经济学人:电子游戏 恋上手机

 　　Business: Video games A crush on mobile 商业：电子游戏，恋上手机

　　A big merger¹ shows where the money is heading in the industry. 一次大规模的合并显示出行业内资金的流向。

　　Compare “Candy Crush Saga” with the “Star Wars” franchise² and it comes as a shock that the casual game's creator,  2012年迪士尼收购卢卡斯影业和电影《星球大战》系列特许经营权的价格是40亿美元，

　　King Digital Entertainment, would sell for almost 50% more than the $4 billion that Disney paid for Lucasfilm in 2012. 相比之下，休闲类游戏开发商King数字娱乐公司和旗下游戏《糖果传奇》特许经营权将会以多出近20亿美元的价格出售，这是令人意想不到的。

　　But in paying $5.9 billion in cash and stock for King on November 3rd Activision Blizzard³,  但是在11月3日的这场以59亿美元现金和债券达成的交易中，

　　a giant in video games for computers and specialist gaming consoles, is doing more than buying another industry leader. 作为行业中首屈一指的计算机视频游戏开发商和第三方游戏发行商，动视暴雪实际比收购一家他行业的领导者做地更多。

　　Its purchase is an acknowledgment that the future of video games, and of gaming profits, is in mobile,  这项收购意味着手机决定着电子游戏的未来或者说未来游戏行业的收益，

　　where games are usually given away, and where their creators make money by selling extra features to the most enthusiastic players. 因为手机游戏的玩家经常流失，并且游戏的开发商通过手机能够通过向最狂热的玩家销售附加功能而赚取利润。

　　Mobile games have been by far the fastest-growing part of the market in recent years, and have broader international appeal because of the penetration⁴ of smartphones. 近年来，手机游戏已经成为游戏市场中发展最快的部分。由于智能手机的普及，手机游戏具有更为广泛的国际需求。

　　By Activision's reckoning, worldwide revenues from mobile games will almost catch up with those from PC and console games by 2019,  动视（Activision）估计截至2019年手机游戏的收益将会与计算机游戏与主机游戏收益的总和基本持平，

　　reaching $55 billion (up from an estimated $36 billion this year). （从今年预计的360亿美元）增至550亿美元。

　　PC and console games' sales are projected to reach $57 billion by then. 届时，计算机游戏和主机游戏的销售额计划达到570亿美元。

　　With “Candy Crush Saga” in its arsenal⁵, Activision will have one of the most successful mobile games yet seen,  动视（Activision）将通过《糖果传奇》（Candy Crush Saga），这个目前看来最成功的手机游戏，

　　access to an active monthly user base of nearly half a billion people and dozens of new foreign markets where smartphones, not consoles, are the game platforms of choice. 拥有接近5亿的月活跃用户以及大量来自国外新兴市场，选择智能手机作为游戏平台而不是主机的玩家。

　　Those users might enjoy mobile versions of some of Activision's hits, like the “Guitar Hero” series. 那些用户很可能热衷于动视（Activision））发行的一些热门手机游戏例如《吉他英雄》系列。

　　The combined company will become the world's second-biggest in terms of video-gaming revenues, with close to $7 billion a year,  就电子游戏的净收入而言，合并后的公司将以每年接近70亿的收益排名第二，

　　placing it behind only Tencent, a Chinese gaming and social-media conglomerate⁶. 位列中国一家游戏和社交媒体的多元化公司-腾讯公司之后。

　　Activision has flailed⁷ about in mobile gaming (even if it has had a recent hit with “Hearthstone”, a digital card game) . 动视（Activision）仍然在向移动游戏市场疯狂地招手，即使目前旗下已经拥有一款热门的卡牌类电子游戏《炉石传说》。

　　Though King's shares have weakened since it gave a profit warning in May this year, there are worries that Activision may be paying richly for its big move into mobile. 今年五月，King数字娱乐公司发布利润预警导致股票下跌，但是人们更加担心动视（Activision）可能为大幅进入移动游戏市场付出更多的代价。

　　James Gwertzman, the boss of Playfab, a provider of back-office technology for game developers,  为游戏开发者提供服务的游戏后端服务商Playfab的联合创始人兼CEO詹姆斯·高兹曼（James Gwertzman）表示

　　says it is not clear if Activision and King can add that much value to each other's gaming platforms,  相比迪士尼开发星球大战的人物和故事并与其自身的多个产业融合，

　　in the way that Disney can exploit the “Star Wars” characters and stories acrossits various businesses. 现在还很难说动视(Activision)和King数字娱乐公司能否为彼此的游戏平台增加更多的价值。

　　There is also no guarantee that King can establish another runaway⁸ success like “Candy Crush Saga”  虽然已经开发了一个还算成功的游戏《糖果苏打传奇》作为《糖果传奇》的续作，

　　although it has created a moderately successful sequel in “Candy Crush Soda” —or that the flagship “Saga” game will remain a hit. 但King数字娱乐公司也不能保证一定能够开发出另外一款如同《糖果传奇》一样大获成功的游戏，又或者让《糖果传奇》继续保持火热。

　　The faddish⁹ mobile game of the moment, like, say Zynga's “FarmVille”, can give way seemingly overnight to new franchise hits—in its case, to “Candy Crush Saga” itself. 如同Zynga（一家社交游戏公司）曾经推出的一款手机游戏《农场小镇》，短暂地风靡一时，似乎一夜之间就让位于新发行的游戏《糖果传奇》。

1 merger   

n.企业合并，并吞

参考例句：

• Acceptance of the offer is the first step to a merger.对这项提议的赞同是合并的第一步。
• Shareholders will be voting on the merger of the companies.股东们将投票表决公司合并问题。

2 franchise   

n.特许，特权，专营权，特许权

参考例句：

• Catering in the schools is run on a franchise basis.学校餐饮服务以特许权经营。
• The United States granted the franchise to women in 1920.美国于1920年给妇女以参政权。

3 blizzard   

n.暴风雪

参考例句：

• The blizzard struck while we were still on the mountain.我们还在山上的时候暴风雪就袭来了。
• You'll have to stay here until the blizzard blows itself off.你得等暴风雪停了再走。

4 penetration   

n.穿透，穿人，渗透

参考例句：

• He is a man of penetration.他是一个富有洞察力的人。
• Our aim is to achieve greater market penetration.我们的目标是进一步打入市场。

5 arsenal   

n.兵工厂，军械库

参考例句：

• Even the workers at the arsenal have got a secret organization.兵工厂工人暗中也有组织。
• We must be the great arsenal of democracy.我们必须成为民主的大军火库。

6 conglomerate   

n.综合商社，多元化集团公司

参考例句：

• The firm has been taken over by an American conglomerate.该公司已被美国一企业集团接管。
• An American conglomerate holds a major share in the company.一家美国的大联合企业持有该公司的大部分股份。

7 flailed   

v.鞭打( flail的过去式和过去分词 )；用连枷脱粒；（臂或腿）无法控制地乱动；扫雷坦克

参考例句：

• The boys flailed around on the floor. 男孩子们在地板上任意地动来动去。
• The prisoner's limbs flailed violently because of the pain. 那囚犯因为疼痛，四肢剧烈地抖动着。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 runaway   

n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的

参考例句：

• The police have not found the runaway to date.警察迄今没抓到逃犯。
• He was praised for bringing up the runaway horse.他勒住了脱缰之马受到了表扬。

9 faddish   

adj.好赶时髦的；一时流行的

参考例句：

• We ate at a faddish new restaurant. 我们在一家新开张的时尚餐馆吃饭。 来自辞典例句
• Dial get online to say, begin since thenceforth faddish. 拨号上网一说，从那时起开始风行。 来自互联网