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译者按：自从微软在科隆展上宣布古墓独占Xbox后，各界评论如潮。不同的群体有不同的声音，如果只是单纯的从商业模式来看，这似乎是个经典的合作典范。我们来看看EEDAR的首席运营官Zatkin对于该协议的看法吧。
老规矩：首发A9VG Xbox one，转载请注明出处。
Tomb Raider's Xbox exclusivity likely means more sales, higher profits
新古墓的Xbox独占似乎意味着更多的销量和更高的利润
链接：戳
Fans of the Tomb Raider series were upset when it was announced that Rise of the Tomb Raider would be an Xbox exclusive upon release. Why would Square Enix turn its back on PlayStation 4 customers? Why are they walking away from making the game a hit by limiting its potential audience?
当古墓系列的粉丝听到古墓：崛起将在xbox上独占发售时，他们显得有些焦躁不安。为什么SE会抛弃PS4的用户呢？为什么他们限制其潜在的用户从而放弃能使游戏取得好成绩？
The outrage from fans, and the very real sadness of PS4 fans who may not play the game now, is real.
粉丝们的愤怒是真实的，尤其是来自于可能无法玩到该游戏的PS4粉丝。
Here's what's hard for gaming fans to do: We need to stop looking at these deals purely through the lens of someone who wants to play the game. Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics are companies that pay its employees and stay in business by making profits on video games. They don't necessarily think about success as units sold. They have to think of it in terms of profit.
这可能对于游戏粉丝们来说难以做到，那就是我们需要停止纯粹的从游戏玩家的角度来看这笔交易。SE和水晶动力是通过游戏的利润来给其员工支付报酬并保证公司运营。他们没有必要去想销售是否成功。他们需要思考的是所能给他们带来的利润。
This deal was not made by the developer, a group of people who likely have little to no say in what happens to the game in terms of how it's sold. Their job is to make a kick-ass game. It's the publisher's job to fund the game and maximize profits. That may not mean selling the most units possible, it just means making the most money in order to fund more games. That's the correct lens. Everything else is second, and possibly tertiary.
这笔交易不是由开发者促成的，他们这群人对于游戏未来发售如何一点关系也没有。他们的职责就是做出优秀的游戏出来。发行商的工作是资助游戏并使其利润最大化。这不意味着销售最多的数量，这只是意味着赚更多的钱并资助更多地游戏。这是看问题的正确的角度。其他的都是次要的或者是更次要的。
Why would the business people say yes to this deal? Because Square Enix thinks they're going to make more money from it, and it's very possible they're going to sell more units of the game. Claiming otherwise is ignorant of the realities of development and the business of exclusives.
为什么商人赞同这笔交易的达成？因为SE认为这样他们可以拿到更多的钱，并且可以卖更多地游戏。否则这样的声明是对发展现状以及独占商业模式的无知。
EXCLUSIVES ARE GOOD BUSINESS
独占是好的商业模式
"Why would Microsoft or Sony be interested in picking up a game that wants to be a big seller and a popular game, just for them? That's a fairly obvious answer. They want exclusive content to bring people to their system."
“为什么微软和索尼热衷于选择那些有可能大卖或者热门的游戏，是为了他们自己吗？答案显而易见。他们希望有独占的内容来使客户选择他们的系统。”
I spoke with Geoffrey Zatkin, the founder of CPO of EEDAR. He was quick to point out that he has no insider knowledge of this particular deal. But he does know, and understand, the business of exclusivity.
我曾经和Geoffrey Zatkin，EEDAR（一家游戏研究和咨询公司）的CPO，交谈过。他很快速的告诉我他对于这项交易没有任何内幕信息。但是他知道也了解独占商业模式。
"Why is Square Enix saying yes to that?" Zatkin asked. "There are a couple of answers, and one will be money. Any game that is made exclusive on a console, that group is paying to be made exclusive. Microsoft will pay them in some way to make it exclusive."
“为什么SE同意该笔交易？”Zatkin问道。“这里有许多的答案，并且其中一个就是钱。如果某个主机上想要独占游戏，那么就要付钱。微软将会用某种方式付钱给他们使其独占。”
This is where it gets tricky, and the "payment" may not be as simple as check. Microsoft may pay part of the game's development budget. It may be promising to help with marketing, which could mean anything from prime, long-term placement on the Xbox One's dashboard to the best displays in retail stores.
这其中是比较微妙的，并且这笔“支付”并不是和开一张支票一样简单。微软可能会支付该游戏开发的部分预算。并且承诺会在市场推广上给予帮助，这意味着该作品可能会长时间的显示在Xbox one的游戏主页上并且在零售店获得最佳展示位。
Microsoft may supply engineers or development talent of its own to make sure the game looks and plays as well as possible, while also offering anything from QA to localization support.
微软可能会提供自己的工程师或者开发团队来确保这款游戏画面以及游玩体验是最棒的，并且也提供其质量部来完成本主机优化的支持。
Platform holders have a lot to offer when it comes to development, and every bit of help frees up the time of the developers and, more importantly, decreases the budget of the game.
当游戏要进行开发时，平台的持有者们能够给予许多的帮助，并且每一点的帮助都能有助于开发者节约时间，并且更重要的是，节省游戏制作的费用。
Microsoft may also offer a reduced royalty rate, which costs the company nothing out of pocket, but which will increase the profits Square Enix sees from every sale.
微软或许也给予SE较低的权利金，这将会使其成本进一步减少，但是却能够将SE的利润进一步的提高。
Imagine a deal where Rise of the Tomb Raider will be given premium advertising and placement on a variety of retail and digital locations, and Square Enix has to pay Microsoft less money as a royalty per game sold, while also getting development support?
想象一下，该笔交易能够让该游戏（古墓：崛起）获得最佳的广告支持并且摆放在最佳的位置，无论是实体店还是数字卖场。并且SE在每售出一套游戏时需要交给微软更少的权利金，并且还能得到开发上的支持？
You're suddenly looking at a deal that could be worth potentially huge amounts of money, with very little formal payment from Microsoft. If the game sells more due to Microsoft's push, and they take less of that money in royalties, Square Enix wins both ways.
你会突然发现这笔协议包含了大量的金钱，而微软所需要支付的正式费用是很少的。如果在微软的帮助下该游戏能够销售很多，并且他们需要更少的费用在权利金上，那么SE其实是双赢的。
"WHEN THEY'RE COMPLAINING THAT THEY ONLY SOLD X UNITS, THEY'RE COMPLAINING ABOUT NOT MAKING AS MUCH MONEY AS THEY WANTED."
“当他们抱怨只销售了X套游戏时，他们其实是在抱怨没有赚到他们所期望的金额。”
"So even if you sell fewer copies, you get more money per copy," Zatkin explained. But it's very possible they'll also sell more units due to the premium ad placement and promotion. Aligning your interests with that of a platform holder is good business: Microsoft is very invested in making Rise of the Tomb Raider a hit, and it can do much to make that happen.
“因此即使你卖了较少的拷贝数，但是你还是在每张游戏上面获得了更多地钱，”Zatkin解释道。但是很有可能基于良好的广告位置和促销，他们会销售更多地游戏。与该平台拥有者有相同的利益关系就是好的业务模式：微软在古墓：崛起这款游戏上投资很大，并且也能够做很多事情来使该游戏热卖。
And remember, the point is to forget about units sold. That's not the game Square Enix is playing. They're interested in return on investment, on the largest possible profit. Sometimes that means selling the most units, but sometimes it doesn't.
需要记住，关键点在于忘却销售的数量。那并不是SE需要玩的游戏。他们只是关注投资回报率并且达到利润的最大化。有时候这意味着需要销售更多地数量，但是有时候却未必。
"When they're complaining that they only sold X million units, they're complaining that they didn't make as much money as they wanted. That's what it really means," Zatkin said. "So in some cases, even if they only sold the same amount of units ... but they can do it on 30 percent less cost for the same amount of units, the return on investment is significantly larger."
“当他们抱怨只销售了X套游戏时，他们其实是在抱怨没有赚到他们所期望的金额。那才是他们真正想要表达的，”Zatkin说到。“因此在某些时候，即使他们达到了相同的销售量。。。但是他们却可以在降低30%成本的条件下做到，那么该投资回报是很高的。”
Microsoft is throwing money at Square Enix, and it may be in a lower royalty paid to Microsoft on sales, or it could be in subsidizing the game's creation, or the promise of a huge push when it comes to marketing, or it could be all of those things at once.
微软在SE上投资了许多钱，并且可能在游戏销售时收取较少的权利金，或者在游戏开发时给予了补贴，或者承诺助力于市场的开拓，或者以上这些都有。
"Square Enix isn't doing this because it thinks Microsoft is cool, they're doing it because they're getting well compensated in some way for doing it.
“SE并不会这么做因为它认为微软很酷，他们会这么做是因为他们可以在某些方面得到补偿。
"Whenever you see an exclusive, it's because the group is being well compensated to make it exclusive," Zatkin said. "It never happens just for the love of it."
“无论何时当你看到独占时，那是因为他们获得了补偿才使其独占，”Zatkin说到。“如果只是喜欢才这样做，那是不可能发生的。”
BUT THEY'RE LOSING SALES ... RIGHT?
但是他们会失去销量。。。是吗？
Maybe not. You're going to hear from the players who only own the PS4, because they have the most to lose from this deal. They don't get to play the game until it's released on their platform. But that number is smaller than you think, as many gamers buy both consoles.
或许不会。你将会听到来自于那些仅拥有PS4玩家的反馈，因为他们是这笔交易中失去最多的人。他们不会玩到这款游戏直到其在该平台上发布。但是那个数量比你想到的要少，因为许多玩家是双平台拥有者。
Let's assume a market of 100 people, because the math is easy. Maybe 25 people will only own the Xbox One. Maybe 25 people will only own the PS4. It's also very possible that 50 of those people own both consoles. "So it's not that they're cutting off half their market; they may only be cutting off 25 percent," Zatkin said.
让我们来假设市场上有100个人，因为这样计算比较简单。或许25个人只是拥有Xbox one。或许25个人只是拥有PS4。并且有可能50%的人拥有双机。“因此这并不意味着他们将会失去一半的市场；他们或许只是失去了25%的市场，”Zatkin说到。
The number of lost sales is only about the customers who only own the PS4, and that number is smaller than you think once you take into account customers who own both systems.
他们所失去的市场只是那些仅仅拥有PS4的那些客户，当你考虑到拥有双平台的客户时你会发现这个数量比你想的要少。
IT'S VERY POSSIBLE THAT THE GAME'S EXISTENCE ITSELF IS DUE TO THIS EXCLUSIVITY DEAL.
很有可能该游戏本身是由于该独占协议而存在的。
"The percent of the audience they're losing is probably a lot smaller, but what is probably being spoken about are the fanboys, the people who are dedicated enough to only run one console and to actually comment on it," Zatkin pointed out. "That's where the blowback's coming from."
“他们所失去的客户数量可能比较少，但是讨论最多的却是那些粉丝，他们只能支持一台主机并且实际参与了评论，”Zatkin指出。“这也是这些反馈的来源。”
There is another benefit to this deal, and one that could mean the game sells more units overall: Square Enix gets to enjoy the benefits from Microsoft while gaining the ability to launch the game multiple times.
在这笔交易中也有另外一个好处，该利益或许能够助推该游戏卖得更多：SE享受从微软处获得的利益，同时获得多次发售该游戏的能力。
Almost all exclusive deals are timed — when a platform holder wants a forever exclusive they buy either the rights outright or the studio itself — which means Rise of the Tomb Raider is coming to PS4 at some point. Most games sell the most amount of units in the first days of sales, so Square Enix will see a big jump in sales when the game is first released on the Xbox One, and then again when the Game of the Year Edition that includes DLC is finally offered on the PS4. They can then also offer that version on the Xbox One, and get another bump in sales as their ad dollars now support two releases across two platforms.
几乎所有的独占协议是限时的-----当一个平台的拥有者想要永久独占该游戏时，他们要么购买版权要么把该工作室买下来-----这也意味着古墓：崛起将会在某一刻降临PS4。许多游戏在其首几日发售时会取得最大的销售量，因此当该游戏在X1首发时，SE将会看到巨大的销量，并且然后再一次包含所有DLC的游戏年度版将会来到PS4。他们 同样也会 发售 Xbox one版 ，并且获得另一个销售上的成功，那么他们的推广费用现在支持在两个不同的平台上两次发布。
Think of it this way: Microsoft is likely defraying the cost of the game's creation while giving Square Enix the ability to launch one game twice, releasing three total products across both consoles. It's very likely the game will sell more units overall, while the cost of its creation may end up being lower due to Microsoft's subsidies.
从这方面想一下：微软将会为该游戏开发时支付费用同时给予SE两次发布该游戏，并且在两个平台上发售3次产品。这很有可能会使该游戏卖的更多，而且该游戏的成本会在微软的资助下变得很低。
So there you have it. Square Enix will likely make more money on Rise of the Tomb Raider due to this deal, which means more Tomb Raider games, which makes me happy as a fan of the franchise. It also means that the PS4 version will likely include more content for less, which will lead to greater overall sales. It's a great deal, and very little of the actual audience is being turned away.
所以你就会明白。基于该协议，SE将会通过古墓：崛起获得更多的钱，也意味着将会有更多的古墓游戏，这也是像我这样古墓粉丝所乐于看到的。这也意味着PS4版本将会包含更多的内容，来使其达到更多的销售量。这是一个很伟大的协议，只有很少一部分的真正客户会被拒之门外。
It's very possible that the game's existence itself is due to this exclusivity deal; without Microsoft easing the cost of the game's development and supporting it upon release, Rise of the Tomb Raider may have never been given the green light to go into full production.
很有可能该游戏本身是由于该独占协议而存在的。如果没有微软在游戏开发和发售上的支持，古墓：崛起将不会获得制作的批准。
Exclusives, as long as you know how to negotiate, are great for business.
独占，如果你知道怎样去谈判，是非常好的商业模式。
"If you can get good deal terms, exclusivity is never a bad thing. But it has to be good enough deal terms that it offsets the sales you think you'd get, or it mitigates the risk of the development cost," Zatkin said. "Or both, if you're lucky."
“如果你能够获得良好的协议条款，独占从来都不是一件坏事。但是该协议的条款能够足够补偿你在销售上的所得，或者减少你在开发商的成本，”Zatkin说到。“或者两者兼顾，如果你够幸运的话。”
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发表于 2014-8-14 14:41 · 浙江
