電子遊戲產業分析與臺灣遊戲廠商之策略研究

Abstract

本研究從大量次級資料的搜集與分析中，整理出遊戲產業的歷史演進過程與產業特性分析，希望從遊戲產業整體發展的與產業特性的角度，给續者一些總體的觀點，為後續的研究者省去整理歷史資料與研究產業特性的功夫。再者，基於產業分析的架構，本研究後半部將以價值網分析臺灣遊戲廠商，探討台灣廠商在整體價值創造的活動中所扮演的角色，並進一步討論未來台灣遊戲業者在世界產業分工中可能的定位。 本研究第一個部份從電子遊戲發展歷史與產業演進過程中，探索產業演進的智慧與影響產業結構的因素。研究發現如下：(1)在雅達利衝擊之後，日本的家用遊戲機廠商採取較封閉的遊戲開發合作模式，使主機廠商在遊戲產業中擁有較強的影響力。(2)每一次主機世代演進的過程，都讓遊戲軟體與硬體廠商之間的合作結構重新洗牌。 第二部份從產業結構分析、需求面分析與產品特性三個角度，探討遊戲產業的特性與未來的發展。其結論如下：(1)隨著消費者對遊戲產品的要求越高，遊戲所需的娛樂元素越多，遊戲開發商必須不斷更新遊戲開發能力。(2)爭取軟體開發商支持是遊戲主機的成功關鍵。(3)連線遊戲的商業模式與遊戲機不同，經營線上遊戲的廠商提供連線服務，滿足消費者娛樂與社交的需求。亞洲地區國家消費連線遊戲的邊際成本較低，因此亞洲地區線上遊戲較遊戲機流行。(4)跨平台遊戲概念與數位家庭聚合，將使未來個人電腦遊戲與遊戲機遊戲逐漸整合。 第三部份從產業特性與產業演進的觀點，探討未來台灣遊戲廠商發展並提供策略建議。經由價值網的分析，建議台灣廠商以軟體開發商與系統營運商兩種定位出發，在遊戲的價值鏈上提升該廠商活動的價值。

The study is based on an industry analysis which focuses on the evolution of game console and the evolvement of industry structure. Further, grounded on the industry analysis, the study discusses the role that Taiwanese game firms play in whole value-creating activities by value net analysis and the position that Taiwanese firms might take in the network of world game development in the future. The present study is composed of three parts. The first part starts with electronic game’s history and attempts to gain a clear idea of the industrial evolution. Therefore, I can figure out factors which have influenced the evolution process. The findings are as follows；1) After Atari Shock, Japanese console firms have adopted a close-end game developing model which establishes a self-contained system. Thus, console firms gain greater influence. 2) Every introduction of the next-generation console changes industry structure. New consoles always restructure the connection between console firms and software developers. The second part discusses the industry characteristics and future development by industry structure analysis, demand side analysis, and product property. The conclusions are 1) with the stricter demands for games from customers, the more and more elements are required. Thus, the game developers must be constantly updating game developing abilities. 2) The support from software developers is the key to success. 3) The business models are fundamentally different between on-line games and console games. On-line game firms are to provide network services, satisfying the demands for both entertainment and friend-making. The marginal costs for on-line games are lower in Asia, so on-line games are more popular. 4) The concepts of cross-platform game and the digital home converge will slowly bring PC games and console games to integration. The third part discusses the future development for Taiwanese game developers in view of characteristics and evolvement in the industry. Then, I offer strategy recommendations. After value-net analysis, I recommend Taiwanese firms adopt either software-developers or local game system operators. In this way, they can add more value to the value-chain in the game industry.