Hollywood studios aim to crack China’s gaming market

When the mobile game "Despicable Me: Minion Rush" launched in China, Eric Tan and his team at Gameloft were facing a challenge: Chinese gamers weren't spending their digital bananas. 

当手机跑酷游戏《卑鄙的我：胶囊快跑》在中国发布后，法国智乐软件公司的埃里克•谭和他的团队面临着挑战：中国的游戏玩家不使用游戏里的香蕉币。

To be precise, the players kept declining to "buy" more game time with the bananas, which they collect throughout the game and can also be used to upgrade characters. So Gameloft decided to let them purchase the time for one yuan.

确切地说，玩家一直拒绝用香蕉币来买更多的游戏时长。这些香蕉虚拟币是他们在游戏过程中收集来的，也可以用来升级人物技能。因此智乐软件决定让玩家用一元钱来购买游戏时间。

Spending real money instead of fake money may seem strange, but Tan said the move significantly improved the title's in-app sales in the country.

让玩家使用现金而不是虚拟币，这一举措似乎有些奇怪。但是谭表示此举显著提高了游戏在中国市场的应用内销售额。

That experience and others showed Tan that there is money to be made in "culturizing" games for China. Together with fellow gaming executive Craig Derrick, he founded Fifth Journey, a mobile entertainment company that aims to help Hollywood studios conquer China's booming gaming market. In doing so, they join other developers hoping to wed China's love affair with American movies with the country's mobile game craze.

这一经历以及其他事件都说明，考虑到中国文化兼容性的游戏还是可以赚到钱的。谭和游戏执行官克雷格•德里克共同创立了Fifth Journey公司。这家移动娱乐公司意在帮助好莱坞电影公司征服日益繁荣的中国游戏市场。为了达到这一目标，他们和其它开发者一起，期望利用人们对手机游戏的热情，将中国爱情故事与美国大片结合在一起。

China is the biggest international market for U.S. movies, drumming up $4.8 billion in 2014, according to the Motion Picture Association of America. But now Hollywood wants to own handheld screens, too.

美国电影协会表示，中国是美国电影最大的国际市场，2014年中国地区票房达到了48亿美元。但现在，好莱坞想要掌控"掌上银幕"——手机。

By the end of 2015, China was home to 420 million mobile gamers who spent a collective $5.5 billion, Niko Partners estimates.

据亚洲市场研究公司Niko Partners估计，截至2015年底，中国拥有4.2亿手机游戏玩家，移动游戏市场规模达到了55亿美元。

"Hollywood knows that mobile gaming is a fast-growing segment, and Hollywood knows that the big part of the growth will come from Asia, mainly China," Tan told CNBC.

谭告诉CNBC记者，"好莱坞了解手机游戏是一个快速发展的领域，并且好莱坞深谙这些增长大部分来自亚洲，其中主要是中国。"

While the opportunities in China are immense, so are the challenges. Developers must contend with a high percentage of low-tech phones, data costs that are pricey for many consumers, and a fragmented distribution network made up of hundreds of app stores. But in the end, it all comes down to adapting Western properties to the tastes of Chinese gamers, say executives.

尽管在中国的商机巨大，但挑战也是十分严峻的。开发者必须应付很大一部分的低端手机，处理对于许多消费者来说昂贵的流量费用，以及应对由数百家应用商店组成的零散的分销渠道。但谭表示，最终，这一切归根结底是要改变西方产品，迎合中国玩家的口味。

Fifth Journey last month announced a partnership with Universal Pictures, Lionsgate Films, and MGM Studios to develop mobile games based on their properties. The studios will give Fifth Journey early access to scripts, and the publisher will use its experience to adapt games for Asian markets.

今年2月，Fifth Journey公司宣布与环球影业、狮门影业及米高梅电影公司合作，基于他们的电影来开发移动游戏产品。这些电影公司将让Fifth Element提早拿到手稿，并且发行人会利用过往经验来改编游戏，从而更适合亚洲市场。

American movies that outperform in China provide good source material, said Tan. Last year, Fifth Journey partnered with Lionsgate to develop a game based on "The Expendables" series. While the franchise's earning power has slipped in the United States, its box office haul has grown in China.

谭表示，在中国票房成绩优秀的美国电影提供了很好的原始素材。去年，Fifth Journey与狮门影业合作，开发一款根据系列电影《敢死队》改编的移动游戏。尽管在美国这一系列的收益能力在下滑，但在中国，它的票房成绩有所增长。

Fifth Journey has also built an entertainment platform that integrates ticket and merchandise sales and streaming video into the gaming experience to help increase the time users engage with the properties.

Fifth Journey还建立了一个娱乐平台，将入场券、商品销售、流媒体视频合为一体，融入游戏体验中去，从而提升用户使用产品的时间。

China has also become a major market for movies based on comic book superheroes. San Francisco-based Kabam aims to leverage that trend by launching its hit fighting-strategy game "Marvel: Contest of Champions" in China this year. Disney's Marvel Comics films have made Captain America and Iron Man household names in China, but Kabam has changed more than 70 of the game's systems to make it a better fit for the local market.

中国已经成为根据漫画中超级英雄所改编电影的主要市场。今年，旧金山的互动娱乐公司Kabam在中国发行了一款格斗策略游戏"漫威格斗冠军"。迪士尼旗下的漫威漫画电影造就了美国队长以及钢铁侠等在中国家喻户晓的名字，但Kabam公司对超过70%的游戏系统做出了调整，让游戏更适合中国本土市场。

For one, Kabam's developers realized Chinese gamers were more interested in collecting and leveling up the characters than fighting with them. Consequently, it has had to retool the core gameplay to make it easier for players to advance their characters without grinding through battles, Kabam Chief Operating Officer Kent Wakeford told CNBC in an interview last year.

一方面，Kabam公司开发者意识到，中国玩家对于收集金币、升级角色技能更加感兴趣，而不是与角色作战。因此，公司不得不重组核心游戏设置，让玩家无需通过战斗磨练，更加简单地升级角色。Kabam公司首席运营官肯特·韦克福德在去年接受采访时这样透露给CNBC。

Kabam is also trying to set itself apart by offering experiences that make players feel like VIPs, including a dedicated support system. But delivering white glove service will be a logistical challenge in a country of China's size, Wakeford said.

Kabam也在试图与其他竞争对手区别开来。公司将为玩家提供包括专用支持系统在内的VIP式游戏体验。但在中国这样大的国家提供这样一流的服务对于运营会是一大挑战，韦克福德说道。

"We really have to think about how do you do that and how do you do that at scale?" he told CNBC in October. "It's one thing to call up and say, 'Have you thought about this or that?' But how do you do it in a country where it was announced there are going to be 420 million gamers this year?"

韦克福德在10月的采访中透露CNBC，"我们不得不思考，你要如何实现这件事？如何做出那样大的规模？""这件事会让你提出并问道，'你有考虑过这件或那件事吗？'但你要如何在中国实现它呢？据称，中国今年将拥有4.2亿玩家。"