游戏邦在:
杂志专栏:
gamerboom.com订阅到鲜果订阅到抓虾google reader订阅到有道订阅到QQ邮箱订阅到帮看

解析超级游戏开发商Machine Zone的成功秘诀(三):盈利

发布时间:2017-09-15 09:43:36 Tags:,,,

原作者:Guest Author 译者Willow Wu

这一由众多部分构成的系列文章将会解析Machine Zone旗下的超级热门游戏,深入研究由该公司领头的mid-core类游戏。你可以点这里阅读第一部分(公司历史),这里是第二部分(游戏设计 ) 。

在本系列的第二篇中,我们分析了Machine Zone公司4X游戏中的核心设计。我们深入研究了游戏中的基础设施,新兴的社交玩法叠加上几乎是没有规模限制的游戏经济,还有永久性损失,这些都能推动玩家花钱复位。

Machine Zone和旗下4X游戏的生命周期总价值在整个移动行业内数一数二,这也多少给他们招来了坏名声。本文意在分析他们是如何达成这种现状,以及4X和midcore游戏前景会如何发展。

让玩家往上爬

在Game of War中花钱其实就跟在赌场里花钱差不了多少。游戏总是盼着你花更多的钱,会给你提供越来越低的折扣,直到你买下。

要讨论Game of War就不能不说它的盈利机制。简单来说就是世界上没有任何一个游戏可以在单个玩家基础上挣得比它还多。

实际上,要是这游戏的平均每付费用户收入(ARPDAU)少于1美元,那我真的会很震惊。看看我截取Game of War Real Tips和Stayalive77的采访对话,后者是这个游戏的顶级玩家之一。

毫无疑问,这位Stayalive玩家已经在游戏中砸了很多很多的钱。我问他有没有超过50万,“有有有有……这游戏真的很烧钱。”

整整50万美元啊!都扔进一个手游里了!而且这个采访是几年前做的了。

有传闻说现在的玩家花费可是当年的两倍了。但是先让我们冷静一下,真正地去理解游戏中的经济规模和货币体系。99.9%的游戏都不可能做到这种程度,但这也证明了只要下功夫去设计,优秀的4X游戏是可以获得这样的成功。

虽说想到那些花出去的钱可能会让你相当反感,但是不要忘了人们都有自己喜欢的花钱方式。

举个例子,在伦敦,我和我的朋友要出去过个美好的夜晚,比如说为某个人庆祝生日,我可能会花掉200英镑。然而,如果是一个名人,像是足球运动员或者是电影明星,如果他们真的想要尽情挥霍,可能就会一晚上花掉50000英镑。

虽然这对我而言貌似有些不可理喻,但这是他们的特权,这就是资本体制的现实,你只能乖乖接受。所以你只能不情愿地为Machine Zone鼓掌,他们的游戏大概就是有这个能力让玩家投入这么多钱。如果Game of War是个夜店,那么店外就会排上2英里(约3.2公里)的长龙队伍。

Game of War的营销策略和设计很独特,而且罕见地应用得很到位。大部分游戏都有统一价格点(游戏邦注:flat price points)跟核心经济常量(例如时间)保持平衡。

比如说,如果10个宝石值实时的一分钟,那么你可以以这个为基准,制作曲线,平衡价格点,这是个靠得住,不会出错的技巧,很多游戏都用过,Supercell更是运用自如。但是,Game of War根本没有用这个方法。

Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire(from pocketgamer.biz)

Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire(from pocketgamer.biz)

Game of War的玩家会收到各种打折和礼包推荐的轰炸,礼包中的物品和资源多到你不敢想象。然而,绝妙之处在于不同玩家提供的折扣也是不同的,表面功夫和内在技术都做足了。

你看,在Game of War当中,盈利可以被描述为“走楼梯”,游戏想要一直让你往上走。

想想看赌场是什么样的。他们会给你免费的薯条、免费的酒水还有免费的食物,让你感受到他们的热情款待,感受到快乐。赌场就是希望你玩的开心,玩的愉快,这样你就会花钱了。一旦你的钱花出去了,他们就会想要你花更多!即使你最后还是把输光了,但你刚刚是不是因为赢了2000美金而感到欣喜若狂?好吧,那么找个更大桌子,赢个4000美金怎么样!?

从PunchAndPie的Game of War博客里截取的:不同账户提供的同类折扣对比。

由于这个游戏的经济可以无限制地扩大,系统提供的交易只有你想不到,没有它做不到的。这就意味着如果你还没改变主意,折扣就会越来越低直到你花钱。

一旦你花钱了,礼包和价格点就会改变。所以一旦你花出去4.99美元,你就永远都买不到这个价格的礼包了,价格会上升到9.99美元,以此类推。一旦你改变主意了,一旦你适应了这个消费级别,距离你想要再次消费只是时间问题了,等你再次消费又是另外一个级别的价格了。

看看这篇Kotaku的文章,有人用偷来的钱,在Game of War花掉了1百万美元!体会一下这游戏的实际盈利能力有多厉害。

根据不同玩家的情况还可能更厉害。你才玩不到6个月?当你回到游戏的时候,游戏会提供给你一个简直是便宜到丧心病狂的折扣,诱惑你回到游戏中来,这么做其实挺聪明的,从别人那里赚个2.99美元,总比人家直接删掉你的游戏,半毛钱都捞不到的要好。

或者如果你遭受敌人的重创,身无分文,不剩一兵一将,游戏会给你提供装备或者物品帮你杀回去,对玩家来说这是个很大的诱惑。

Game of War有一个类似赌博游戏的VIP系统,驱使玩家长期、大量地砸钱。

除此之外,游戏中有一个相当酷的VIP系统,借鉴了赌场方式和其他用真钱玩的游戏,鼓励玩家不断投钱。你不仅能成为VIP,你还能升级VIP等级,继续往上爬,可以拿到更多、更厉害的强化道具。

而且,你也会被附上VIP的标签,在世界地图上,茫茫玩家群体中,你看起来就像是一个真正的杀手。在一个以实力为中心,实力决定社会地位的游戏中,VIP能让你变成大红人。甚至还能让你接触到一些便捷功能,例如能够快速打开所有宝箱,马上合成所有装备碎片。

这些东西如果没有VIP权力就没办法得到,玩家也会对失去特权而感到沮丧,从用户体验的角度来看,游戏把这些东西当作额外福利卖,而不是包含在普通内容里,这是一件挺有趣的事。

你考虑一下游戏中的所有系统,还有想变成最强玩家的渴望之心,你就不会惊讶这游戏的那么多评论都说需要一直花钱才能跟上那些顶级玩家,因为这就是事实。

游戏中有不设上限的的power creep,意味着恃强凌弱的局面永远都不会消失,而且游戏甚至也在鼓励这种现象,再加上永久性的损失,一个曾经荣耀一时的王国有可能在一个月后就变成了蝼蚁。

但是随着同盟玩家之间建立起了社会尊重,在王国中有一定声望以后,他们就不会想要成为吊尾车,做出让别人失望的事情。因此,这游戏的社交功能可以把你拖回游戏中,而且还能给你继续花钱的理由。

业内获取用户最多的游戏

手游曾经是由非常休闲的小镇养成游戏、无尽头的跑酷游戏还有解密游戏占据热门位置。但是随着时间久了,越来越多的midcore游戏发行并且开始在排行榜上领跑。

显然midcore游戏玩家非常高兴为手头上的游戏花费这么一笔钱。所以结合上述的信息,结果就是大家都抢着要那些花大钱的玩家,希望能下载他们的游戏,然后玩起来。Machine Zone已经证明了就算好几年过去了,他们在这块领域的地位几乎还是无人能撼动。

在免费游戏的世界中,成功很大程度上取决于两项数据:你的单次安装成本(CPI)和生命周期总价值(LTV)。鉴于游戏的消费潜力和能够促使玩家消费的社交压力,4X游戏拥有业内最高的生命周期总价值也就不是什么令人惊讶的事情了,这也意味着Machine Zone可以在竞标的时候无情地踢走竞争对手,达成交易。

事实上,他们在这个方面也是臭名昭著,有传言说他们在Mobile Strike发行之际把YouTube的所有视频流量都给了它,为了让这个游戏尽快挤入收益榜的前10。

MZ使用的创意数量和局部最优化程度是非常惊人的。在这方面他们比手游业内的其他人领先了好多。

MZ究竟雇了多少人投入到用户获取的工作中,我们不得而知,但是在所有的广告平台上都能看到他们的信息,这是很吓人的。他们要争取从每个用户赚60美元并不是什么罕见的事,去看看其他F2P游戏内嵌的广告,通常大部分都是MZ的游戏。

可能想起来是很简单“他们当然可以用高薪去挖墙脚啊,”但是这对公司来说是不公平的。他们公司用的创意人才比其他公司都多,持续地对游戏进行更新,优化它们达到局部最大值,保持它们的新鲜度。

显然在优化用户获取上,他们比其他任何一家公司做得都好,甚至还有传言说他们有自己的专利技术帮他们鉴别土豪玩家,这样他们就能留住这群财主。

尽管市面上还有很多盲目的模仿游戏,通常他们的画面、游戏特色、IP都会比Machine Zone的游戏好,但是没有一个能够匹敌Machine Zone的巨额收入。

他们的用户获取能力如何?在这个竞争最激烈的领域,他们能有办法挡开其他对手,这就是最能看出他们能力的地方了。很多公司都模仿Game of War制作游戏,而且对游戏画面和特色都进行了提升,但是没有人能够撼动Game of War的榜首位置。

虽说有可能公司为了保持它们的榜首地位投入了很多,甚至是多到打破了收支平衡,但是公司的市场潜力的最高值也超过了100亿美元,显然要取得这么一种成功也不是没可能的。

这就是Game of War的尽头了吗?自《最终幻想15》发行以来,Game of War的下载量已经减少,因为公司的资源必须拨一部分给新游戏。

然而,先不管他们在用户获取方面使用的黑科技,看看最近的MZ是要改变他们的策略还是怎样,也是很有趣的一件事。

新游戏《最终幻想15:新帝国》用的是Square Enix的IP,尽管有收益共享契约,但要是MZ想要做一个能够赚更多利润的游戏我也不会惊讶,毕竟high fantasy题材的CPI是所有类型中最高的。

还有一点值得注意的是由于今年的转变,MZ的Game of War已经进入了大丰收状态,但是它提高了新装备的更新频率,这让很多玩家感到心烦。

大概是因为占了这么多年的榜首位置,收益都达到了十几亿美元,是时候把注意力放在下一个游戏了。你不能小看这个领域的竞争有多激烈,MZ两次从Kabam的手中夺过来冠军位置并且保持长达这么多年,那么多对手努力想要赶上他们也无济于事,这是非常让人佩服的。

这个类型的游戏到底有多值钱,就在这篇文章发布之际,以色列游戏开发商Plarium Games以5亿美元的价格被收购,差不多是跟他们所有4X游戏(游戏邦注:例如Vikings: War of Clans)的收入持平。

甚至连声名狼藉的Zynga都想利用一款黑手党版本的4X游戏搞垮Machine Zone。但很不幸,这游戏没能撑过测试发行期,因为公司叫停了这个项目。

有人怪它的画面,IP或者是因为Zynga在4X游戏上缺乏经验,但是真正的原因可能是他们的用户获取成本。见过了那么多以用户获取为目的的主题测试,我们注意到以犯罪为主题的游戏通常表现得不好,会导致更高的单次安装成本。

当用户获取的成本比那些竞争者还高,而且盈利效果也是一样好的时候,就没有必要进入那个竞争超级激烈的市场中。

看一下Machine Zone把Game of War改装的样子,再次体现了他们对用户获取方面的理解以及影响力,他们知道什么主题才是对游戏最好的。

《最终幻想15:新帝国》

《最终幻想15》是Machine Zone第三款4X手游。除了画面更好看了,实质上还是跟你所爱的,或者所恨的Game of War和Mobile Strike一样。尽管如此,它还是吸引了一大批玩家。

Machine Zone的近期作品是和日本Square Enix合作的,借用了他们的《最终幻想》IP。我觉得关于这个游戏的情况还是挺有意思的,尽管它是Game of War和Mobile Strike的克隆品(画面有所提升),但是表现还不错。

实际上,尽管初期的评分比较低,遭受到了来自世界各地玩家的鄙视,说这个游戏虽然用了IP,却一点都不“最终幻想”,但是这游戏的下载量还是足以让它在榜单中稳步上升。

然而我还是希望其它著名的IP游戏不要像这样把现有的游戏换了个壳直接套上,削弱自己的品牌,其实还有很多没有玩过4X游戏的用户可以争取到。

我也在想,这同时证明了这游戏的很多机制都可以提取出来植入到完全不同的类型中去。这让我想起了《使命召唤:现代战争》是如何利用它的perks系统改良主机端的FPS游戏,变成现在这种形式,现在几乎所有FPS游戏都有perks系统。

Midcore游戏的未来

关于移动市场,我最喜欢的就是它像是一个谜团,需要我们这群游戏制作人去解开。看看我下边说的这些市场的多样化吧:

近期美国市场的高收益游戏。

虽然这里的大多数游戏已经在排行榜上待了很长时间,但是游戏玩法类型各不相同。有休闲益智游戏Candy Crush,大热门IP游戏Pokemon GO(ARG)和Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle (RPG),建造和战争游戏Clash of Clans,4X游戏Game of War / Mobile Strike,还有代表同步对战游戏的《部落冲突:皇室战争》。

针对不同年龄段的用户,市场中有很多不同类型的游戏。我认为这就体现了市场中还有革新和发展的空间,因为Pokemon GO和《部落冲突:皇室战争》都是全新体裁,还有Gardenscapes对传统的休闲游戏体裁进行了再一次创新,即使这种体裁已经被认为是过时的。

Midcore游戏要再一次进化吗?Brawl Stars和《王者荣耀》已经证明了MOBA和轻MOBA游戏是有市场的,而且Crusaders of Light和《天堂2》也证明了连MMO游戏在某些国家的市场也是有潜力的。尽管《魂斗罗》是个2D射击游戏,但是在中国手游市场还是大赚了不少。虽然我不看好这些游戏会在西方会成功,但是多少会对下一代的midcore手游趋势产生影响。

所以midcore游戏的下一步该做什么?尽管《最终幻想15》在全球市场范围内都开了个好头,但是距离进入前10还是有一段距离的。

还有值得注意的一件事就是由于《最终幻想15》的发行,Game of War和Mobile Strike的玩家都一致把注意力转移到了新游戏上,于是这两个游戏的的当下排名已经掉出了收益榜前10。有没有可能大众对midcore游戏的口味又改变了?

自从Supercell旗下的《部落冲突:皇室战争》发行以来,我们看见了有大规模玩家寻求同步PvP游戏,他们更关注即刻发生的游戏内容,而不太留意精细的游戏环境。

看看各个国家的市场,我们可以知道在中国最赚钱的游戏是个MOBA游戏。中国和韩国也有大型的MMO游戏:《梦幻西游》和《天堂2》。虽然亚洲文化和西方文化迥然不同,但是MMO游戏在过去都是风靡一时,像Everquest和World of Warcraft就是很好的例子。

如果要说Game of War教会了我们什么就是玩家是非常愿意长时间地耗在他们的移动设备上,所以谁能说MMO游戏不会成功呢?我个人相信在某个时间点,带有城市风格大厅,还有类似World of Warcraft的3D玩家化身的MMO手游会最终成为大热门。得有人去做这件事,先把玩家拿下才行。

IGG打造的《王国纪元》就是一款“5X”游戏。在4X游戏传统对战报告的基础上,《王国纪元》增加了角色对战循环体系。

在过去一年中兴起的另一个苗头就是4X类型的再次变革,我把它称为“5X”游戏。这第5个“X”代表“刺激(eXcite)”。

虽然MZ的4X游戏中没有战斗环节,但是很多开发者都在尝试IGG《王国纪元》中的成功概念,还有Zynga的重磅midcore游戏《泰坦黎明》中对传统RTS(即时战略游戏)游戏机制的创新运用。

尽管《泰坦黎明》在市场中的反响并不好,但是《王国纪元》经常在各个国家的收益榜排前25-50的位置。

随着midcore玩家适应越来越复杂的游戏内容,这时候就得回到手游设计的基础部分之一:流程设计上。Machine Zone说他们见过玩家坐在那儿,玩他们的游戏,打了好几个小时的长流程,我自己也是看过了好多不同类型游戏的玩家也这么干。

但是,在西方,我认为最好的手游应该是能让你快速通过游戏的核心循坏,但是把流程做得相当有吸引力,能让玩家上瘾,想要多玩几遍。

举个例子,在Game of War中,进入游戏安排接下来的一系列行动根本不用花什么时间,只有一个小而简单的流程。想玩久一点的流程也是有的,但是那不会是游戏的核心部分,所以说为什么增加个战斗环节就会有问题呢?

同样地,《部落冲突:皇室战争》也没有任何限制,你可以玩到天荒地老,游戏中使用了绝妙的开箱系统,确保每场战斗最多只有3分钟时间,这也就意味着玩家很轻易地就可以享受到这种时间短但不缺乏内容的游戏流程,能够有效地保证玩家返回游戏。

在中国市场的话就不能按照这个规则走,需要很长很长的流程,《虚荣》就是这样的,但是在西方目前还没引起玩家的共鸣。我确实很好奇,将来长流程玩法会不会变成主流,又或者还是这种短小精悍的流程能够赢得玩家的心。

还有值得一提的是同步对战游戏作为一个“新”类型的体裁在mid-core游戏中迅速吸引了玩家的注意力。很多开发商都努力想要跟着MOBA大部队登上移动平台,但是大多数人认为直到《部落冲突:皇室战争》出现在我们的屏幕中,MOBA游戏才算真正成功地登上了移动平台,在排行榜上大展拳脚。

紧接着就有很多hardcore程度越来越高的游戏,我敢肯定至少有一款脱颖而出的游戏会加入同步玩法,Supercell的MOBA/射击类型游戏Brawl Stars就很有可能。

随着用户获取成本的提升,还有几个主要公司垄断市场,口碑就变成了非常重要的因素,我觉得那些具有电竞潜力的游戏可以在这方面成功。Supercell目前在努力扩大《部落冲突:皇室战争》的覆盖范围,在中国排名前100的游戏有30个都是电竞风格的。

电竞手游市场目前还没有像传统midcore游戏市场竞争那么激烈,但是在接下来的一至三年也肯定会变成一个大战场。

总结

4X手游向我们展示了复杂游戏加上本质上是社交的复杂机制是可以在移动市场收获硕果的。尽管开头是一件很可怕的事情,很难实现,但是看看这些游戏,玩家愿意花这么长的时间在游戏上。

实际上,我还是很惊讶竟然没有一个游戏可以扩大受众范围,没有人去重新思考早期游戏的易接受度,4X玩法机制现在是小众,但是能在少数人手里赚很多。

至于接下来该做什么,有可能4X类型已经开始走下坡路。但是我还是会期待同样类型的产品能在接下来的一年中多几个,看起来人们的偏好已经有了改变的迹象。

至于那些想跟Machine Zone正面对决的开发商,鉴于他们的技术、用户基础和专业知识,这就意味着你要打一场硬仗,要抢走他们的份额,尤其是CPI,用来争取那些花钱不眨眼的玩家。

因此,我认为更注重核心玩法的小团队制作出的游戏会变得越来越受欢迎,因为这些游戏开发难度相对较小,口碑潜力也比较好,还可以随着时间增长。

但是,想要尝试的人也不会因此停下脚步,我看到4X游戏甚至比以前还要hardcore,还有东方的概念比如3D实时大厅,也变得越来越重要。举一个例子吧,要是Blizzard制作一个MMO手游的话会怎么样?

最后,由于这篇文章是关于Machine Zone的,我想给你们看看2013年这个游戏刚发布的时候,Machine Zone CEO Zone Gabe的演讲视频。

Machine Zone CEO Zone Gabe的演讲视频

优酷站点链接

听听他深入讲解这个游戏,如何制作,为什么制作,你会觉得作为这文章研究的一部分也是很棒的。即使是隔着屏幕你也能感受他制作游戏的热情。

不管你如何看待这个公司,或者他们的游戏,你都无法质疑他们取得的巨大成功或者是他们的游戏对移动应用商店产生的巨大影响力。

本文由游戏邦编译,转载请注明来源,或咨询微信zhengjintiao

This multi-part series will deconstruct Machine Zone’s super successful games and look into the particular midcore genre dominated by the company. You can read part one here and part two here.

In part two of this series, we looked at the core design of Machine Zone’s 4X games. We delved into the infrastructure they put into place that allows for emergent social gameplay atop a near infinitely scalable game economy and permanent losses that pushes people into spending to catch up.

But Machine Zone and their 4X games are notorious for having some of the best LTV’s of any games in the mobile industry. This article looks at how they achieve that and what the future for 4X and midcore games could be.

Moving You Up the Ladder

Spending in Game of War is handled almost in the same way that a casino would. The game is always looking to move you up to the next tier of spending, and will give you better and better offers until you get there!
You can’t talk about Game of War without talking about its monetisation. Quite simply put there is no other game in the world that monetises better on a per user basis.

In fact, I would be shocked if the ARPDAU of the game is less than $1. Just look at this quote taken from an interview between Game of War Real Tips and Stayalive77, one of the top players in the game:

There is no doubt Stayalive spends a TON of money on Game of War. I asked if he has spent over a half a million, “ya ya, ya ya. It’s a very expensive game.”

Half a Million of Dollars! Into a single mobile game. And this was a few years ago when the quote was made.

The player is now rumored to have spent double that amount in the game. But just let that settle in for a second to truly understand the scale of the economy and sinks in this game. That’s not even possible in 99.9% of games out there and a testament to the design that a well built 4X game can achieve.

Whilst it may well disgust you to think about that money being spent, remember that people can choose to spend money in the way they want to.

For example, if I go out with my friends in London for a really epic night such as someone’s birthday I might spend £200. However, a celebrity like a footballer or a movie star might spend something like £50,000 in an evening if they were really blowing off steam.

And whilst that might sound outrageous to me, that is their prerogative and something you just have to accept in a capitalist system. And so you have to begrudingly applaud Machine Zone for making a game where it’s even possible to motivate players to want to spend that amount of money. If Game of War was a nightclub… there’d be a queue two miles long to get in!
This is a bill for 0K for a single night out spent by NBA hall-of-famer Lebron James. I wished I was there!
The monetisation strategy and design of Game of War is fairly unique and exceptionally well executed. Most games have flat price points that are balanced around a central economic constant such as time.

For example, if 10 Gems are worth one minute in real game time, then you can use that as a basis to create curves to balance price points around to anchor players to certain packages. It’s a tried and trusted technique used in a multitude of games and one which Supercell absolutely nails. However, Game of War doesn’t use this approach at all.

In Game of War, players are bombarded with offers and bundles for a crazy number of items and resources. However, the genius here is that each offer is tailored to each unique customer via very clever tech and surfacing.

You see, in Game of War, monetisation can be described as a “staircase” where the game wants you to keep moving upwards over time.

Think about a casino. They will often give you free chips, free drinks, and food to make you feel welcome and happy. A casino wants you to be happy and wants you to be fun so that you will spend. Then once you spend, they want you to spend more! Did you just get a thrill out of winning $2,000, even if eventually you end up losing it all? Well, how about the feeling of winning $4,000 at an even bigger table!?

A comparison of the same offer viewed from different accounts taken from PunchAndPie’s Game of War blog
Because the game economy is infinitely scalable, the game can offer you insane deals. This means that if you haven’t converted yet, the offers can go up and up until you do spend.

Then cleverly once you have spent, that bundle and price point is removed. So once you have spent $4.99, you can never get a bundle for that price again, it will cost $9.99 instead, and so on and so forth. Once you’ve converted once you are comfortable at that spending level and it’s only a matter of time before you will want to spend again, which is now at an increased level.

Take a look at this story from Kotaku of someone spending almost a million dollars (!) of stolen money in Game of War to understand just how skillfully this has been executed.

This goes further by targeting players based on circumstance. Haven’t played in six months? Then when you return you will be given a truly insane offer to get you right back into the game, which is clever because it’s better to get $2.99 from someone who would otherwise delete your game than no money from them at all.

Or if you have just been zeroed by a colossal attack, you can be offered the gear or items to launch a killer counter punch which you will be highly motivated to do.

Game of War has a casino-game style VIP system to encourage you to keep spending lots of money.
On top of this, the game also has a killer VIP system which is derived from casino and other real-money based games and encourages the player to keep spending. Not only can you become a VIP but you can climb the ranks of the VIP tier system to keep progressing and to keep getting even larger and more powerful boosts.

On top of this, you are given VIP status and it makes you look like a true killer in a sea of players on the world map. And in a game that is all about power and the social status that comes with that power, makes you a hot shot. It even gives you access to several convenience features such as the ability to fast open all chests or to instantly combine all pieces of gear.

These are things that once you have the power to do are very frustrating to lose hold of and it’s very interesting from a UX perspective that MZ chose to sell these as perks instead of making it part of the regular flow.

When you consider all of the systems in place in the game and the aspiration to be the most powerful, it’s no surprise that so many reviews for the game mention the fact that you need to keep spending money to keep up with the top players, because it’s true.

As the game facilitates the power of being a bully with endless power creep and permanent losses, a kingdom that was once mighty can be small-fry a month later.

But as players have built up social esteem with other players in their alliance and made their own reputation in their kingdom, players don’t want to get left behind and to be seen letting others down. Thus the social aspect of the game drags you back in and motivates you to keep spending.

The best user acquisition in the business

Mobile games once started out being very casual with village games, endless runners and puzzle games taking top spots. But over time more and more midcore games were released and started dominating the chart positions.

It became apparent that midcore players were far happier to spend serious sums of money in game they played. So armed with that knowledge, it led to a fight to find those high spending users and get them to install and play your game. And Machine Zone has proved over the years that this is an area where it is almost untouchable.

In the world of free-to-play, success is largely determined by two numbers your cost per install (CPI) and your LTV (lifetime value). With the depth of spend potential and social pressure to spend, it should come as no surprise that 4X games have the best LTV’s in the business, and this means that Machine Zone can be ruthless when it comes to out bidding rivals to acquire traffic.

In fact, they are notorious for it, with rumours that they brought ALL YouTube traffic when Mobile Strike launched in order to propel it into the top 10 grossing games as fast as possible.

The amount of creatives used and local optimisations MZ run is staggering. Quite simply they are streets ahead of anyone else in this area of mobile.
Quite how many people MZ employ to run user acquisition is unknown, but their power across all advertising networks is frightening. It’s not uncommon to hear of bids of $60 per user and a simple look at the adverts in any F2P game will more often than not contain a vast array of their games.

Whilst it might be easy to think “well sure they can just outbid everyone else,” this doesn’t do the company justice. They run way more creatives than any other company and are constantly updating and optimising them down to the local maxima to keep them fresh.

They clearly are doing better than any other company to optimise their user acquisition and it’s even rumoured that they have their own proprietary technology to help them best identify big spending users to make sure they get them.

Despite a slew of copycat titles, often with better visuals, features and IP than the Machine Zone games, none have seriously dented the huge revenues Machine Zone make.
The power of their UA is best seen in their ability to fend off other competitors in a very competitive genre. Many companies have cloned Game of War and improved upon them with better visuals and features, but no one has taken top spot away from them.

Though it’s possible that the company is spending at break-even or worse to monopolise their position at the top of the charts, the company’s potential market cap of over $10 billion makes it obvious that there is a method to the madness.
Is this the end for Game of War? Since the launch of Final Fantasy XV, downloads have decreased as spend has been allocated for the new title.
However, despite their proficiency in the dark arts of user acquisition, it’s interesting to see that of recent MZ have changed their strategy somewhat.

New title Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire uses the Square Enix IP and though there is a revenue share agreement in place it would not surprise me if MZ has wanted to focus their efforts on games with a higher margin as high fantasy is notorious for having the highest CPIs of any genre.

It’s also notable that since the turn of the year MZ has really been going into full harvest mode on Game of War, dramatically increasing the release rate of new gear and upsetting a number of their players.

It may well be that after years at the top and billions in revenue, it’s time to cash out and move onto the next title. The competitiveness of this sector can’t be downplayed and that MZ both took the crown from Kabam and retained their position on top for so many years despite so many rivals trying to catch them is hugely impressive.

Just to show you how big this category could be worth, Israeli based Plarium Games were acquired for a staggering $500 million in the time this article was published, with most of their revenue in their portfolio coming from 4X games such as Vikings: War of Clans.

Even the infamous Zynga attempted to eat into Machine Zone’s cake with a Mafia Wars version of a 4X game. Unfortunately, this game never passed through the soft launch period as the company decided to discontinue it.

While some people have blamed the visuals, the IP or Zynga’s lack of experience in the genre the real reason may be in user acquisition costs. Having seen a lot of theme testing in user acquisition we’ve noticed that the crime theme is often a poor performing theme, which results in higher CPIs.

When the cost of user acquisition is higher than those of the competitors and when the monetisation is the same at best, there’s no point in going live and entering this super competitive market.

Looking at the genres that Machine Zone has reskinned Game of War into, it again shows their understanding and power in the UA market to know which theme is best to make their game around.

Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire

Final Fantasy XV is Machine Zone’s third 4X title. Despite prettier graphics, it’s the same game game you’ve already come to love or hate in Game of War and Mobile Strike. Despite this, it’s drawn a large numbers of players to the title already.
Machine Zone’s latest title saw a collaboration with Square Enix of Japan to use their Final Fantasy IP. I find this game a very interesting case in it’s own right as despite being a straight clone of Game of War and Mobile Strike (albeit with prettier graphics), it’s doing great.

In fact despite an initially low review score and incurring the scorn of gamers worldwide for essentially making the least “Final Fantasy-ish” game to use the IP ever, it’s found enough installs to move up the charts steadily.

Whilst I hope it does not lead to other famous IPs diluting their brand by directly copying an existing game, it proves that their are still huge audiences that have not played 4X games that can be reached.

I also think it’s proof that many of the mechanics of the game are ripe to be plucked and put into totally different genres. It reminds me a bit of how Call of Duty: Modern Warfare evolved the FPS genre on console with its perks system that is now commonplace in almost all FPS games.

The future of midcore

One thing that I love about the mobile market is that it’s still a puzzle that we game makers need to figure out. Just look at the following for diversity in the marketplace:

A recent look at the top grossing games in the USA.
Whilst a number of these titles have been around for a long time, there is diversity among the gameplay types represented. We have casual puzzle games with Candy Crush, smash hit IP games with Pokemon GO (ARG) and Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle (RPG), Build and Battle with Clash of Clans, 4X games with Game of War / Mobile Strike, and 《部落冲突:皇室战争》 representing synchronous battle gaming.

That’s a lot of different genres appealing to many different target demographics. I think this shows that there is plenty of room for both innovation and evolution in the market as both Pokemon GO and 《部落冲突:皇室战争》 have created entirely new genres and Gardenscapes has created innovation in what was thought to be the already figured out casual market.

Is midcore evolving once more? Brawl Stars and Arena of Valor have proven hat MOBA and MOBA-light games have appeal and games like Crusaders of Light and Lineage 2 Revolution show that even an MMO has potential in some parts of the world. Contra in China is making bank despite being a 2D shooter on mobile! Whilst I wouldn’t expect many of these titles to succeed in the West, it will influence the next generation of mobile midcore hits.
So what’s next for midcore? Well despite Final Fantasy XV getting off to a good start globally, it’s quite some distance from breaking the top 10

It’s also notable that since the release of the game and the shift away from UA for Game of War and Mobile Strike that those games have now fallen out of the top 10 grossing games as users start to churn from those games en mass. Is it possible that the general public’s taste in midcore games is evolving again?

Since the release of Supercell’s 《部落冲突:皇室战争》, we’ve seen that there is a sizeable audience looking for synchronous PvP games are more moment-to-moment focused and less about deeper surrounding systems.

Looking at markets around the world we can see that in China the top grossing game is a MOBA. Both China and Korea also have huge MMO titles in Fantasy Westward Journey and Lineage 2 Revolution. Whilst Asian culture is totally different to the Western culture, MMOs have been popular in the past, with Everquest and World of Warcraft being great examples.

If Game of War has taught us anything it’s that players ARE willing to spend long periods of time on their mobile device, so who’s to say that a “true” MMO would not succeed? I personally believe that at some point in time a mobile MMO with town style lobbies and 3D player avatars akin to World of Warcraft will eventually be a hit at some point. Someone just has to build it and get the users in first.

Lords Mobile by IGG is an example of a ’5X’ game. It has a character battle game loop on top of the traditional as battle reports seen in most 4X games.
Another trend seen over the last 12 months is innovating again within the 4X genre through something I am labeling as a “5X” game. With the 5th “X” standing for “eXcite”.

Whilst MZ 4X games do not have a battle game, many other developers are trying the concept with success seen in Lords Mobile by IGG and innovative use of traditional RTS mechanics in the Zynga’s flagship mid-core title Dawn of Titans.

hough Dawn of Titans has not performed well in the market, Lords Mobile is frequently in the top 25 to 50 grossing positions around the world.

As midcore players get used to more and more complexity, it brings back one of the fundamental parts of the mobile game design to the forefront – session design. Machine Zone has gone on record to say that they have seen players sit through very long sessions (hours+) playing their games, and it’s something I have seen across multiple different games myself.

However, in the West, I think the best mobile games push you through their core loops quickly, but make sessions so addictive you want to do it more than once.

For example in Game of War to come in and set up the next set of actions you need to complete takes no time at all allowing for a short bite-sized session. The longer play habit is also available but it’s not the core to playing the game and hence why adding a battle could be problematic.

Likewise, 《部落冲突:皇室战争》 has no restrictions at all for playing the game endlessly, but using its genius Chest Unlock system and making sure that each game takes a maximum of three minutes means that it’s still super easy to have a short but meaningful game session that brings you back.

Hit games in China are moving away from this rule and going for far longer sessions, something that has been tried with Vainglory in the West, but not yet resonating with customers. I do wonder if we will see a shift towards long form gaming or if the bite size session will still prove to be the winning formula.

It’s also worth mentioning synchronous battle games as a “new” type of genre that is fast gaining traction in mid-core. A number of developers have tried to chase the MOBA crowd onto mobile but most thought it was not possible until 《部落冲突:皇室战争》 exploded onto our screens and set the charts alight.

Hot on its heels are a number of games that are getting more and more hardcore and I am sure at least one breakout title will appear next year with synchronous gameplay, with Supercell’s own MOBA / vertical shooter-style game Brawl Stars one of those possibilities.

With rising user acquisition costs and a few key companies monopolising the market, the “word-of-mouth” factor is huge and it’s something that I feel games with eSports potential can cover. Supercell is putting a lot of effort into coverage of 《部落冲突:皇室战争》 and 30 of the top 100 games in China are eSports-style games.

This is not yet as red an ocean as traditional midcore but it will definitely be a big battleground in the next one to three years.

Wrapping up

Mobile 4X games have shown us that complex games with super deep mechanics that are intrinsically social can win big on mobile. Despite being very scary to begin with and almost inaccessible, these games can get players to stick for a very long period of time.

In fact, it shocks me that there isn’t a version of the game that broadens the funnel right out and rethinks the accessibility of the early game because clearly as of here and now 4X gameplay mechanics are popular to a small but heavily monetisable audience.

As for what’s next, it’s possible that the 4X space as we know it is starting to show it’s age. Whilst I would expect a few more titles in this style to come out over the next 12 months, it appears that tastes are beginning to change.

And for those other developers that do still want to go toe-to-toe with Machine Zone, their technology, user base and expertise in the area mean that you are fighting a hard battle to take share away from them, especially with CPIs to acquire these players going through the roof.

As a result, I think games by smaller teams with a heavier emphasis on core gameplay will become more and more popular as these games are easier to develop and have a better word of mouth potential to grow over time.

However, it won’t stop some from trying though and I can see 4X games becoming even more hardcore and concepts from the East such as real-time 3D lobbies becoming a thing. As an example, what would happen if Blizzard made a mobile MMO?

Finally, as this article is about Machine Zone, I want to end with a video given by the CEO of Machine Zone Gabe Leydon in 2013 just as the game was launching.

It’s a great watch to get an insight into how the game was made and why, and proved to be a great piece of research for this article. Even from the video you get a sense of the passion from him that went into making the game.

And regardless of what you think about the company or the games, you can’t question the success the company has had or the impact their titles have made on the mobile app stores.(source:pocketgamer.biz


上一篇:

下一篇: