騰訊的全球增長切入點

????就在中國互聯網公司阿里巴巴（Alibaba）在美國的IPO一舉創下紀錄之際，另一家互聯網巨頭——騰訊（Tencent）則蓄勢待發，準備在網絡游戲和移動游戲領域謀劃巨大的增長。據市場調查機構IDC和CNG的最新報告顯示，2014年上半年，中國的移動游戲用戶人數較2013年上半年同期增長了89.5%，達到3.25億人。據視頻游戲調查機構Newzoo的數據，騰訊在去年的全球游戲市場中，以57億美元的年營業收入高居榜首，而且在未來的這幾年里，也有望保持龍頭位置。Newzoo總裁彼得?沃曼預測，如果騰訊繼續保持當前的增長勢頭，到2017年時，將有望在全球游戲市場中占據10%以上的份額。

????“我們正在見證中國市場的驚人成長，所以我們目前的戰略重點是跟上這一增長趨勢，”騰訊游戲副總裁王波在被問及公司未來在美國及其他市場的擴張計劃時，如此答道，“事實上，騰訊游戲平臺在中國的移動游戲領域內處于領先地位。截至2014年3月底，移動QQ和微信（在中國以外地區使用的名稱為WeChat）上日活躍用戶數穩定在1.8億人的水平上。此外，微信和移動QQ這兩大平臺上的移動游戲營收，在2014年第二季度達到了4.88億美元。移動游戲在中國尚處于早期發展階段，預計市場還將繼續增長?！?/p>

????2014年頭7個月里，騰訊在中國iOS應用商店的免費下載和營收均位于發行商前列。這要歸功于若干超高人氣的免費游戲，譬如天美藝游工作室（Timi Studio）內部開發的《天天愛消除》（Timi Match Everyday）和《天天酷跑》（Timi Run Everyday），根據應用程序數據分析公司App Annie公布的數據，目前這些游戲吸引了逾6,000萬名日常用戶。天美藝游通過微信（中國最知名的移動社交應用平臺，月活躍用戶人數逾4億人）和移動QQ（月活躍用戶人數逾8.48億人）向中國的游戲玩家們交叉推廣新游戲。

????自從移動游戲平臺于去年上線以來，騰訊已經先后發布了20款游戲，涵蓋類型廣泛，拼圖、動作和模擬均有涉足。英國游戲公司King數據娛樂（King Digital Entertainment）開發的《糖果傳奇》（Candy Crush Saga）和日本游戲公司史克威爾艾尼克斯（Square Enix）開發的《三國志亂舞》（Sangokushi Rumble），這兩款游戲的中國大陸版在微信和移動QQ的游戲平臺上均有提供下載；此外也可通過myapp.com下載，這是騰訊面向中國大陸用戶推出的安卓（Android）應用發布平臺，因為谷歌應用商店Google Play在中國的使用人數不多。

????王波認為，隨著中國移動游戲市場日趨成熟，新的游戲類型，譬如動作類游戲（ACT）、動作角色扮演游戲（ARPG）和卡片類游戲（CCG/TCG，前者指卡片搜集游戲，后者指卡片交換游戲）也會日漸盛行。智能手機和平板電腦正在迅速涌現出一批新的玩家，對于有意這一業務的游戲生產商而言，將會打開新的機遇。

????“我們與西方開發商的合作經驗豐富，比如我們曾經與藝電體育（EA Sports）進行合作，將該公司開發的體育競技類游戲《NBA Live》和《FIFA》本地化，然后將其作為網絡游戲在中國大陸地區發行代理權，”王波說，“移動游戲在中國大陸地區借助微信和移動QQ平臺所取得的成功證明，這一領域蘊藏著巨大的市場空間，有待游戲開發商們深入發掘?！?/p>

????With Chinese Internet company Alibaba BABA 1.73% breaking IPO records, another Chinese Internet company, Tencent, is poised for huge growth in the online and mobile games business. According to a recent report by IDC and CNG, the number of mobile gamers in China in the first half of 2014 increased 89.5% to 325 million over the first half of 2013. According to video game research firm Newzoo, last year Tencent moved to the number one position in the global games market with $5.7 billion in annual game revenue, and the company shows no sign of leaving the top in the years to come. Peter Warman, president of Newzoo, forecasts Tencent could take over 10% of the global games market in 2017, if it maintains this pace of growth.

????“We are seeing incredible growth in the China market and are focused mainly on keeping up with that growth for now,” said Bo Wang, vice president of Tencent Games, when asked about his plans for expansion into the U.S. and other markets. “In fact, the Tencent mobile game platform is the leader in mobile games in China. As of the end of March 2014, the number of daily active users on Mobile QQ and Weixin (known as WeChat outside of China) was a stable 180 million. In addition, revenues of mobile games on the WeChat and Mobile QQ platforms reached $488 million in Q2 2014. Mobile games are in the early stage of development in China. The market is forecast to continue to grow.”

????Tencent was the top publisher in China’s iOS App Store for free downloads and revenue for each of the first seven months of 2014, thanks to the popularity of free-to-play games like Timi Studio’s internally developed Timi Match Everyday and Timi Run Everyday, which has over 60 million daily users, according to App Annie. Timi Studio uses WeChat, China’s leading mobile social communications platform with over 400 million active monthly users, and QQ Mobile, which has over 848 million monthly active users, to cross-promote new games with Chinese gamers.

????Since launching its mobile games platform last year, Tencent has 20 titles covering a wide range of genres including puzzle, action and simulation. Localized versions of King Digital Entertainment’s Candy Crush Saga and Square Enix’ Sangokushi Rumble (now known as Battle of Sango in China) are available on WeChat and Mobile QQ as well as through myapp.com, which is Tencent’s distribution channel of Android apps for local users since Google Play is not popular in China.

????Wang believes as the Chinese mobile games market matures, new categories such as action games (ACT), ARPG (Action Role Playing Games) and card games (CCG, Collectible Card Game, or TCG, Trading Card Game) will become popular. This will open up new opportunities for game makers interested in navigating this burgeoning new audience of smartphone and tablet gamers.

????“We have a lot of experience working with Western developers, having partnered with EA Sports EA 0.39% to localize and launche their NBA Live and FIFA franchises as online games in China,” said Wang. “The successes of mobile games on WeChat and Mobile QQ in China prove there is a market for developers to explore.”