手遊崛起致韓國網遊開發商受挫
South Korea’s computer gamesindustry is facing a crisis as online software makers struggle to compete withfast-growing Chinese rivals in the rapid transition to mobile gaming.
韓國計算機遊戲行業面臨危機，原因是在向手遊的快速轉型中，韓國網遊軟件製造商很難與快速發展的中國競爭對手競爭。
The country’s online game makershave long dominated the global market for massively multiplayer onlinerole-playing games (MMORPG) but have lost their edge as gamers haveincreasingly embraced playing on their smartphones.
韓國網絡遊戲製造商長期在全球大型多人在線角色扮演遊戲(MMORPG)市場佔據主導地位，但隨着玩家日益接受在智能手機上玩遊戲，這些製造商失去了領先地位。
So far, Korean game makers have failed toproduce any big hits for mobile platforms, which is a problem for an industrythat has long been a source of local pride as well as a favourite national pastime.
迄今爲止，韓國遊戲製造商未能開發出任何手機平臺上的火爆遊戲產品，這對該國遊戲產業是一個問題。長期以來，遊戲產業一直讓韓國人引以爲豪，同時遊戲還是該國國民最喜愛的消遣方式。
South Korea is the world’ssecond-largest online games market after China.
韓國是僅次於中國的全球第二大網遊市場。
Its PC-based online games account for afifth of revenue in the global market —but that is downfrom 28.6 per cent in 2012, according to the Korea Creative Content Agency(Kocca).
韓國文化產業振興院(Korea Creative Content Agency)的數據顯示，韓國計算機網絡遊戲收入佔到全球市場的五分之一，但這一比例低於2012年的28.6%。
Kocca estimates that sales of Korean gamesabroad grew about 7 per cent to $3.2bn last year, slowing sharply from thedouble-digit pace between 2007-12 when South Korean companiesincluding NCSoft and Tokyo-listed Nexon developed the globalonline game market.
韓國文化產業振興院估計，去年韓國遊戲的海外銷售額增長約7%（至32億美元），大大慢於2007年至2012年期間的兩位數增速。當時，包括NCSoft以及在東京上市的Nexon在內的韓國公司促進了全球網遊市場的發展。
Much of their success came from pioneeringthe freemium business model —which is now being successfully utilised in mobile gaming —featuringgames that are free to play but charge for virtual items that give playersadvantages.
這在很大程度上歸功於它們率先推出了免費加增值(freemium)的商業模式——目前這一模式已經被成功複製到手機遊戲上。它的特點是，允許玩家免費玩遊戲，但出售付費的虛擬道具，這些道具可以讓玩家獲得優勢。
Local game companies have been outsmartedby western and Chinese rivals in the shift to fast-growing mobile games, whichare quicker and cheaper to develop.
在向快速發展的手遊行業轉型的過程中，韓國企業沒有中國和西方競爭對手那樣機敏。手遊開發起來更快，而且成本更低。
As Korean developers have slashedinvestment in online games to try to focus on mobile, their online dominancehas been eroded by overseas-made games such as Riot Games’ Leagueof Legends and Blizzard Entertainment’s Overwatch.
隨着韓國遊戲開發商削減網遊投資，以嘗試專注於手遊開發，它們在網遊市場上的主導地位受到Riot Games的《英雄聯盟》(League of Legends)和暴雪娛樂(Blizzard Entertainment)的《守望先鋒》(Overwatch)等海外遊戲的衝擊。
Those two US-developed games now commandmore than half of the South Korean market.
目前，這兩款美國公司開發的遊戲佔據了韓國市場逾一半的份額。
Korean developers . . . have diverted toomuch resources to mobile games to spare investment in the development of [newtrendy online games], says Chenyu Cui, games analyst at IHS Markit.
IHS Markit的遊戲分析師Chenyu Cui表示：韓國遊戲開發者……在手游上分散了太多的資源，因而勻不出錢來投資開發（新的流行網絡遊戲）。
Analysts say South Korean companies havefocused too much on graphics-heavy role-playing online battle games that arenow losing their appeal among gamers, overshadowed by simpler, more speedilypaced offerings: Overwatch is a shooter title, and League of Legendsis a strategy game.
分析師們表示，韓國公司過於專注形象逼真的角色扮演類網絡戰鬥遊戲，而這些遊戲對於玩家的吸引力正在下降。當前更能贏得玩家青睞的是更爲簡單、節奏更快的遊戲，比如《守望先鋒》是一款射擊類遊戲，而《英雄聯盟》是一款策略遊戲。
Park Young-ho, president of mobile gamemaker Four Thirty Three, says: We are no longer the leaders as we enter themobile era.
手遊開發商Four Thirty Three的總裁Park Young-ho表示：隨着移動時代的到來，我們不再是領導者。
Our strength in hardcore MMORPGs based onadvanced networks has actually become a barrier against our globalisation.
我們在基於先進網絡的MMORPG核心遊戲上的優勢，實際上已經成爲阻礙我們全球化的障礙。
NCSoft, the country’s biggest online gamemaker, has not produced a big new online title since Blade & Soul inJune 2012, while new games such as MapleStory 2 and Sudden Attack 2from Nexon, Korea’s biggest game company, have failed to gain popularity.
NCSoft是韓國最大的網絡遊戲開發商。該公司自2012年6月推出《劍靈》(Blade & Soul)以來再沒有開發出新的大型網絡遊戲。韓國最大遊戲公司Nexon雖然推出了《冒險島2》(MapleStory 2)和《突擊風暴2》(Sudden Attack 2)等新遊戲，但這些遊戲並未流行起來。
Piers Harding-Rolls, head of games researchat IHS Markit: The heyday of South Korean games exports due to development andmonetisation expertise is now over — China has a mature domestic industry andwestern games companies now produce very popular freemium PC games.
IHS Markit遊戲研究主管皮爾斯•哈丁-羅爾斯(PiersHarding-Rolls)表示：在研發和變現能力方面的專長一度讓韓國遊戲出口蓬勃發展，但如今它的黃金時期已經結束。中國國內的遊戲行業已經成熟，而西方遊戲公司則能開發出非常受歡迎的‘免費加增值’計算機遊戲。
While Korean mobile game makers have yet tocrack the Chinese market, many of their Chinese rivals are doing well in Korea.
韓國手遊開發商尚未打開中國市場，它們的許多中國競爭對手卻已經在韓國表現不俗。
Mu Origin, a Chinese-developed version of aKorean online game, is one of the top five mobile games in Korea.
中國根據一款韓國網絡遊戲開發的《奇蹟：起源》(Mu Origin)進入韓國手遊排名前五名。
Eric Cha, analyst at Credit Suisse, says:Just five years ago, things like this were unimaginable.
瑞信(Credit Suisse)分析師Eric Cha表示：就在五年前，這樣的事情還是無法想象的。
The Chinese market used to be dominated byKorean online games, but many of their mobile games are nowadays actuallybetter than Korean games.
中國市場一度被韓國網遊主導，而到了今天，中國的許多手遊已經比韓國遊戲還要好。
Speed is important with trendy mobilegames.
就打造流行手游來說，速度很重要。
China is better than Korea in terms of timeto market.
中國企業在市場時機把握上比韓國企業做得更好。
The decline of the local gaming industryhas led to sharp downsizing.
韓國國內遊戲產業走下坡路，導致從業人數銳減。
The number of local game developers fell 30per cent to 14,000 between 2009 and 2014, according to Korea Economic ResearchInstitute, while midsized lossmaking companies have slashed their workforces.
韓國經濟研究所(Korea Economic Research Institute)數據顯示，從2009年到2014年，韓國國內遊戲開發者人數下降30%，至1.4萬人，同時不斷虧損的中型企業被迫進行裁員。
Profits are shrinking at many of the largergroups while some, including NHN Entertainment and Neowiz Games, fell into aloss last year.
韓國許多規模較大的遊戲公司的利潤也在縮水，NHN Entertainment和Neowiz Games等一些公司去年出現了虧損。
In the first half of this year, Nexon’s net profitdropped 37.5 per cent.
今年上半年，Nexon的淨利潤同比下降了37.5%。
Share prices have also come under pressure,spooking some companies that had been considering public listings.
遊戲公司的股價也表現不佳，這讓一些原本考慮上市的企業止步不前。
Netmarble Games, the country’s biggestmobile game company, gave up the idea of a Nasdaq float and now aims to raiseabout Won2tn ($1.7bn) later this year or early next via an initial publicoffering in Korea, where it is better known.
Netmarble Games是韓國最大的手遊公司，它放棄了之前在納斯達克上市的計劃，並打算今年晚些時候或明年初在韓國上市，計劃融資約2萬億韓元(約合17億美元)——該公司在韓國本土的知名度更高一些。
To broaden their customer base abroad,South Korean game makers need to diversify, says Namgoong Hoon, head of KakaoGames.
Kakao Games主管Namgoong Hoon表示，韓國遊戲開發商如果想擴大海外客戶羣就必須多元化。
They should develop games that anyone canplay on any platform if they are serious about overseas expansion.
這名主管說：如果他們在認真考慮向海外擴張，他們就應該開發任何人在任何平臺上都可以玩的遊戲。
Yet differentiation is also vital, says MrCha at Credit Suisse, referring to the huge popularity of Pokémon Go andnoting that South Korean game makers have yet to roll out any major games usingaugmented or virtual reality.
瑞信分析師Eric Cha在談到Pokémon Go大受歡迎時表示，然而實現差異化也非常重要，他指出，韓國遊戲開發商迄今尚未推出任何使用增強現實或虛擬現實技術的大型遊戲。
It is not that difficult technology-wise.
Eric Cha說：技術層面不是問題。
The thing is how to integrate suchtechnology with globally well-known content, he says.
問題的關鍵在於如何將此類技術與全球知名的內容整合在一起。
They need something fresh and differentthat sets their games apart from their competitors’in order tocrack the global market.
要征服全球市場，韓國遊戲開發商需要一些與衆不同的新鮮元素，從而讓它們的產品與競爭對手的產生差異。
