《Subway Surfers》成功因素编辑本段回目录
《Temple Run》或许是过去一年中业内出现频繁最高的热词之一，但它并非唯一冲击热门应用榜单的跑酷游戏。
如果你甚少听闻《Subway Surfers》的消息，那是因为其丹麦开发商Kiloo Games一直对此保持缄默。
从技术上讲，Kiloo只是这家公司的联合开发商。据其创意总监Simon Møller解释，工作室主导了开发过程，通过与小型团队合作，提供制作游戏所需资金，以及营销和推广建议让该游戏获得成功。
subway-surfers(from pocketgamer)
联合制作
这款游戏的另一家合作开发商是丹麦工作室Sybo，它曾与Kiloo在2011年合作推出《Bullet Time》。
Møller表示，“Sybo负责游戏内部开发工作，我们则掌管其余事项，包括用户界面、社交功能、数据库和服务器内容”。
该游戏开发成本获得回报时，Sybo和Kiloo两家公司就进行对半分成，并共享IP所有权。
持续发展
该游戏自2012年5月登陆iOS平台以来，至今在iOS、Android和亚马逊下载量已超过1.3亿次，目前拥有2500万DAU，以及7500万MAU。
从其高达30%的DAU/MAU比值来看，这确实是一个了不起的数字。
据Møller所称，“这对我们来说非常重要。我们总是尽量把玩家摆在第一位，这也是我们如此关注留存率而非盈利性的原因。如果玩家离开游戏，你就无法从中盈利了。”
提到Kiloo如何建立起如此庞大的玩家社区时，Møller认为这要归功于病毒传播渠道。
《Subway Surfers》是一款设计美观并且容易上手的游戏，Kiloo虽然与Chartboost等交叉推广网络合作紧密，但并没有在营销上投入资金。
该游戏当前日常下载量介于75万至100万，预计2013年底其终身下载量有望达到2.5亿次。
游戏即服务
Møller强调更新价值也是游戏获得成功的一大因素。
他称“我认为我们是通过更新将游戏推其向顶端”。
目前，该游戏已经获得8次重大内容更新，基本上每月更新一次。
“我们在9月份时漏掉一次更新，结果发现留存率迅速下降”。
top-grossing-iphone-us-subway-surfers(from app-annie)
（App Annie图表显示《Subway Surfers》在9月份停止更新期间，在美国iPhone营收榜单排名开始下滑）
他还指出游戏的iOS、Android和亚马逊版本几乎都会在“1小时内”同时更新。
作为最初发行平台，iOS用户所占比例及盈利性最高，其iOS版本DAU约1500万。Android平台的用户增长最为迅速，目前有1000万DAU。亚马逊版本的DAU约45万，其盈利性与“iOS不相上下”。
这让Kiloo每月得以展出10亿次的广告印象，以此间接通过玩家实现盈利。
合作模式
鉴于首次联合制作所获得的成功结果，Kiloo有意再次优化和完善这一举措。
这家拥有50名成员的公司，将继续以基于Unity工具的内部开发团队，与位于美国、加拿大和丹麦的团队合作开发5款新游戏，计划在2013年发布2-3款不同题材的游戏。
Møller表示“这个模式有许多好处，我们并不想要其他公司的股份，也不想成为一家大型开发商。即使我们想，我们也无法让自己的合作开发商迁移到另一个城市。”
他们通过这种灵活的方式建立起一种制作免费增值游戏的公司合作关系。
有了《Subway Surfers》这种成功例子，相信将来还会有更多公司效仿这一做法。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，作者：Jon Jordan）
With 5 titles in co-production and Subway Surfers hitting 25 million DAUs, Kiloo shapes to become global hit factory
by Jon Jordan
Temple Run may have been making the headlines over the past 12 months, but it’s not the only endless runner that’s been dashing up the charts.
If you haven’t read much about Subway Surfers, though, that’s because Danish developer Kiloo Games has been keeping its lips sealed.
Still, before we get too deep into the numbers game, one vital aspect of Subway Surfers needs to be explained.
Technically, Kiloo is only the game’s co-developer.
As creative director Simon Møller explains, the studio has pioneered the process – which it labels ‘co-production’ – which sees it working with smaller start ups, providing the funding to get games made, as well as the marketing and promotional advice to make them successful.
Joint action
In the case of Subway Surfers, the other co-developer is Danish studio Sybo, which Kiloo first worked with on a freelance basis over 2011 title Bullet Time.
“Sybo does the in-game development work and we do everything else, including the user interface, social features, and database and server work,” Møller says.
When the development costs have been paid back, revenue is split 50:50 between Sybo and Kiloo. They share the IP rights too. And given the user numbers Kiloo has just announced, those revenues splits will be mighty healthy.
Constant craving
Having had over 130 million installs across iOS, Android and Amazon since its May 2012 release on iOS, Subway Surfers currently has 25 million daily active users and 75 million monthly active users.
It’s an impressive number, particularly the engagement ratio of DAUs/MAUs of 30 percent.
The latest update for Subway Surfers is its World Tour
“This is really important for us,” Møller says. “We always try to put players first and that’s why we focus on our retention, not our monetisation. You can’t monetise players who have left your game.”
In terms of how Kiloo has built this community, Møller says it’s all down to viral promotion.
Subway Surfers is a great-looking game that’s very easy to pick-up-and-play. He adds Kiloo doesn’t spend any money on marketing, although it’s active within cross-promotion networks such as Chartboost.
Either way, Subway Surfers’ daily download rate hovers between 750,000 to one million, and it’s expected to rack up 250 million lifetime downloads by the end of 2013.
As a service
The other big factor Møller highlights in terms of the game’s success is the value of updates.
“I think we’ve updated our way to the top,” he states.
To-date, the game has received eight major content updates, which are now rolled out on a monthly basis.
“We missed one in September and we could see the drop in retention straight away,” Møller reveals.
App Annie’s graph shows how Subway Surfers started to decline in the US iPhone top grossing charts in September when an update was delayed
He also keen to point out that updates go live across iOS, Android and Amazon almost simultaneously; usually ‘within the hour’.
As you’d expect as it was the launch platform, iOS accounts for the biggest audience – around 15 million DAUs – and the best monetisation. Android is growing fastest, with 10 million DAUs since its September launch. Amazon has around 450,000 DAUs, but with an ‘iOS level of monetisation’.
And underpinning direct monetisation options are the one billion monthly ad impressions Kiloo can use to generate indirect revenue from its players.
All together
So to end where we begun, having experienced such success with its first co-production experiment, Kiloo is looking to refine and repeat.
As well as continuing with its own Unity-based internal development team, the 50-strong company has another five games in co-development with teams in the US, Canada and Denmark.
Spread across different genres, it plans to release two or three titles in 2013.
“There are so many good things about the model,” Møller says. “We don’t want shares in other companies, and we don’t want to be a big developer. Even if we wanted, we wouldn’t be able to get our co-developers to relocate to Aarhus [Denmark's second city].”
The result is a loose network of companies who are making the most of the new global opportunities for free-to-play games in the most flexible manner possible.
Another hit like Subway Surfers, and there’ll be plenty more companies experimenting with similar models.（source：pocketgamer）
