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'Disney Dreamlight Valley' looks like Animal Crossing with Wall-E and Moana
You can go fishing with Goofy and help Anna and Elsa restore their memories.
Spider-Man: Unlimited is an endless web-swinger
Face front, true believers! Or rather, face your smartphones and tablets, because that's where you'll see your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man sprinting, swinging and wall-crawling in Spider-Man: Unlimited, a new endless runner from Gameloft. The game is more inspired by the Marvel comics than the recently-released movie, and features a cel-shaded art style to compliment the webhead hero. Gameplay is divided into virtual comic book "issues," each centered on a member of the Sinister Six - a supergroup of Spidey villains. So far, players can face down Green Goblin and Vulture, with more issues to be released in the future. Spidey is bringing his trademark style and jokes to iOS, Android and Windows Phone devices, meaning he'll swing (just about) wherever a spider can. [Image: Gameloft]
Order and Chaos Online goes free-to-play
The hit mobile MMO Order and Chaos Online has gone from reducing its up-front client cost to eliminating it completely. This past week, Gameloft dropped the price for Order and Chaos Online, making it officially free-to-play and gifting existing players 150 rune stones and a shining golden dragon hatchling for their financial support. The game originally launched as a subscription model, transitioned into a buy-to-play title for $6.99 back in 2012, and now will have to lean on in-game shop purchases to rake in revenue. Order and Chaos Online is celebrating its third anniversary with in-game gifts and quests. The MMO recently added a new PvP mode, Battlefield, that allows players to duke it out in 2v2 and 4v4 matches.
Modern Combat dev Gameloft saw no revenue growth in Q2
Gameloft, the mobile gaming developer/publisher behind series like Modern Combat and Asphalt, saw no revenue growth in Q2, Games Industry International reports. However, out of the French company's 12 to 15 games due this year, only four are currently available. Hence, Gameloft expects to see a better performance in the back-half of 2014. For example, the company recently released Modern Combat 5, which should boost the company's revenue for Q3, assuming that having a cracked copy being released into the wild by a contest winner doesn't hurt the game's sales too much. [Image: Gameloft]
The TUAW Daily Update Podcast for July 22, 2014
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get some the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the player at the top of the page. Be sure that your podcast software is set up to subscribe to the new feed in the iTunes Store here.
Contest winner gets Modern Combat iOS game early, cracks and distributes it online
Holding a contest to give a few fans a chance to play a hotly anticipated game early is a great way to drum up some hype -- at least that's what Gameloft thought when it allowed a handful of contest winners the opportunity to play Modern Combat 5 before anyone else. What the company didn't expect was one of the winners to take the app, crack it, and upload it to torrent sites. "As you can imagine I am really pissed off," reads a Facebook post by Gameloft community manager Florian Weber. Posting on the Modern Combat 4 hub page, Weber expresses his further dismay, adding "To anybody who got MC5 already, shame on you! We are making games for you and all you can do is pirate them?" Unlike a lot of the higher-profile games on the App Store, Modern Combat games don't use the free-to-play model. The games are priced up front and while there are in-app purchases, they aren't required to progress through the game. With most of the games in the franchise carrying a launch price of $6.99, that's a big chunk of money to miss out on for the developers, especially considering this is the first brand new Modern Combat game since 2012. A quick check of a few torrent sites reveals that the game -- or at least a game labeled as Modern Combat 5 -- is indeed available for download. While the game will be available for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone, the iOS version seems to be the only one that has leaked, which may be a small comfort for Gameloft in an otherwise frustrating time. [via Polygon]
Modern Combat 5 cracked, pirated by contest winner
Pirated copies of the mobile first-person shooter Modern Combat 5: Blackout flooded torrent websites this weekend, reportedly originating from a copy of the game distributed by the developer as part of a contest. Gameloft held the giveaway recently, inviting players into the game early. "One of the winners cracked and uploaded it," Touch Arcade editor-in-chief Eli Hodapp tweeted. Thousands of players are already online, he added. "As you can imagine I am really pissed off," Gameloft community manager Florian Weber wrote in a message on a Modern Combat Facebook group HUB page. "To anybody who got MC5 already, shame on you! We are making games for you and all you can do is pirate them? Anybody which is talking to me and shows in some way that he already has MC5 will get an instant ban." In a separate statement, Gameloft said it has activated its anti-piracy measures in the game and that all "illegitimate users on a non-official version have been incapacitated." Modern Combat 5 officially launches for iOS, Android and Windows 8 devices on July 24. "We will continue to stay alert and respond adequately to all hacking attempts," Gameloft further promised. [Art: Gameloft]
Embrace Order & Chaos in an iPad Mini giveaway
Sometimes the hunger to make elves and orcs wage war on one another goes well beyond your home. How long can you sit around playing World of Warcraft at a desk while Lord of the Rings plays on the TV in the background? The whole wide world is waiting outside! Gameloft's Order & Chaos Online has you covered, letting you keep high fantasy's eternal enemies bludgeoning each other anywhere provided you play the MMO on an iOS, Android, or Windows Phone. Playing Order & Chaos Online, which is absolutely free for a short time on iPhone and iPad, and entering Gameloft's Gamer Giveaway can also net you a free iPad Mini or a pair of SteelSeries Siberia V/2 headphones. Full details on how you can get your hands on the goods and contest rules after the break.
Win an iPad Mini and SteelSeries headphones in Massively's Gameloft giveaway
What better way to celebrate Memorial Day than with free stuff? Massively has teamed up with mobile developer Gameloft this week to give away both an iPad Mini with Retina Display and a set of SteelSeries Siberia V2 Heat Orange Edition headphones to one lucky reader of Massively or our sister sites, Joystiq and WoW Insider. Gameloft is the company behind Order and Chaos Online, a multi-platform mobile MMO featuring questing, PvP, mounts, and guilds. It's currently free on the iOS App Store for a limited time. Here's how you can enter to win: Download Order and Chaos Online on iPhone or iPad (it's free!). Create a character within the game with this symbol included in the name: ^^^ Post that character's name in the comments of this article and enter via the Rafflecopter widget below. a Rafflecopter giveaway You can also enter directly on Joystiq and WoW Insider. Good luck, everyone!
Twitch kicks off its mobile streaming service with Gameloft
Prior to its recent Xbox One launch, Twitch accounted for 1.8 percent of peak US internet traffic -- and it doesn't even do mobile streaming. That's about to change, however, as Gameloft's ultra-popular Asphalt 8: Airborne stunt and racing game is set to arrive on iOS with Twitch functionality. On top of broadcasting, sharing and archiving gameplay, you'll be able to use your iOS device's camera and microphone to stream video of yourself and monitor chat. To start the festivities, Gameloft will host a 24-hour livestream today, replete with dev team interviews, giveaways and a walkthrough of the options. The update arrives to the App Store soon, but you'll need to implement Twitch service on a game-to-game basis. The new functionality is optimized for the iPhone 5S, iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina.
First Twitch broadcasting iOS game is Gameloft racer Asphalt 8
The first mobile game to include Twitch broadcast options within the app is Gameloft's Asphalt 8: Airborne, Twitch announced today. An upcoming update for the iOS racing game will allow players to stream gameplay, their voices and faces using the iPhone and iPad's front-facing cameras and view their channel's chatroom while playing. Asphalt 8 broadcasters will also have the option to archive their streamed gameplay and share them with others. Twitch unveiled its expansion into the iOS and Android market with its software development kit earlier this month. following the company's official rebrand in February. Asphalt 8, currently free to download on the App Store, will receive its third, broadcast-enabling update "soon." Twitch broadcasting functionality in the game is optimized specifically for iPhone 5S, iPad Air and iPad Mini with Retina Display devices. [Image: Gameloft]
Gameloft and Amiga Games to release 56 titles on Windows 8, WP8 before 2014
Sure, Microsoft's battle for next-gen supremacy starts in November, but those who lean on Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 for their gaming just got a little something to look forward to. Gameloft is readying a total of 15 games that'll arrive within the next 12 months and launch simultaneously on both platforms. Before the year's up, you can expect to see Asphalt 8: Airborne, Despicable Me: Minion Rush, Dungeon Hunter 4, Six Guns, Total Conquest and UNO & Friends, with the remaining games breaking cover next year. The recently-acquired Amiga Games will churn out 50 titles of its own onto Microsoft's desktop and mobile OS before year's end, and could bump the total up to 500 afterwards. Details on which games we'll see first weren't divulged, but the outfit says they'll make use of the operating system's features such as live tiles and Snap and Share, as well as cross-platform data sharing. For a look at what's to come, head past the break for a fresh Asphalt 8 trailer.
Ooh Ouya! Testing MMOs on a $99 console
My big birthday present this year was an Ouya -- the $99 Android console that was funded by Kickstarter, powered by dreams, and promoted as a "revolution" by its makers. I've not been big on either consoles or Android platforms as of late, mostly due to being preoccupied elsewhere. But something about Ouya's roguish underdog status and the combination of being a fully functional console and a development kit in one attracted me to it. Plus, it's so dang tiny! You can only fit one-half of a magical elf inside it, and even that took some intense pushing. Obviously this is not a bleeding-edge console that's going to pump out realistic graphics at 100 fps, but that's not Ouya's thing anyway. So you might be forgiven in thinking that MMO studios might stay far away from it, what with its limited storage space and processing power, but that's actually not the case. Two MMOs that I know of have been released on the Ouya, Vendetta Online and Order and Chaos Online, and to me that signals the possibility that there might be more in the future. So I downloaded both of them fairly quickly and settled onto my couch to check out MMO gaming with a controller on a TV powered by a console smaller than a Coke can. What kind of MMO experience was I going to get with a $99 machine?
Order and Chaos Online comes to Ouya
Order and Chaos Online, that scrappy little mobile World of Warcraft clone, is continuing to expand its presence in the gaming market. Its latest conquest? Ouya, the Android-based console that released in late June. Ouya Chief Executive Julie Uhrman welcomed the title to the Ouya family: "Ouya is excited to be working with Gameloft to bring the wildly popular Order and Chaos Online to the consoles world for the first time. This also marks our first MMO, expanding the gaming possibilities for all Ouya gamers." This isn't technically the first MMO for the Ouya, however. Vendetta Online premiered on the console several months ago. Order and Chaos Online is available for free in the Ouya Discovery store.
Gameloft releases an impressive trailer for Modern Combat 5
You can say what you will about Gameloft (and lots of people do, as the company has earned a reputation for essentially copying HD console games onto Apple's iOS platforms), but this is at least true: The developer knows how to put a game together. Modern Combat is Gameloft's take on the extremely popular Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series, and the company has just released a trailer for Modern Combat 5, which serves as the latest and greatest full first-person shooter on iOS. Thanks to the success of Angry Birds, most iOS trailers consist of a series of cute animals playing around to some overly sweet music, but not this one. As you can see below, Gameloft has figured out how to draw a whole lot of realism out of the iPad and the iPhone. Modern Combat 5 is set for a release in the fourth quarter of this year, so we do have a while yet to wait. But Gameloft should be showing it off next week at E3, so I should have some hands-on time with this title and whatever else the developer is working on. So stay tuned to hear more about this already very impressive title.
Tango launches social platform SDK, brings its chat layer to other apps
Tango has wanted to expand beyond the basics of multi-platform messaging for awhile, going so far as to add games within its own app. It now wants to become the social glue for just about everyone: it's launching a platform for other apps. The new SDK both integrates Tango chat into titles and make its easy to send app invitations to anyone using Tango, with leaderboards when games are involved. The company has garnered some early support from developers like Bubble Gum Interactive and Gameloft, which plan to release Tango-aware iOS versions of Jetpack Jinx and Candy Block Breaker in the near future. Android users will have to wait until July to get their shot at these two games, but developers who want more sociable apps can apply to use the SDK today.
Download N.O.V.A. 3 and Gangstar Rio for iOS free this weekend
Looking for some new games to play this weekend? You're in luck. Developer Gameloft is offering two of its premium titles, N.O.V.A. 3 and Gangstar Rio, for free this weekend in the App Store. Picking up both titles would normally set you back US$12 so jump on this deal quickly. Gangster Rio is a 3D sandbox game in the spirit of Grand Theft Auto, complete with vehicles, combat and all the moral ambiguity you'd expect from a crime simulator. With over 60 missions, locations based on Rio de Janeiro and even an exploding football that as a weapon, Gangster Rio has a lot to offer for exploration. First-person shooter fans should give N.O.V.A. 3 a spin for both single and multiplayer modes. The main storyline takes place over 10 levels of sci-fi combat, while the multiplayer is rounded out by 7 different play modes and support for up to 12 players. Most impressively the game has in-game chat for talking to your friends while you play. Each game has micro-transaction options for beefing up your bankroll and ammo, so maybe this weekend, you will pass some of your savings from the free download into buying new weapons and vehicles. Or just revel in the knowledge that you got two free games. Either way act quickly, as this deal will be over soon. Pick up Gangster Rio: City of Saints here at iTunes. Pick up N.O.V.A. 3 here at iTunes.
Daily iPhone App: Dungeon Hunter 4 is a hack-and-slash that asks for cash
I got to see Dungeon Hunter 4 in action a few weeks ago at GDC, and now the app is out and available for free on the App Store for you to try out for yourself. I'm torn on this one, unfortunately. On the one hand, this is an excellent game -- the graphics are extremely well done and the controls are excellent. While it is a little repetitive, this is a very respectable dungeon-crawling action game, similar in tone to the very famous (and much-loved) Diablo series. If you liked Dungeon Hunter 2, you'll be glad to see that the series has abandoned arenas for an actual story again, and I think all three of the game's classes are well-balanced and fun to play. That's all fine and dandy, but the issue here isn't with the game, it's with the business model. Dungeon Hunter 4 is a freemium title, and I'd go so far as to say it's viciously freemium. It's up to you what the most annoying of its many in-app purchase tricks are, but they include putting a timer on potions so that you have to wait or pay to use them frequently, teasing the player with better items for sale right there in your own personal inventory, or making you wait in real time (or pay, again) for item upgrades and crafting. One of these ideas might not be so bad, but including all of them means that a good quarter of your time in Dungeon Hunter 4 is taken up with the game tempting you to spend money, rather than just enjoying your time in the game's virtual world. It's up to you whether that works or not. Personally, I like Dungeon Hunter 4 -- I won't spend any money in it, but I get a kick out of the action RPG gameplay, and I can see sitting down for some multiplayer sessions with friends. If everyone who downloaded this game played like me, however (without spending any money at all), then Gameloft would go out of business, or have to fall back on a premium model. So it's up to you -- if you feel this is a worthwhile way to sell games, then by all means, give them your money. If you think making the monetization systems almost as complex as the game itself is a mistake, then it's probably better to move on and try something else. Ridiculous Fishing, for example, is an excellent title that leaves gameplay and monetization completely separate.
Order & Chaos Online shakes things up with a major patch
Order & Chaos Online is definitely trending a bit closer to the chaos side today. Gameloft's mobile MMO is getting a major patch to shake up a number of the game's systems, starting with the level cap rising to 70. That alone will shake up player expectations, but the addition of two new areas for players to explore is going to give fans plenty of new options on their way to that expanded level cap. Not a fan? Well, then, none of that is going to matter to you. But you can get into the game easier than before, with the patch allowing new users to sign in via Facebook accounts. There are also more mounts, pets, and a beauty salon for changing your character's appearance. So there's plenty to enjoy, but if you're playing it on your phone, you should probably pull your car off to one side of the road before downloading. Otherwise you'll be causing entirely the wrong sort of chaos out of the game. %Gallery-185286% [Source: Gameloft press release]
Patent troll Lodsys sues Gameloft, Disney and more for using in-app purchases
A company named Lodsys has filed suit against a number of mobile game developers, including Gameloft, Gamevil, and Disney, claiming that they're infringing on patents describing the technology behind in-app purchases. Lodsys is well known for its patent battles, previously filing suits against a number of smaller iOS developers, which forced Apple to get involved to say that it had already licensed Lodsys' patents and any other claims were superfluous. That case is scheduled to go to trial later this year.The new lawsuits all name one specific title from each company: Gameloft is targeted for the in-app purchases in Real Soccer 2012, and Disney's suit mentions Where's My Water? [pictured]. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has also posted about the lawsuits, calling Lodsys a "patent troll" and asking for legal help to fight the company.
