????曾資助Riot Games公司的投資機(jī)構(gòu)頭標(biāo)資本（FirstMark Capital）和標(biāo)桿資本（Benchmark Capital）現(xiàn)在押注于Meteor Entertainment公司,。這個(gè)新興的游戲發(fā)行商戰(zhàn)勝藝電等傳統(tǒng)游戲公司,，收購(gòu)了Adhesive Games公司及其免費(fèi)科幻游戲《機(jī)甲世界》。Meteor Entertainment公司CEO馬克?朗曾以僵尸工作室（Zombie Studios）聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人的身份打拼多年,，為多家發(fā)行商開(kāi)發(fā)傳統(tǒng)的游戲機(jī)游戲,。他說(shuō)，傳統(tǒng)的發(fā)行模式要求游戲公司投資數(shù)千萬(wàn)到數(shù)億美元用于游戲開(kāi)發(fā),，風(fēng)險(xiǎn)巨大,。

????“我們決定使《機(jī)甲世界》擁有AAA級(jí)游戲的產(chǎn)品質(zhì)量，但把它作為免費(fèi)游戲投放到多個(gè)平臺(tái),，”馬克說(shuō),。“我們從一開(kāi)始就繞過(guò)了零售商,，直接面對(duì)全球消費(fèi)者,。對(duì)于游戲開(kāi)發(fā)商和發(fā)行商來(lái)說(shuō)，這個(gè)模式向前邁進(jìn)了一大步,?！?/p>

????Meteor公司等發(fā)行商不是依賴于傳統(tǒng)的營(yíng)銷方式，而是使用了免費(fèi)測(cè)試版,，讓早期玩家試玩這款游戲的同時(shí),，開(kāi)發(fā)商對(duì)游戲體驗(yàn)進(jìn)行精細(xì)調(diào)整?！队⑿勐?lián)盟》等游戲的成功來(lái)自于良好的口碑,，電視廣告或橫幅廣告無(wú)法帶來(lái)這種效果。實(shí)際上,，馬克對(duì)《機(jī)甲世界》采取了跨媒體的營(yíng)銷方式,。這家公司正在制作漫畫(huà)書(shū)、實(shí)景網(wǎng)絡(luò)視頻系列和一部故事片,，它們將進(jìn)一步擴(kuò)大《機(jī)甲世界》的覆蓋領(lǐng)域,，最終使玩家可以從多個(gè)互不沖突的途徑進(jìn)入這個(gè)世界。

????采用英偉達(dá)（NVIDIA）Tegra處理器的平板電腦和智能手機(jī)擁有非常強(qiáng)大的性能,，它們成了運(yùn)行《機(jī)甲世界》的新設(shè)備,。新款智能電視和索尼Gaikai等云游戲服務(wù)也將在免費(fèi)游戲模式不斷演進(jìn)并獲得更多主流受眾的過(guò)程中發(fā)揮作用。

????俄羅斯游戲發(fā)行商Wargaming公司曾在12年時(shí)間里制作各種零售PC游戲,，但后來(lái)決定采用免費(fèi)游戲模式,，推出了大型多人在線二戰(zhàn)游戲《坦克世界》。帕切特認(rèn)為,，這款游戲擁有5,500萬(wàn)注冊(cè)玩家,，每年收入超過(guò)1.5億美元。在E3游戲展上,，Wargaming公司將展示兩款新的大型多人在線二戰(zhàn)免費(fèi)游戲,，分別是《戰(zhàn)機(jī)世界》（World of Warplanes）和《戰(zhàn)艦世界》（World of Warships）,。游戲上線后，玩家可以通過(guò)Wargaming公司網(wǎng)站上的統(tǒng)一賬戶系統(tǒng)登錄,。

????“玩家們可以通過(guò)論壇,、排行榜、統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù),、比賽和其他各種社會(huì)活動(dòng)來(lái)了解這三款游戲,，”Wargaming公司CEO維克托?基斯利說(shuō)?！拔夷軌蛳胂笕藗儾粫r(shí)地跳出坦克,，進(jìn)入戰(zhàn)艦和戰(zhàn)機(jī)，以獲得不同的體驗(yàn),。戰(zhàn)機(jī)速度更快,，3D空間操作更加令人血脈噴張，而戰(zhàn)艦更注重戰(zhàn)略運(yùn)用,，因?yàn)樗鼈兯俣雀?，擁有重型武器。就?zhàn)略而言,，坦克是傳統(tǒng)的核心,。”

????The same investors who bankrolled Riot Games, FirstMark Capital and Benchmark Capital, are now hedging their bets on Meteor Entertainment. The startup publisher was able to outmaneuver traditional game publishers like Electronic Arts to secure Adhesive Games and its F2P sci-fi universe, HAWKEN. Mark Long, CEO of Meteor Entertainment, spent years working on traditional console games for a variety of publishers as the co-founder of Zombie Studios. He said the traditional publishing model, which requires game companies to invest tens of millions to hundreds of millions of dollars into the development of a game, is risky.

????"We decided to give HAWKEN the same production value you'd get from a 'AAA' game but offer it across multiple platforms as a F2P title," said Long. "We're bypassing retailers and going direct to consumers globally on day one. This model is a very ambitious leap forward for developers and publishers."

????Rather than relying on traditional marketing, publishers like Meteor used a free beta to let early gamers play the game while the developer fine-tunes the experience. The success of games like League of Legends has come from positive word of mouth, which is something that a TV commercial or banner ad isn't going to match. In fact, Long is taking his marketing for HAWKENinto a new transmedia realm. The company is developing a comic book, a live action Web series, and a feature film that will further expand the HAWKEN universe, and ultimately allow gamers to enter this world from multiple paths with zero friction.

????The advent of powerful tablets and smartphones powered by NVIDIA (NVDA) Tegra technologyhas opened new devices for HAKWEN to be played on. New smart TVs and streaming cloud services like Sony's Gaikai will also play a role in how F2P games evolve and reach an even larger mainstream audience over time.

????Russian game publisher Wargaming spent 12 years making retail PC games before deciding to go F2P with the WWII MMO World of Tanks. Pachter believes that game, which has over 55 million subscribers, pulls in over $150 million a year. At E3, Wargaming will be showcasing two new F2P WWII MMOs, World of Warplanes and World of Warships. The company will allow players to access all of these games, once launched, through a unified account system on Wargaming.net.

????"There will be forums, leaderboards, and statistics for players to check out, as well as tournaments and other types of social events across all three games," said Victor Kisly, CEO of Wargaming. "I can see people jumping from tanks, to battleships, to warplanes, from time to time, just to get a different experience. Warplanes are faster and more adrenaline-fueled with 3-D space maneuvering, while Warships is more of a strategic kind of battling because they're slower and have big guns. Tanks is the classical middle in terms of strategy."