英国传媒公司A&N Media不久前成立了手机游戏发行公司Metro Apps，正式进军游戏领域，这一举动多少有点让人意外，因为该公司之前最擅长的是纸质、网站媒体运营，但如果考虑到他们巨大的受众群体，就不难发现Metro Apps的成立另有一番道理。

日前，A&N Media公司的运营发展主管Renate Nyborg和市场营销主管Ian Macleod在采访中，向pocketgamer记者透露了他们的发展计划。下文为访谈内容：

Super-Yum-Yum-Puzzle-Adventures

为什么像A&N这样的传媒公司也会想进军游戏/应用市场？

智能手机应用市场正迅速成为一个重要的发展机遇，这一点对传媒品牌和开发商来说都不例外，所以大家都想分到一些市场份额。

用户的选择实在太多了（光是苹果App Store就有30万款应用），大多数开发商都缺乏市场营销经验、时间和预算。当然这些问题主要是针对欧洲开发商而言，因为几乎所有的大型发行商都是美国公司。

像Metro这种纸质/网站传媒品牌，如何在手机应用领域发挥作用？

Metro是的理想手机应用市场营销载体，因为我们拥有大量的主流受众群体：

Metro读者购买智能手机的可能性是其他群体的2.5倍；

Metro有许多18至44岁，全日制工作的都市读者；

Metro每周的关注读者多达350万人；

Metro.co.uk网站每月仅英国用户就有320万人；

已下载Metro的iPhone和iPad应用的用户共有35万人。

你们会重点关注哪种类型的游戏？

我们比较关注社交和休闲风格，例如策略类、益智类和动作类的游戏。

这些游戏类型对我们的都市受众群体最有吸引力，因为他们上下班或坐公共汽车时都会需要一些消遣时间的娱乐方法。但就我们自己来说，最重要的事情还是向市场提供高质量的手机应用和游戏产品。

你们只针对iOS平台开拓业务吗，还是说你们也有向Android、WP7等其他平台投放产品的打算？

没错，我们打算将Metro Apps打造成一个跨平台的发行品牌。在这一阶段，我们会重视关注苹果平台，但也准备和其他手机平台进行合作。

比如说，我们的手机新闻应用最近也投放了诺基亚的Ovi应用商店，还计划明年第一季度推出多个平台的发行版本。

请问你们能给游戏开发商提供什么优势？

Metro Apps拥有一个能与都市受众沟通的独特平台，我们的读者大多是全日制上班，年龄在18至44岁之间，购买智能手机的可能性是其他纸质媒体读者的3倍。

我们的市场营销除了针对传统的纸质媒体，还广泛涉及电视、在线网络、社交媒体、公共关系、手机网站和我们的手机应用领域。我们还能促进开发商与设计师、产品经理、UI专家之间的互动和交流，帮助优化他们的应用产品。

你们在产品发行上有没有什么数量上的目标，或者说你们更重视每款产品的质量？

我们是有一个内部制定的目标，但我们重视质量远甚于数量。

我们明年打算推出一系列主打产品，已经有了一些合作开发商。我们还很重视通过一些拳头产品的发行，培养一个手机用户和游戏玩家群体，在全球交叉推广Metro Apps的品牌。

请问你是否认为Metro Apps是一个以英国为重心的品牌？

我们在英国的市场营销能力是一项可以加分的优势，但我们致力于为Metro Apps开拓全球性的发行业务。

我们将提供与其他发行商一样的市场营销支持，包括社交媒体市场营销、手机广告宣传以及与应用商店高管的密切合作。

Metro在英国还有全国性的推广优势，而且这一点正逐步向全球范围的受众渗透。

可否介绍一下你们第一批将发行的作品？

我们面向核心用户提供六种应用类型：新闻、游戏、交通、体育、时事和音乐。

我们将发行的第一款游戏是《Super Yum Yum: Puzzle Adventures》，它曾获BAFTA（英国电影和电视艺术学院）游戏奖项提名，在Java手机平台的下载量过100万次，还投放到了任天堂DS和PC平台。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，转载请注明来源：游戏邦）

A&N Mobile explains why Metro will be a powerful publishing brand for games

Well known to the UK audience in terms of its free morning paper, as well as its online and news apps, Metro is now becoming a game publisher.

It’s a surprising move perhaps, but one that makes sense when you consider Metro’s daily reach, and its potential power as part of A&N Media, the consumer arm of DMGT, the company behind the Mail newspapers and other regional media as well as big property, retail and motor brands.

A&N’s head of business development Renate Nyborg and head of marketing Ian Macleod revealed their plans.

Pocket Gamer: Why does a media company such as A&N want to become a games/app publisher?

Opportunities in the smartphone application space have fast become clear to brands and developers alike, and so have the issues in terms of gaining market share.

There is too much consumer choice (300k apps in the Apple App Store alone), and most developers lack marketing experience, time or budget. Some of the issues are also specific to European developers, with nearly all major publishers being US-based.

How does a brand like paper/website brand like Metro work in this environment?

Metro is the ideal vehicle for bringing app marketing to a mainstream audience:

Metro readers are 2.5 times as likely to own a smartphone,

Metro reaches a 18-44 year old, full time working urbanite audience,

Attentive audience of 3.5 million readers every weekday,

Metro.co.uk has 3.2 million UK unique users each month,

350,000 people have downloaded the Metro iPhone or iPad application.

What specific areas will you focus on in terms of games?

We are focusing on social and casual genres: strategy, puzzle and action games.

These genres appeal most to our urbanite audience, as they commute or spend a lot of time on public transport and have time to kill. However for us, the most important focus is bringing quality apps and games to the market

Is this just an iOS business, or do you have plans for other platforms such as Android and WP7?

Yes, we intend to develop Metro Apps as a cross-platform publishing brand. For obvious reasons we are focused on Apple devices at this stage but we are actively engaging with other mobile platforms.

For instance our Metro News app recently launched on the Ovi store and we have other cross platform releases planned for Q1 2011.

What advantages do you think you can provide to game developers?

Metro Apps has a unique platform to communicate with urbanites – a captive, full-time working, audience aged 18-44, who are three times as likely to own a smartphone compared to other print readers.

Our marketing influence goes beyond our strong footprint in traditional print, and includes TV, online, social media, PR, mobile websites and our existing portfolio of mobile applications. We can also provide developers with access to designers, product managers and UI specialists to optimise their app for success.

Do you have a goal in terms of the volume of releases, or is it more of a per release basis?

We have internal targets but our focus is on quality over quantity.

Over the next year we intend to build of a strong portfolio, with a number of key releases and partnerships already lined up. We are also focused on growing a significant community of mobile consumers and gamers through a number of major releases, which can cross promote Metro Apps on a global level.

Do you think it’s an issue that Metro Apps is a UK-centric brand?

Our marketing capacity in the UK is a major added bonus and door opener, but we are launching Metro Apps as a global publishing business.

We will provide the exact same marketing support that any other publisher would in terms of new application launches, including social media marketing, digital and mobile advertising and through strong relationships with app store managers.

We have the added benefit of nationwide promotional power in the UK, which we have already seen trickles down into greater visibility to a global audience.

Can you say anything about the first titles you’ll be releasing?

We operate in six main categories that provide benefits to our core audience: News, Games, Transport, Sport, Events and Music.

The first game we are launching is Super Yum Yum: Puzzle Adventures, a special edition of the BAFTA-nominated game which has been downloaded over 1 million times for Java handsets, and is also out for Nintendo DS and PC.（source:pocketgamer）