原作者：Matthew Forde 譯者：Vivian Xue
人們經(jīng)常說(shuō)“沒(méi)有事情能真正結(jié)束”，這句話也是近年來(lái)游戲行業(yè)的工作教條。
那些游戲發(fā)行后就高枕無(wú)憂的日子一去不復(fù)返了，游戲發(fā)行后還得對(duì)它進(jìn)行修改、調(diào)整、提供補(bǔ)丁，開(kāi)發(fā)者需要時(shí)時(shí)關(guān)注玩家的想法，根據(jù)玩家反饋更新游戲。
PocketGamer.biz希望報(bào)道一些保持長(zhǎng)期熱門，并擁有忠實(shí)粉絲的游戲。
本期“Live and Kicking”欄目邀請(qǐng)到了Pixonic工作室的制作人Oleg Poroshin，他們的第三人稱射擊游戲《戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)機(jī)器人》剛迎來(lái)了發(fā)行五周年紀(jì)念日。
PocketGamer.biz：4月14日是《戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)機(jī)器人》發(fā)行五周年紀(jì)念日，從發(fā)行到如今成熟完善，你怎么看待游戲一路走來(lái)的表現(xiàn)？
Oleg Poroshin：《戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)機(jī)器人》從發(fā)行至今經(jīng)歷了很長(zhǎng)一段時(shí)間。這些年來(lái)，我們對(duì)玩家、對(duì)游戲本身，以及游戲的潛力有了更加深入的認(rèn)識(shí)。
我個(gè)人認(rèn)為如今游戲無(wú)論是在指標(biāo)上，還是應(yīng)用商店排名上都達(dá)到了歷史最佳。我們能取得如今的成功，歸功于我們自游戲發(fā)行以來(lái)一直堅(jiān)守的核心原則：
—與分析團(tuán)隊(duì)保持密切合作：我們總想盡可能了解游戲的所有指標(biāo)。如今，我們每天會(huì)追蹤游戲中一億多場(chǎng)活動(dòng)。我們的分析團(tuán)隊(duì)對(duì)游戲了如指掌，能從游戲設(shè)計(jì)師的角度分析它，而我們的設(shè)計(jì)師們總是很清楚他們加入的新功能會(huì)如何影響游戲指標(biāo)。
—傾聽(tīng)玩家的意見(jiàn)：我們必須保證公司全員清楚了解游戲的最新情況。只有我們的玩家能誠(chéng)懇地提出游戲更新或游戲活動(dòng)的優(yōu)缺點(diǎn)。每周我們都會(huì)在測(cè)試服務(wù)器上發(fā)布更新，獲取初步的玩家反饋。每次測(cè)試后我們都會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)需要改進(jìn)地方。
過(guò)去的兩年內(nèi)，我們邀請(qǐng)了很多玩家社區(qū)的KOL來(lái)公司與我們一同慶祝游戲發(fā)行紀(jì)念日，他們向團(tuán)隊(duì)提出了很多游戲存在的問(wèn)題。在這之后，我們會(huì)開(kāi)會(huì)正式討論解決方案。這對(duì)我們來(lái)說(shuō)是一個(gè)極為寶貴的經(jīng)歷，激勵(lì)著我們前進(jìn)。
最重要的是在分析情況時(shí)保持理智，密切關(guān)注可能出現(xiàn)的問(wèn)題。這種態(tài)度，加上我們的分析團(tuán)隊(duì)以及玩家的反饋幫助我們?cè)谶^(guò)去的五年內(nèi)不斷發(fā)展。
PocketGamer.biz：目前游戲團(tuán)隊(duì)有多少人？
Oleg Poroshin：截至目前，團(tuán)隊(duì)共有100名員工。我們把很大一部分工作外包出去了?，F(xiàn)在游戲制作組有62名員工，運(yùn)營(yíng)組有38名員工。
PocketGamer.biz：你認(rèn)為用戶服務(wù)和更新有多重要？你們?cè)趺磳?duì)待這類工作？
War Robots(from apple.com)
Oleg Poroshin：過(guò)去五年里，《戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)機(jī)器》一直以“游戲即服務(wù)”（game-as-a-service）模式運(yùn)營(yíng)，我們定期更新有趣的內(nèi)容，并提供高質(zhì)量的用戶服務(wù)。
建立一個(gè)快速全面解答玩家問(wèn)題的系統(tǒng)是至關(guān)重要的。沒(méi)有用戶的反饋，很多游戲功能都無(wú)法得到改進(jìn)。
舉個(gè)例子，匹配系統(tǒng)：搜尋對(duì)手需要一定時(shí)間，長(zhǎng)短取決于用戶的等級(jí)。但多久算過(guò)長(zhǎng)呢？15秒、30秒還是60秒？玩家反饋中出現(xiàn)得越頻繁的問(wèn)題，就越應(yīng)重視起來(lái)。
我們一年會(huì)發(fā)布11至12個(gè)更新——修復(fù)補(bǔ)丁不包含在內(nèi)。通過(guò)更新我們推出了新的機(jī)器人、武器、功能和活動(dòng)，改進(jìn)了技術(shù)，修復(fù)了小問(wèn)題。
PocketGamer.biz：游戲發(fā)行以來(lái)，你們?cè)诰S持龐大的用戶群和用戶活躍度方面采取了哪些策略？
Oleg Poroshin：我們的每月活躍用戶（MAUs）中有35萬(wàn)名兩年以上的老玩家，我們?yōu)榇烁械接葹轵湴?。在我們的營(yíng)銷團(tuán)隊(duì)一直以來(lái)的辛勤付出下，游戲?qū)崿F(xiàn)了長(zhǎng)期留存，我們的核心玩家數(shù)量仍在不斷增長(zhǎng)。
過(guò)去五年來(lái)，游戲的總下載量超過(guò)了1.3億次，因此通過(guò)二次營(yíng)銷(retargeting)挽回曾經(jīng)的玩家是一項(xiàng)重要工作。我們?cè)絹?lái)越重視玩家社區(qū)的建設(shè)，積極地和社交媒體上的玩家互動(dòng)，因?yàn)檫@些是我們最活躍、最忠誠(chéng)的玩家。
獲取新玩家是我們的另一項(xiàng)重要任務(wù)。我們積極嘗試各種形式的廣告和平臺(tái)，有些甚至還在測(cè)試研發(fā)階段。每年都會(huì)誕生一些新的營(yíng)銷方式，我們不想錯(cuò)過(guò)。
PocketGamer.biz：過(guò)去五年你們根據(jù)市場(chǎng)變化對(duì)游戲做了哪些調(diào)整？
Oleg Poroshin：《戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)機(jī)器人》的一大賣點(diǎn)是游戲的高度耐玩性。我們不斷為玩家提供新的娛樂(lè)元素：地圖、機(jī)器人、技能和其他功能。我們?yōu)槲淦髟O(shè)計(jì)了新的特效，使游戲煥然一新。
在過(guò)去五年里，游戲項(xiàng)目越來(lái)越龐大、復(fù)雜，因此我們?cè)谠黾有略貢r(shí)必須格外謹(jǐn)慎。我們?cè)谧鰶Q策前通常會(huì)先觀察同行在做什么。
舉個(gè)例子，我們對(duì)《堡壘之夜》的通行證(Battle Pass)很感興趣，想過(guò)做一些類似的東西。很多手游開(kāi)發(fā)商都效仿了這個(gè)盈利模式。我們會(huì)觀察并選擇一個(gè)最好的方案，把它應(yīng)用到《戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)機(jī)器人》里。
PocketGamer.biz：你認(rèn)為《戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)機(jī)器人》的長(zhǎng)久吸引力源自哪里？你們是如何維持這種吸引力的？
Oleg Poroshin：自《戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)機(jī)器人》發(fā)行以來(lái)，我們一直致力于優(yōu)化游戲經(jīng)濟(jì)。我們的目標(biāo)是為玩家提供他們想要的東西。很長(zhǎng)一段時(shí)間里，游戲缺乏有趣的低價(jià)道具，當(dāng)我們最終推出這些道具時(shí)，我們和玩家實(shí)現(xiàn)了雙贏。
任何開(kāi)發(fā)者的主要目標(biāo)就是弄清玩家想要的是什么。在優(yōu)秀的分析團(tuán)隊(duì)的協(xié)助下我們能夠預(yù)測(cè)玩家需求，協(xié)調(diào)團(tuán)隊(duì)不斷改良相關(guān)機(jī)制，在每一次發(fā)布更新時(shí)滿足玩家的需求。
PocketGamer.biz：你愿意分享游戲目前的KPI嗎？比如下載量、日活躍用戶和留存率。
Oleg Poroshin：游戲目前的總下載量是1.3億，擁有35萬(wàn)名2年以上的月活躍玩家。我們的社交媒體賬號(hào)擁有150萬(wàn)名粉絲——如果加上我們的KOL的粉絲數(shù)那就更多了。
有意思的是，過(guò)去五年我們的開(kāi)發(fā)團(tuán)隊(duì)在Jira（項(xiàng)目與事務(wù)跟蹤工具）上完成了3萬(wàn)個(gè)任務(wù)。
PocketGamer.biz：從過(guò)去或目前的開(kāi)發(fā)工作中，你得到了哪些經(jīng)驗(yàn)教訓(xùn)？現(xiàn)在的你會(huì)對(duì)過(guò)去的哪些事情采取不同的做法？
Oleg Poroshin：每次更新發(fā)行都增進(jìn)了我們對(duì)玩家的了解，提高了我們處理問(wèn)題的能力。顯然，一切不會(huì)永遠(yuǎn)按計(jì)劃發(fā)展。
即便我們用上了所有分析方法，我們?nèi)匀粫?huì)低估了玩家對(duì)新功能的反應(yīng)。一個(gè)例子是我們最新的3v3競(jìng)技模式，每位玩家在游戲前要抵押，游戲結(jié)束后，所有的抵押物由勝方玩家分?jǐn)偂?div style="height:15px;">
我們很擔(dān)心玩家們無(wú)法接受它，產(chǎn)生負(fù)面評(píng)價(jià)。然而，玩家們似乎都很喜愛(ài)這個(gè)新模式，它成為了測(cè)試階段最受歡迎的模式。我們最開(kāi)始在游戲里加入視頻廣告時(shí)也有相似的憂慮。
PocketGamer.biz：最后，《戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)機(jī)器人》的開(kāi)發(fā)經(jīng)歷為你現(xiàn)在的工作帶來(lái)了什么啟發(fā)？
Oleg Poroshin：《戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)機(jī)器人》擁有巨大的潛力，項(xiàng)目仍在火熱開(kāi)發(fā)中。我們已經(jīng)制定了全新的內(nèi)容計(jì)劃。
我們最近的一次調(diào)查顯示玩家想要更多的競(jìng)技模式，因此我們?cè)诳紤]“single-entry”(一種錦標(biāo)賽形式，選手只能參加一次比賽，游戲邦注)和團(tuán)體錦標(biāo)賽。
這里劇透一下，我們正在研發(fā)一個(gè)特色功能，它將對(duì)游戲歷史產(chǎn)生重大影響。
本文由游戲邦編譯，轉(zhuǎn)載請(qǐng)注明來(lái)源或咨詢微信zhengjintiao
It is often said that nothing is truly finished and it’s a saying the games industry has taken to heart in recent times.
Long gone are the days of developing and publishing a game without the need to tweak, adjust and patch it after launch, with new titles requiring constant operation and updates to keep them at the forefront of consumer thought.
Here at PocketGamer.biz we want to take the opportunity to highlight games that have bucked the trend and found an audience that has kept them thriving long after launch.
In this entry of our Live and Kicking series, we caught up with Pixonic producer Oleg Poroshin following the fifth anniversary of its third-person shooter War Robots.
PocketGamer.Biz: With War Robots passing its five-year anniversary on April 14th, how do you reflect on its performance from launch to the mature title it is now?
Oleg Poroshin: War Robots had a long way to go since the day of its launch to today. As the years pass, we’re getting better at understanding the audience, the game itself and its potential.
Personally, I think that as of today, the project is in its best shape metrics-wise and our ratings in the app stores are at their highest. All of this is possible because since launch we stayed true to our core values:
-Attentive work with analytics: We always want to know as much as possible about all of the project’s metrics. As of today, we track more than 100 million in-game events daily. Our analytics team knows the game well enough to look at it with game designer optics and our game designers are always aware of how the features they introduce influence the metrics.
- Listening to our audience’s opinion: It’s important for us to be sure that the whole company is aware of what’s happening with the project. Only our players can be honest and open about any pros and cons of a recent update or in-game event. Every week we publish the updates to our test server where we gather the initial player feedback. There hasn’t been a time yet when we didn’t have anything to fix after a test.
For the past two years, we’ve been inviting community opinion leaders to our office for War Robots’ birthday. Our guests present to the team what issues they think are present in the game. After that, we informally discuss possible solutions. This is an extremely valuable and truly motivating experience for all of us.
The most important thing is to always be rational when evaluating the situation and always keep an open eye to spot possible issues. This together with analytics and player feedback has been helping us develop for the past five years.
How big is the team currently handling live ops at Pixonic?
As of today, 100 people are working on the project at the office. We also outsource a large chunk of our work. Currently, we have 62 employees in the production team and 38 employees in the operating team.
How important do you consider customer support and updates to be? What has been your approach to this?
During all five years of its existence, War Robots has been a games-as-a-service. That implies regular updates that add new interesting content and the best quality user support.
It’s critical to build a system for fast and thorough answers to the players’ questions. There’s a whole array of features that simply can’t be improved without user feedback.
For example, the matchmaking system: you can measure time finding a rival, a difference in user ranking, etcetera. But how much time finding a rival is too much time? Is it 15 seconds, or 30, or 60? The more frequently a problem appears in support threads, the more priority it gets.
We’re publishing 11 to 12 updates a year – excluding hotfixes. With said updates, we release new robots, weapons, features, technical improvements, bug fixes and entertaining in-game events.
What steps have you taken to ensure that War Robots maintains a sizable and active player base all this time after its launch?
One thing we’re exceptionally proud of is that 350,000 of our MAUs are the players who have been with us for more than two years. Thanks to good long-time retention metrics and constant work of our marketing team, our core audience is still growing.
For the past five years, we’ve had more than 130 million installs, so it’s important to work on retargeting campaigns to make sure they all return. With every year that passes, the community we build becomes even more important. We need to be active on social media because that’s where our most active and loyal players are.
Acquiring new users is also what we’re actively working on. We’re testing all of the advertising formats and platforms there are, even the ones still in beta-testing. Every year there’s a new trend in marketing and we don’t want to miss a thing.
How have you adapted War Robots through market changes during the five years that the game has been live?
One of War Robots’ USPs is high replayability of the core gameplay. We’re constantly adding something new to keep the players entertained: maps, robots, abilities and other features. Recently, we’ve added a variety of new effects for the weapons to refresh the game.
In the past five years, the project has truly become enormous and complicated and we have to be very careful when introducing something new. We never rush and usually look at what other companies in the industry are doing before implementing something.
A good example is the Battle Pass in Fortnite. This feature got us curious, and we’ve thought about making something similar. A lot of mobile games developers picked up this idea as well. We’re looking at the best ones and adapting them to fit War Robots.
To what do you attribute War Robots consistently impressive grossing performance and how do you sustain it?
We’ve been working on improving the in-game economics ever since War Robots was released. Our goal is to offer our players exactly what they want. For a long time, we lacked interesting low-priced goods. It was a win both for us and the players when we finally introduced them to the game.
The main objective of any developer is to find out what the user wants. Thanks to our advanced analytics we can plan the players demand. With every release we’re forming our supply and support it with different mechanics that are constantly under improvement by our team.
Any KPI’s such as downloads, DAU or retention you’re willing to share?
More than 130 million installs and more than 350,000 MAUs, all of whom have been with us for more than two years. Our social media following is now 1.5 million – even more if we count our influencers.
Fun fact: for the past five years our developer’s team closed 30,000 issues in Jira.
What lessons have you learned/are you still learning from War Robots? Is there anything about the game that, in hindsight, you’d now handle differently?
With every release we’re getting better at understanding our players and solving issues. Obviously, not everything goes according to plan.
Even with all the analytics, we can still underestimate the players’ reaction to a new feature. The latest example is the new competitive mode where six players have to make a bid to enter and then the whole bank is distributed between the three winners.
We were very worried that the idea won’t be accepted by our players and the feedback will be negative. However, everybody seems to love the new mode and it has become the most popular mode during its testing. We’ve had a similar situation when implementing video advertisements.
Finally, how has your experience with War Robots informed where you are/what you’re working on now?
War Robots has great potential as the project is actively developing. We’ve got plans for some drastically new content to make.
Our latest research shows that the players want more competitive modes, so we’re thinking about single-entry and team tournaments.
Spoiler alert: we’re working on a secret feature that will be a huge step in War Robots history.（source：
PocketGamer.biz）
