Zynga自救四計
????Zynga以前的日子要比現(xiàn)在好過多了。自從去年12月上市到現(xiàn)在,Zynga的股價已經(jīng)下跌了將近70%。更糟糕的是,它的用戶基數(shù)已經(jīng)比去年同期下降了16%,縮水至1.41億玩家。像許多其他的科技公司一樣,Zynga也面臨著挑戰(zhàn),需要向更加移動化的世界轉(zhuǎn)型?!度A爾街日報》(The Wall Street Journal)近日的報道指出,現(xiàn)在這家休閑游戲公司正在盡全力應(yīng)對這個挑戰(zhàn)。 ????就像Facebook一樣,如果Zynga也希望繼續(xù)增長,那么它必須盡快找到合適的戰(zhàn)略。以下是Zynga應(yīng)該考慮的四條建議: ????盡快移植到HTML5平臺。如果Zynga真的認(rèn)真看待移動游戲,那么,它應(yīng)該把更多的重要資產(chǎn)轉(zhuǎn)移到HTML5這個正在迅速成熟的網(wǎng)絡(luò)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)上來。(Zynga已經(jīng)推出了一些HTML5游戲,包括《Zynga撲克》和《FarmVille Express》等。)畢竟蘋果(Apple)的iPad和iPhone仍然不支持Adobe Flash——讓我們面對現(xiàn)實吧,蘋果永遠(yuǎn)也不會支持Flash。而Zynga的絕大多數(shù)游戲都是在Flash平臺上運行的。韋德布什證券(Wedbush Securities)的分析師米歇爾?帕奇認(rèn)為:“隨著微軟Surface Tablet等平板電腦也能運行Word文檔,我們再也不用帶著筆記本電腦了,取而代之的可能是iPad、Surface平板電腦或別的什么。應(yīng)該讓這些人也能玩到你們的游戲?!钡览砗芎唵?,屆時,從那些設(shè)備上可供選擇的Zynga游戲越多,用戶增長和產(chǎn)品采用的機會就越大。 ????走免費+增值模式,記得帶廣告。Zynga曾經(jīng)指出,移動用戶在游戲上花的錢一般比電腦用戶更少,因為他們玩游戲的時候更加隨意。再加上移動游戲的設(shè)備要比電腦小許多,為這么小的屏幕構(gòu)建游戲也是一種挑戰(zhàn)。因此公司在移動領(lǐng)域到底應(yīng)該走哪種業(yè)務(wù)模式,Zynga內(nèi)部在這個問題上也曾有過爭論。究竟是應(yīng)該讓用戶先預(yù)付一筆費用,還是讓用戶一開始免費玩游戲,隨后花錢夠買額外的功能呢?后一種業(yè)務(wù)模式就是所謂的“免費+增值”模式。這種模式究竟好不好,業(yè)內(nèi)分析人士還存在一定分歧。比如帕切就說,免費增值的理念很“愚蠢”。不過TechSavvy公司的業(yè)務(wù)咨詢總監(jiān)、游戲分析師斯科特?斯坦因伯格表示,用戶在付費購買一款應(yīng)用之前的10天里,平均會與這款應(yīng)用互動12次。如果真的是這樣的話,那么向用戶提供最低的進(jìn)入門檻,然后在應(yīng)用中插入一些不太唐突的廣告,同時為高級功能收費,可能也是一個可行的路子。 ????轉(zhuǎn)型成為新游戲的發(fā)現(xiàn)平臺。今年夏初,Zynga推出了一個游戲主題的社交網(wǎng)站Zynga.com。此舉明顯是想脫離自己一直高度依賴的Facebook,構(gòu)建自己的用戶群。同時Zynga還宣布,將與Konami和Playdemic等游戲公司建立合作關(guān)系,在自己的社交網(wǎng)站上推廣他們的游戲。擺脫對Facebook的依賴是很明智的,同時Zynga不僅是要把自己打造成一個獨立的實體,更是要兼容并蓄,匯聚各個開發(fā)商和發(fā)行商的游戲,成為一個中樞,方便用戶在這里找到自己想玩的游戲。今天的用戶很難輕易地找到新的內(nèi)容——這也是一個全行業(yè)普遍存在的問題。對此,晨星證券(Morningstar Securities)的高級分析師里克?薩默表示,如果Zynga成功地轉(zhuǎn)型成一個方便休閑游戲玩家尋找新游戲的熱門平臺,那么Zynga顯然還會繼續(xù)增長。 ????繼續(xù)收購。《財富》雜志(Fortune)采訪的許多分析師都認(rèn)為,Zynga為收購OMGPOP公司付出了1.8億美元,這個價格太高了。因為OMGPOP出品的知名游戲只有一款《你畫我猜》(Draw Something)。但是鑒于Zynga手里握有充足的現(xiàn)金,收購依然是一條不錯的發(fā)展路子。未來的關(guān)鍵是要吸收那些能夠推出一款以上成功游戲的公司,然后用這些游戲資產(chǎn)充實Zynga現(xiàn)有的游戲產(chǎn)品線。斯坦因伯格指出:“收購熱門產(chǎn)品越來越難了?!庇螒驑I(yè)現(xiàn)在越來越靠熱門產(chǎn)品驅(qū)動,在這樣一個行業(yè),有時收購一款熱門產(chǎn)品要比自己開發(fā)一款更容易。 ????譯者:樸成奎 |
????Zynga has seen better days. Its share price is down nearly 70% since it went public last December and, worse, its user base has dropped 16% year-over-year to 141 million players. Zynga, like many other tech companies, faces the challenge of transitioning to an increasingly mobile world. It's a challenge that, as The Wall Street Journalrecently reported, the casual gaming developer is grappling to get a handle on. ????Just like Facebook (FB), if Zynga (ZNGA) wants to continue growing it must figure out a strategy -- and fast. Here are four tips it should take note of: ????Migrate to HTML5. Faster. If Zynga is serious about mobile, it should move more of its key properties over to the quickly maturing web standard. (The company has released a few such games, including Zynga Poker and FarmVille Express.) After all, Apple's (AAPL) iPad and iPhone still don't support Adobe (ADBE) Flash -- and let's face it, never will -- which the vast majority of Zynga's games for Facebook run on. "With tablets like Microsoft's Surface Tablet which run Word, we're not going to carry laptops anymore," argues Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Securities. "We're going to have an iPad or a Surface tablet or something. Let those people be able to play your games." It's a no-brainer, but the more readily available its games are, the better Zynga's chances for user growth and wider spread adoption. ????Go freemium -- with ads. Because mobile users tend to play games more casually than those on the desktop, Zynga has said those users tend to spend less money. That, along with the challenge of working on a far smaller screen, has caused the company to debate which business model to go with on mobile. Should users pay up a fee upfront, or pay nothing initially but cough up money later for extra features? Industry analysts remain divided on whether the latter business model, "freemium," is a good idea -- indeed Pachter calls the idea "stupid" -- but according to Scott Steinberg, a gaming analyst and head of business consulting at TechSavvy global, the average mobile user interacts 12 times with an app during the course of 10 days before paying for it. If that's the case, offering users the lowest possible barrier of entry, supporting the experience with unobtrusive ads and charging for goodies, may be the way to go. ????Become a platform for content discovery. Earlier this summer, the company launched Zynga.com, a game-focused social network. It was an overt attempt to build out its user base separate from Facebook, which Zynga had been until then, entirely dependent on. The company also announced initial partnerships with gaming companies like Konami and Playdemic, where their games would also be promoted. While distancing itself from Facebook is wise, so would the idea of building out Zynga not just as an independent entity, but also a hub for users to find games from different developers and publishers. Given users today have enough trouble easily finding new content -- an industry-wide problem -- Rick Summer, a senior analyst at Morningstar Securities, says there would be a clear upside for Zynga if it successfully managed to become a go-to platform for casual gamers to discover new properties. ????Keep acquiring. Many analysts Fortune spoke with say Zynga's acquisition of OMGPOP for a reported $180 million was overpriced given the company remains known for one game, Draw Something. But the acquisition approach is a smart one nonetheless, particularly given Zynga's deep pockets. The key moving forward will be absorbing companies that have proven themselves capable of cranking out more than one successful game and having those properties compliment Zynga's existing portfolio. "Hits are harder to come by," observes Steinberg. And an increasingly hit-driven industry like gaming, sometimes it's easier to buy a hit, than trying to develop one yourself. |