Timo Soininen談《帝國與謎題》為何能從三消遊戲中脫穎而出
Timo Soininen談《帝國與謎題》為何能從三消遊戲中脫穎而出
原作者：James Batchelor 譯者：Vivian Xue
攻破手遊市場是一項艱鉅的任務，尤其是當你進入競爭最為激烈的型別遊戲市場中時。無數工作室試圖複製King，Supercell，Rovio等的成功，但沒有幾家能夠真正實現這個目標。
當然，也有例外。其中之一就是最近引發轟動的芬蘭工作室Small Giant Games，熱門遊戲《帝國與謎題》（Empire & Puzzles）的開發商。雖然這款遊戲看上去與其它三消遊戲機制沒什麼不同，但遊戲對RPG系統的重視以及Small Giant目標性的營銷策略，使它在極具敵意的市場中發展起來。
當我們在倫敦的Casual Connect遊戲大會上見面時，Small Giant的CEO兼聯合創始人Timo Soininen告訴我們《帝國與謎題》擁有120萬日活躍使用者，300萬的月活躍使用者，下載量達到了1500萬，此外它還在今年的Google I/O上獲得最佳突破大獎。這一切成就不僅屬於一個誕生14個月的遊戲，也屬於它背後的小團隊。
“2016年製作《帝國與謎題》時，我們只是一個12人的團隊，” Soininen告訴我們，“這麼小的團隊在11個月內從零開始創作出一部如此成功的遊戲，可以說是一個記錄了。我們受到了極大的鼓舞，做了一點外包，但這真是一個了不起的成就。”
“如今我們是一個大團隊，按我們的標準來看的話。35個團隊成員來自10個不同的國家，全都聚集在赫爾辛基。其中有年輕的人才，也有我們這種經驗豐富的老人家。”
Soininen稱Small Giant在2017年11月實現了盈利，並且玩家數量從未下滑。這在一定程度上歸功於績效營銷，而今年他們計劃在市場營銷上投入8000萬美元。
該公司的成功吸引了一些投資者的興趣，最近一次是在2月初，他們獲得了4 100萬美元的融資。Soininen告訴我們，工作室在遊戲發行後短短12個月內，收入已經達到1.3億美元，並且他們仍覺得這只是皮毛而已。
“事實上，這筆(4100萬美元)融資的很大一部分是投資者向Small Giant團隊成員二次購買股票產生的，因此我們能夠把我們的股份售賣給投資者，其中的一部分資金流入了我們的賬戶中。”CEO解釋道。
Empire and Puzzles（from gamesindustry.biz）
“我們在去年年底已經盈利了，所以我們真的不需要那麼多錢。那時投資方希望提高他們的股份，這對我們雙方都有利，因此我們在未來許多年內能夠專注於製作優秀的東西。”
那麼為何《帝國與謎題》能夠成功，而其它遊戲卻難以突破？三消遊戲已屢見不鮮，而把三消機制和RPG系統或角色收集結合起來的遊戲也並不少見。
Soininen指出了Small Giant為這一型別帶來的一些新特色。其中最值得注意的是攻擊方式：在大多數三消RPG遊戲中，相同顏色的寶石被消除後會觸發相關角色對某一固定目標或者所有敵方造成傷害。而在《帝國與謎題》中，寶石消除後將從該位置釋放出士兵，這意味著只有該位置正上方的敵人才會受到傷害。
這款遊戲還擁有一個與《戰爭遊戲》（Game of War）類似的基地建設系統，以及戰略遊戲中的各種模式，比如團隊作戰、PvP和今年的《聯盟戰爭》（Alliance Wars）模式。更重要的是，工作室高度重視遊戲的玩家教程（onboarding process）。
“我們讓遊戲十分容易上手，”Soininen說，“大多數的中核RPG遊戲都在爭奪一個數量有限的玩家群體，事實上如果你推出一款新遊戲，你將不得不把玩家從別的遊戲那裡吸引過來，這既困難又昂貴。”
“我們想要製作一個非常容易上手也非常受歡迎的遊戲。我們的教程大概是有史以來最長的教程之一，根據所謂的行業專家的觀點，這是非常違反常理的。但是我們對一切進行了大力測試，結果使我們相信這麼做是正確的。”
“我認為《帝國與謎題》的整體吸引力在於它是一個入門級的RPG。我們把門檻放得很低，同時賦予它極有深度的meta元素和眾多的玩法，能夠讓玩家深度探索幻想的世界。我們已經吸引了許多玩家，如今的RPG遊戲粉絲們喜歡這個遊戲，這歸功於玩法的特殊性。
Small Giant希望將《帝國與謎題》打造成一款熱門遊戲，而偏長的教程展現了他們為實現這一目標所願承擔的風險。鑑於智慧裝置上吸引玩家的遊戲實在太多了，開發者們的傳統觀念是讓玩家儘早地正式開始遊戲。而教程過多，特別是當玩家在其他遊戲中遇到過類似的教程時，可能會讓他們在幾分鐘後就解除安裝遊戲。
“我們當然擔心過這個，但是測試結果非常優秀，”Soininen解釋道，“並且我認為這和敘述方式有關，即我們是如何設計流程並讓它按順序展開。它並不是那些無聊的教程之一。當然，有些人不會喜歡它，但我們遊戲粘性非常強因此人們必須喜歡它。”
“你的腦子裡可以有各種各樣的理論，但你依賴的是資料和測試。有時候，對於不同的遊戲你得采取不同的方法，重要的是保持開放的心態。作為開發者，我們有時會形成一種固定思維，哪些是有效的哪些是無效的，但你不應該這麼做。嘗試不同的方法，尤其是當資料顯示你的固定方案不起作用時。”
他繼續說道：“不過良好的營銷也是必不可少的。如今即使你創造出了最好的遊戲，它也不會自動成功。這就是為什麼你得做好一切細節。對我們來說好訊息是我們的市場滲透才剛剛開始。”
一個令人沮喪的事實是，特別是對於希望通過創造力和創新來彌補營銷預算不足的小型工作室來說，並不是每一家手遊創業公司都能像Small Giant那樣吸引投資者，也不可能像他們一樣建立一個資金庫用於UA投資。
“額，我們沒有營銷預算，”Soininen說，“其實我們陷入了一個困境中，我們沒有大量現金。我們迫切需要弄清楚這些資料是否是正確的。如果留存率和盈利上不去，我們必須趕快把這個方案扼殺在搖籃裡，這樣我們還能有機會。一切都必須建立在資料之上。”
Soininen鼓勵工作室制定一個營銷模式，並試圖找出哪些策略和創意最有效。測試不同的渠道將會向你展示你能通過類似Facebook的渠道獲得什麼樣的關注。這位CEO提醒大家，這的確需要花一點錢，但是制定這種模型是很關鍵的。
“你必須比對你的終身價值和獲取成本（lifetime value vs acquisition cost）：如果你把一定數量的錢投入到使用者獲取中，那就看轉化率，你需要知道你從那群使用者中收回這筆成本需要多久——這是需要時間的，所以你必須有耐心，”他說，“但這就是我們建立模型的方法。”
“最困難的領域之一就是把握好創意，嘗試掌握Facebook的演算法以及讓整個系統以最佳方式運作——我們花了相當長的時間才能達到一個相對較好的水平，這讓我們堅信自己走上了正確的道路。我們可能花了六個月的時間才達到這個水平，那時，遊戲也差不多完工了。”
在遊戲還在開發時就著手製定營銷模式是吸引投資者的關鍵。當Small Giant在早期的一輪融資中籌集到600萬美元時，他們通過準備好的指標和商業模式來證明通過更多的投資，他們可以取得更好的表現。
“你必須要保持百分百地真誠，並且掌握這些投資者的心思，”Soininen提醒道，“你必須為他們描繪一幅清晰的藍圖。我們說，‘我們做了一款很棒的遊戲，各項指標都很好，我們已經有了一個良好的開端，但是在這個領域我們需要資金或幫助。’當你這麼說時，你的話會變得非常可信。千萬不要把時間花在胡說八道上，把你的專案吹得天花亂墜。”
如今《帝國與謎題》已經獲得成功，Small Giant也加緊進行第二部遊戲的開發。雖然Soininen無法告知我們任何相關資訊，但他透露該專案目前正處於前期的消費者測試階段，並可能在今年晚些時候的進行測試發行。
然而，他強調公司90%的精力仍集中在他們的旗艦遊戲上。例如，最近新增的《聯盟戰爭》（Alliance Wars）模式‘展現了我們的KPI有了巨大的改進’並且工作室也渴望在這方面進一步探索。此外，新的關卡、新的英雄和新的遊戲模式在同步研發中，以保持百萬玩家的持續參與。
“我們會源源不斷地推出新的事件、活動和任務來保持遊戲的新鮮感，”他說，“這款遊戲運營個五年到八年是沒什麼問題的。”
本文由遊戲邦編譯，轉載請註明來源，或諮詢微信zhengjintiao
Cracking the mobile market is a Herculean task, especially if you are entering one of the most crowded genres. Countless studios attempt to replicate the success of King, Supercell, Rovio et al, but very few come close to achieving this.
There are, of course, exceptions. One such studio that has been making waves is Finnish outfit Small Giant Games, the developer behind the increasingly popular Empires & Puzzles. While seemingly yet another take on the widely used match-three mechanic, the game’s focus on RPG systems and Small Giant’s determined approach to marketing has seen the title thrive in an extremely hostile market.
When we meet at Casual Connect London, CEO and co-founder Timo Soininen tells us Empire & Puzzles stands at 1.2 million daily active users, three million monthly active users and 15 million downloads – plus it won the Best Breakthrough Hit award at this year’s Google I/O. All solid accomplishments, not only for a 14-month-old game but also for such a small team.
“When we built Empire and Puzzles back in 2016, we were just a team of 12,” Soininen tells us. “It must be some sort of record that such a small team created such a big game like that in 11 months from scratch. We were really driven, and we did a little outsourcing, but it’s a really remarkable achievement.
“Since then we are now big, by our standards. 35 people, all in Helsinki with 10 nationalities. There’s a mixture of young talent, and then us veterans and dinosaurs.”
Soininen also reports Small Giant achieved profitability by November 2017, and has never made a loss on user acquisition. This is in part due to the effort poured into performance marketing, with plans to do $80 million in marketing this year.
The firm’s success has attracted the interest of several investors, most recently completing a $41 million round of funding at the beginning of February. Soininen tells us the studio has reached $130 million revenue run rate in just 12 months from launch and still feels “we’ve only just scratched the surface.”
“A large part of that [$41m] investment was actually secondary purchases from all Small Giant team members, so we were able to sell our shares to investors, and part of that money went into our warchest,” the CEO explains.
“We were already profitable at the end of last year so we didn’t really need that much money. There was a point in time where investors wanted to increase their share, it was good for them and good for us, so we’re now able to focus on building on great things for many years to come.”
So why is it Empires & Puzzles has succeeded where so many others have struggled? Match-three games are hardly rare, nor are titles that mix the mechanic with RPG systems or collectible characters.
Soininen points to a number of fresh twists Small Giant has brought to the genre. Most notably, the need for aiming; in most match-three RPGs, matching coloured gems triggers an attack from the relevant character that deals damage to a selected target or all enemies. In Empires & Puzzles, matching gems actually unleashes miniature troopers from that position, meaning only enemies directly above the match are harmed.
The game also boasts a base-building system similar to the likes of Game of War, as well as various modes you’d expect from a strategy game, such as alliances, PvP and this year’s Alliance Wars mode. More importantly, the studio has placed a great deal of emphasis on its onboarding process.
“We made the game extremely approachable,” Soininen says. “Most of the midcore RPGs are playing the zero sum game on a relatively limited audience – in fact, if you launch a new game you’re going to have to steal players from the other games, which is difficult and expensive.
“We wanted to make a game that is so accessible and welcoming. Our tutorial is probably one of the longest tutorials out there, which is very counter-intuitive according to so-called industry experts. But we tested everything vigourously, and it gave us the confidence that this was the right way to do it.
“I think the whole appeal of Empires & Puzzles is it’s an intro-level RPG. We’ve kept the threshold really low, while having the extremely deep meta and lots of gameplay modes if you do want to go deeper into our fantasy world. We’ve been able to convert a lot of players, existing RPG fans love it – it comes down to the differentiating aspect that is the gameplay.”
The longer tutorial alone shows the risks Small Giant has been willing to take to establish Empires & Puzzles as a hit. Given how much titles are vying for people’s attention on smart devices, conventional wisdom pushes for developers to bring them into the game as soon as possible. Too much instruction, particularly for systems players have likely encountered in other titles, is likely to encourage deletion within the first few minutes.
“Of course that was a worry, but we tested this so well,” Soininen explains. “And I think it’s all about storytelling, how we devise the flow and the fact it’s all done in sequences. It’s not one of those boring tutorials. Of course some people aren’t going to like it, but our stickiness ratio has been really good so people must like it.
“You can have all kinds of theories in your head, but you rely on the numbers and testing. Sometimes for different games, different approaches work and it’s important that you keep an open mind. As developers, we sometimes have this prefixed idea of what works and what doesn’t, but you shouldn’t have that. Try different things, especially if the numbers are telling you the prefixed approach is not working.
He continues: “But it’s also the combination of being really good at marketing. In today’s world, even if you create the best possible game out there, it’s not going to fly automatically. That’s why you have to get all the bits and pieces right. The good news for us is we’ve only scratched the surface in terms of market penetration.”
It’s a disheartening truth, particularly for smaller studios hoping that creativity and innovation will make up for a lack of marketing budget. Not every mobile start-up can hope to attract investors in the same way Small Giant has, not will they be able to build a ‘warchest’, as Soininen referred to it, in order to invest in user acquisition profitably.
“Well, we didn’t have that marketing budget,” Soininen observes. “We were literally in this predicament, we didn’t have huge amounts of cash. We pretty much had to know very quickly whether the numbers were correct. If the numbers didn’t add up in terms of retention and monetisation, we needed to kill this baby quickly so we still had one more shot. You have to be really on top of the numbers.”
Soininen encourages studios to essentially build a model for their marketing and try to find out which tactics and creatives work best. Testing different channels will show the sort of attention you can gain through things like Facebook. This, the CEO warns, does require spending a little money, but building this model is essential.
“You have to know your lifetime value vs acquisition cost: if you put a certain amount into user acquisition, this is the conversion rate, you need to know how quickly can you gain that amount from that cohort of users – there’s a lead time, so you have to be patient,” he says. “But this is what we did to build the model.
“One of the most difficult areas was getting the creatives right, trying to master the Facebook algorithm and getting the whole system to work in an optimal way – it took us quite a long time before we got to a relatively good level, and that gave us the confidence that we knew we were on the right track. It probably took us six months to get to that level, and by that time the game was pretty much ready.”
Preparing the marketing model while the game is still in development is also essential to getting investors on board. When Small Giant raised $6 million in an early funding round, it used metrics and the business model it had prepared to demonstrate how well it could perform with more investment.
“You have to be brutally honest about things, you need to recognise that they need to be mastered,” Soininen warns. “You have to paint a clear picture for investors. We said, ‘we’ve got a good game, good metrics, we’ve scratched the surface here but this is the area we need money or help with’. When you tell that story, it makes you really credible, rather than spending your life trying to bullshit your way through, painting too pretty a picture.”
With Empires & Puzzles now established, Small Giant is ramping up work on its second game. While Soininen can’t tell us anything about it, he does reveal the project is currently in early consumer testing and may be ready for a soft launch later this year.
However, he stresses that 90 per cent of the studio’s efforts are still focused on the roadmap for its flagship game. The recently added Alliance Wars, for example, “saw massive improvements in our KPIs” and the studio is keen to explore this further. Plus, new levels, new heroes and new gameplay modes are all in the works to keep those millions of players engaged as long as possible.
“We basically have a continuous flow of events, activities and quests to keep the game fresh,” he says. “There’s no reason why this game couldn’t have a lifespan of five to eight years.” （source ： ofollow,noindex" target="_blank">gamesindustry.biz ）