手游化是未来趋势，《暗黑破坏神：不朽》只是开端

原作者：Felicia Miranda 译者：Vivian Xue

暴雪在2018年嘉年华上公布了《暗黑破坏神：不朽》（Diablo Immortal），一款承接了《暗黑破坏神2》和《暗黑破坏神3》剧情的手游——但显然它不是玩家们所期待的。消息一出就引发了强烈抵制。玩家对这款新游戏评价是如此消极，事实上，暴雪没有料到事情会这么严重。

尽管暴雪在这场年度盛会前就发布了一则消息暗示这次公布的游戏不是《暗黑破坏神4》，但玩家仍然盼望着它会是一款全新的PC游戏。玩家的愤怒难以磨灭，不过这些PC和主机端的核心粉丝对手游感到失望也不难理解。

在我们对《暗黑破坏神：不朽》的制作人Dan Elggren和暴雪联合创始人Allen Adham的采访中。Adham明确表示暴雪计划开发更多手游。那些担忧的玩家主要是出于对手游一向拙劣的触屏控制和微交易的不满。

Diablo III(from gamasutra)

不错，很多手游都存在这些问题，但它们不只是手游的问题。主机游戏同样存在故障、设计不完善和微交易猖獗的问题——很多还是你全价购买的游戏——显然目前它们一时半会儿不会消失。所有平台的玩家似乎或多或少都在忍受这些问题。

跟着钱走，跟着玩家走

根据Newzoo的报告，手游收入占全球游戏总收入50%以上。尽管其中很大一部分来自中国和日本，美国是手游的第二大消费市场。我们已经在玩手游了，并且还玩过不少。据预测2021年前手游增长率在10%以上，照此看这些数字有望继续攀升。

暴雪这样的开发商自然清楚这些数字。他们知道手机是触及最广大的人群最简单的渠道。77%的美国人拥有智能手机，人们几乎24小时随身带着手机，因此为什么不做手游呢？三星、苹果和雷蛇这样的公司已经注意到了市场的风向。

在2018年的Keynote中，苹果集中展示了他们最新的A12芯片，称这款芯片是为高端游戏而生，特别是Bethesda即将推出的手游《上古卷轴：刀锋》（The Elder Scrolls：Blades）。雷蛇，著名的高端游戏笔记本电脑和配件生产商，推出了一款专为手游设计的智能手机，并喊话“没有120Hz刷新率，不叫游戏手机”。三星甚至与游戏开发商Epic Games合作，让玩家在他们的新设备Galaxy Note9 和Tab S4上抢先体验《堡垒之夜》，并为购买设备的玩家提供限定皮肤。
连任天堂都加入了手游化行列，他们在2016年发行了首款社交手游Miitomo，后又发行了《超级马里奥跑酷》《火焰纹章：英雄》《动物之森：口袋营地》和《失落的龙绊》，后三款游戏都取得了巨大的成功。任天堂似乎无意放慢脚步。该公司刚宣布将在2019年3月推出手游《马里奥赛车》（Mario Kart Tour）。

于此同时，Epic Games也在2018年发行了安卓版和iOS版的《堡垒之夜》。游戏大获成功，在安卓版出现前，仅在iOS平台上的首月收入就达到了2500万。Square Enix也推出了手游《最终幻想15：口袋版》，这款游戏受到玩家的欢迎……甚至从某种程度上超越了它的同名PC作品。

手游化将使所有人受益

《暗黑破坏神：不朽》的反馈表明有那么一群核心玩家尚不支持手游化。但这些玩家们应该安慰自己，手游化往往有助于扩大一款游戏的受欢迎程度。

手游是面向大众的。它使那些从未拥有专业游戏设备的人得以迈入游戏世界，玩家群体不再局限于那些有钱有闲的人，因此不久后，你就能够与更多的人分享你对这些游戏的热爱。

也许玩家们抵制《暗黑破坏神：不朽》从某种程度上是有道理的，但既然《暗黑破坏神4》照常开发，并且PC和主机仍然是核心的游戏平台，我们没有必要为行业关注手游领域感到激愤。它仅仅意味着更多的人能享受电子游戏的乐趣，开发者能够制作更多的游戏，这应该获得所有人的支持。

本文由游戏邦编译，转载请注明来源，或咨询微信zhengjintiao

Blizzard unveiled Diablo Immortal at Blizzcon 2018, an upcoming mobile game that acts as a prequel to Diablo II and Diablo III — and it was clear this wasn’t what the player base wanted. The announcement was met with an overwhelming backlash. The response was so negative, in fact, that Blizzard admitted it did not expect the reception to the new game to be so bad.

Though Blizzard released a statement prior to the annual convention hinting that any announcements scheduled for BlizzCon 2018 would not be Diablo IV, players still wanted a new Diablo game for PC. And while the amount of hatred being directed at Blizzard is inexcusable, it’s not hard to see why a fanbase established primarily on PC and consoles would be upset about a mobile game.

In our interview with Dan Elggren and Allen Adham, Adham made it clear that Blizzard has more mobile games planned. Concerned players have expressed their discontentment with mobile games due to their reputation for wonky touchscreen controls and gameplay that pushes microtransactions at every turn.

Those issues certainly exist in many mobile games but they are not isolated problems for mobile. With bugs, half-baked design, and microtransactions rampant on console games as well — many of which you still have to pay full price for – it’s clear that these issues are here to stay for now. For better or worse, gamers on all platforms seem to be putting up with these problems.

FOLLOW THE MONEY, FOLLOW THE GAMERS

According to a report by newzoo, mobile revenue makes up more than 50 percent of the global games market. While China and Japan contribute heavily to that result, the United States is the second largest market for mobile games. We’re already playing mobile games, and we’re doing a lot of it. Those numbers are expected to climb over the next few years with forecasts predicting an annual growth rate of at least 10 percent into 2021.

Developers like Blizzard are aware of the numbers. They understand that a mobile phone is the easiest way to reach the largest amount of people. 77 percent of Americans own a smartphone, so why not target the device that is on your person nearly 24 hours a day? Companies such as Samsung, Apple, and Razer have all noticed which way the wind is blowing.

During its 2018 iPhone keynote, Apple highlighted its latest A12 chip, and said it was made for high-end gaming. The company underscored that with exclusive gameplay from an upcoming Bethesda mobile game, The Elder Scrolls: Blades. Razer, a gaming hardware company known for high-end gaming laptops and accessories, has released a smartphone specifically for mobile gaming alongside the slogan, “If it’s not 120Hz, it’s not a gaming phone.” Samsung even partnered with Epic Games for the Galaxy Note9 and Tab S4 releases, offering up an exclusive Fortnite skin to players that purchased the devices.

Even Nintendo entered into the business in 2016 with Miitomo, followed up by Super Mario Run, Fire Emblem Heroes, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, and Dragalia Lost, with the latter three games having tremendous success. And it appears that Nintendo has no intention of slowing down. The company just announced Mario Kart Tour, a mobile game to the Mario Kart series, for March 2019.

Epic Games, meanwhile, released Fortnite on both Android and iOS this year. It was such as success that the mobile game alone earned 25 million in its first month — and that’s before it was available on Android. Square Enix also brought Final Fantasy XV to mobile with its Pocket Edition, which was well-received … and in some cases, favored more than the original.

WITH MOBILE GAMING IN THE PICTURE, EVERYONE WINS

If the Diablo Immortal announcement is anything to go by, it’s clear that there’s a core group of gamers out there that aren’t sold on the idea just yet. Still, these gamers should take some comfort in the knowledge that expanding a game franchise to mobile is often a boon for its popularity.

Mobile games offer access to everyone. It’s an entry point for people that have never owned a dedicated gaming device, and soon, you’ll be able to share the love you have for those games with more people because access won’t be limited to those with the time and money to play.

Maybe the backlash over Diablo Immortal was warranted to a degree, but with confirmation that Diablo IV is still in the works, and PC and console gaming still a core staple in gaming, there’s no reason to a blow a fuse over the industry’s focus on mobile. It only means more people can enjoy video games, and developers get to keep making them. That’s a cause everyone should get behind. （source：DigitalTrends）