Zynga自救四计

    Zynga以前的日子要比现在好过多了。自从去年12月上市到现在，Zynga的股价已经下跌了将近70%。更糟糕的是，它的用户基数已经比去年同期下降了16%，缩水至1.41亿玩家。像许多其他的科技公司一样，Zynga也面临着挑战，需要向更加移动化的世界转型。《华尔街日报》（The Wall Street Journal）近日的报道指出，现在这家休闲游戏公司正在尽全力应对这个挑战。

    就像Facebook一样，如果Zynga也希望继续增长，那么它必须尽快找到合适的战略。以下是Zynga应该考虑的四条建议：

    尽快移植到HTML5平台。如果Zynga真的认真看待移动游戏，那么，它应该把更多的重要资产转移到HTML5这个正在迅速成熟的网络标准上来。（Zynga已经推出了一些HTML5游戏，包括《Zynga扑克》和《FarmVille Express》等。）毕竟苹果（Apple）的iPad和iPhone仍然不支持Adobe Flash——让我们面对现实吧，苹果永远也不会支持Flash。而Zynga的绝大多数游戏都是在Flash平台上运行的。韦德布什证券（Wedbush Securities）的分析师米歇尔•帕奇认为：“随着微软Surface Tablet等平板电脑也能运行Word文档，我们再也不用带着笔记本电脑了，取而代之的可能是iPad、Surface平板电脑或别的什么。应该让这些人也能玩到你们的游戏。”道理很简单，届时，从那些设备上可供选择的Zynga游戏越多，用户增长和产品采用的机会就越大。

    走免费+增值模式，记得带广告。Zynga曾经指出，移动用户在游戏上花的钱一般比电脑用户更少，因为他们玩游戏的时候更加随意。再加上移动游戏的设备要比电脑小许多，为这么小的屏幕构建游戏也是一种挑战。因此公司在移动领域到底应该走哪种业务模式，Zynga内部在这个问题上也曾有过争论。究竟是应该让用户先预付一笔费用，还是让用户一开始免费玩游戏，随后花钱够买额外的功能呢？后一种业务模式就是所谓的“免费+增值”模式。这种模式究竟好不好，业内分析人士还存在一定分歧。比如帕切就说，免费增值的理念很“愚蠢”。不过TechSavvy公司的业务咨询总监、游戏分析师斯科特•斯坦因伯格表示，用户在付费购买一款应用之前的10天里，平均会与这款应用互动12次。如果真的是这样的话，那么向用户提供最低的进入门槛，然后在应用中插入一些不太唐突的广告，同时为高级功能收费，可能也是一个可行的路子。

    转型成为新游戏的发现平台。今年夏初，Zynga推出了一个游戏主题的社交网站Zynga.com。此举明显是想脱离自己一直高度依赖的Facebook，构建自己的用户群。同时Zynga还宣布，将与Konami和Playdemic等游戏公司建立合作关系，在自己的社交网站上推广他们的游戏。摆脱对Facebook的依赖是很明智的，同时Zynga不仅是要把自己打造成一个独立的实体，更是要兼容并蓄，汇聚各个开发商和发行商的游戏，成为一个中枢，方便用户在这里找到自己想玩的游戏。今天的用户很难轻易地找到新的内容——这也是一个全行业普遍存在的问题。对此，晨星证券（Morningstar Securities）的高级分析师里克•萨默表示，如果Zynga成功地转型成一个方便休闲游戏玩家寻找新游戏的热门平台，那么Zynga显然还会继续增长。

    继续收购。《财富》杂志（Fortune）采访的许多分析师都认为，Zynga为收购OMGPOP公司付出了1.8亿美元，这个价格太高了。因为OMGPOP出品的知名游戏只有一款《你画我猜》（Draw Something）。但是鉴于Zynga手里握有充足的现金，收购依然是一条不错的发展路子。未来的关键是要吸收那些能够推出一款以上成功游戏的公司，然后用这些游戏资产充实Zynga现有的游戏产品线。斯坦因伯格指出：“收购热门产品越来越难了。”游戏业现在越来越靠热门产品驱动，在这样一个行业，有时收购一款热门产品要比自己开发一款更容易。

    译者：朴成奎

    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.