What makes a game a true sci-fi experience?

By Mike Rose

As part of a GDC Europe postmortem for his game MirrorMoon EP, Santa Ragione’s Pietro Righi Riva reasoned that not many games which label themselves as “sci-fi” actually fall into that genre.

When movies or books tackle the sci-fi genre, much of the entertainment is focused around the characters’ quest for knowledge, and presenting abstract, futuristic settings where viewers are left to fill in the blanks.

But in many video games, these core ideas are not replicated properly. Games like Mass Effect, Halo and Dead Space bill themselves as science fiction experiences, but Riva says that these games do not focus on the core principles that sci-fi revolves around.

“The gameplay itself must be a device for telling the sci-fi,” he reasons. “It’s not so much a matter of context, as it is a matter for interaction.”

Thus, games like The Dig, Rama and Captain Blood Damocles are truly sci-fi games in his eyes, as their whole point is the quest for knowledge, while a game like Mass Effect is really more of a role-playing shooter set in a futuristic world.

“Portal and Bioshock’s beginnings are very sci-fi,” he adds, “but they quickly stop being central to their games.” Thus, these games cannot be truly sci-fi experiences.

“Sci-fi offers the perfect setting to put in relation human beings as explorers,” Riva says, “and the human being as the ultimate territory to explore.”（source：gamasutra）