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Temple Run keeps on running, franchise tops 1 billion downloads
Mobile auto-runner Temple Run joins Angry Birds at the billion downloads table, developer Imangi Studios announced this week. That figure, by the way, refers exclusively to Temple Run and Temple Run 2, so imagine how huge it is when you include Disney spinoffs Oz and Brave. Either way, it's a remarkable achievement for the studio founded by a husband and wife team who had no idea how their game would catch on. "It's kind of crazy," founder Keith Shepherd said in a GamesBeat interview. "Temple Run has been out a little over three years. We launched on August 3, 2011, I think? At the time, there were just two of us at the company. We were working with a freelance artist on the game. The three of us made the original Temple Run in about five months.
Usain Bolt added as playable character in Temple Run 2
The Temple Run series of games are some of the most popular casual games on the App Store, and while the simplicity of the titles can't be overstated -- running forward is really your main goal -- they offered developer Imangi Studios a chance to have some fun with one of the fastest humans around. And so, for a "limited time," Usain Bolt can be bought as a playable character in Temple Run 2. According to AllThingsD, Bolt was enthusiastic about his inclusion in the game, stating that people often joke that they'd like to play as the Olympic champion in a Temple Run title. Bolt's digital self is outfitted in his iconic gold and green Olympic garb and costs US$0.99. Oh, and he even performs the runner's trademark pose, because details matter.
Temple Run 2 adds Usain Bolt, because it can and why not
Dev Imangi Studios announced it's signed up Jamaican sprint star Usain bolt to be a playable character in Temple Run 2, probably the biggest proof yet beyond hard figures that Temple Run is a completely massive thing. The world's fastest man and Olympic gold factory is available now as an in-app purchase of 99 cents, but only for a limited time. Of course, being Usain Bolt, he has a unique power-up that combines the speed boost with the coin magnet; we're not sure there's a better analogy for his lucrative life. Meanwhile, Temple Run 2 has been a similarly lucrative record breaker for Imangi, taking just 13 days to become the fastest-ever mobile game to reach 50 million downloads.
Temple Run 2 travels to the land of Oz
Disney and Imangi Studios are collaborating again with Temple Run: Oz, a mishmash of Temple Run 2 and the coming film Oz the Great and Powerful. The two previously played nice on Temple Run: Brave.If you've played Temple Run 2 – and it would appear at least 50 million of you have – this latest version has the same running, jumping and sliding gameplay, but now with a yellow brick road.The gameplay isn't just confined to the wizard's inexhaustible stamina; there are sections where players will be tasked with guiding a hot-air balloon. Unlike Temple Run 2, which is free, this movie tie-in will set you back $1, but comes with 1500 coins of in-game currency.
Disney releases Temple Run Oz, another branded take on Imangi's hit
Just last week we were talking about Disney's potential for originality with a brand new Toy Story app, and now here the company is sticking like glue to some old habits. Disney has released a new app called Temple Run Oz, which, as you might imagine, is a mashup of Imangi's famous Temple Run game with Sam Raimi's upcoming Oz: The Great and Powerful movie. Temple Run: Brave (which combined the first Temple Run game with Pixar's Brave) is still available on the App Store, but this new version is much closer to all of the innovations spotted in Temple Run 2, which means it has curvy pathways, more powerups and various goals to go after and complete. It's not a bad game at all, actually, and like Temple Run Brave, Disney has added in some original gameplay, in addition to the Oz-based sounds, graphics and content. Instead of just dodging trees and cliff dropoffs, you also duck under flying monkeys, and you can jump in a big balloon to tilt your way through the air and collect coins. There are weekly challenges as well, and while the game isn't significantly different from Temple Run (you're still running, swiping and tilting), it does feel a little more substantial than just a reskinned game. The price is also interesting: It's available for US$0.99. That's a buck more than the free Temple Run 2 (which I'd recommend as the better game), though it's likely only for a certain launch period, as you get 99 cents worth of in-app currency when you buy the game. Temple Run Brave is still 99 cents as well, so maybe the price is part of the agreement between Imangi and Disney. Whatever the reason for the pricing, Disney saw a fairly big hit with Temple Run Brave, but it'll be interesting to see what the market is like with four different (!) versions of Temple Run now on the App Store.
Temple Run: Oz the Great and Powerful (apparently) landing this month on iOS
There's no place like home Twitter to let announcements slip before you're supposed to, because even if you delete a tweet, chances are good someone's already seen it. Such was the case when a Disney PR rep in France prematurely announced that the company is planning to release Temple Run: Oz the Great and Powerful on February 27, a tie-in with the Sam Raimi film set in L. Frank Baum's fantasy universe due in theaters March 8. The tweet was subsequently yanked, but not before being noticed by the sleuths at Superannuation. We have to admit that the land of Oz would at least make a visually striking setting for a new offshoot of Temple Run, much like the Scottish Highlands from Pixar's Brave did for Temple Run: Brave -- another collaboration between Disney and Imangi -- released last year. Hopefully the new game will include enhancements and mechanics found in the recent Temple Run 2, with some Oz staples added for good measure. After all, running away from flying monkeys just makes sense. [Via TouchArcade]
Temple Run 2 sprints and slides past 50 million downloads
Temple Run 2, the mobile infinite runner, has surpassed 50 million downloads in just 13 days. This breaks a record established by Angry Birds Space, which went on to achieve the coveted 50 million downloads milestone in 35 days.After its debut on iOS January 17, Temple Run 2 reached 20 million downloads in that first weekend alone; it was ported to Android by the following week and is also available on Kindle Fire. The original Temple Run has been downloaded over 170 million times, 2.5 million of which happened this past Christmas.
Temple Run 2 dashes to Android
Temple Run 2, having already achieved 20 million downloads on iOS, is now available for Android devices. Those rocking vanilla Android gadgets can snag the game for free from Google Play, while Kindle tablet owners can grab it from the Amazon Appstore. Just make it quick, there's a monster on your tail.
Daily Update for January 21, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all 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 inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Temple Run 2 racks up 20 million downloads in less than a week
Imangi Studios has struck gold with Temple Run 2. The developer's latest iOS endless running game has been downloaded more than 20 million times since its release just four days ago. In fact, 6 million of those installs took place within 24 hours of launch on January 17. The free game's success isn't totally surprising given the immense popularity of its predecessor, which was downloaded 2.5 million times on Christmas Day alone. We've been having a lot of fun with the game -- it's pretty hard to put down, frankly -- and according to Imangi's co-founder Keith Shepherd there will be some reasons to keep playing well into the future. In our interview with Shepherd last week, he revealed that the company plans to add new content to Temple Run 2 down the road as it continues to work on its next, as yet unannounced iOS game.
Temple Run 2 downloaded 20 million times over weekend
Temple Run 2, the sequel to infinite runner Temple Run, was downloaded in excess of 20 million times over the four days since launch. The free app was chased down six million times on its release date alone."We are thrilled players want more of the Temple Run universe, and we hope to grow and expand the game over the coming months," said Keith Shepherd, co-founder of developer Imangi.The original Temple Run has been downloaded over 170 million times across various mobile platforms. The sequel is available on iOS devices at the moment, with an Android version scheduled for later this week.
Temple Run 2 out now on iOS, Android targeted for next week
You can slide, jump, and cart your way through Temple Run 2 from today, as the game is now available on the App Store for free. As for Android, developer Imangi Studios told Polygon it's aiming to bring the sequel there sometime next week.Unsurprisingly, Temple Run 2 doesn't reinvent the wheel that spun the original to over 170 million downloads. There is a noticeable bump in visual quality, minus the occasional pop-up which thankfully doesn't incur slowdown. In addition to expected increases in obstacles, power-ups, achievements and so on, there are also mine cart and zip line sequences to mix up all that endless running a smidge.Also out today is Final Fantasy All The Bravest, Square Enix's frenzied iOS take on Active Time Battle. It's available on the App Store, priced at $3.99.
Imangi surprises with Temple Run 2: interview with developer Keith Shepherd
Imangi Studios is one of our favorite game developers: Keith Shepherd and Natalia Luckyanova are a husband and wife team that have made some great titles for iOS, including Harbor Master, Max Adventure and the company's biggest hit, Temple Run. Since going freemium (and getting extraordinarily popular), Temple Run has turned Imangi into a very successful company, both with the original game's in-app purchases, and with a series of ports and spinoffs, including the Disney-powered Temple Run Brave. Now, without any previous announcement, the company has released a full-fledged sequel, Temple Run 2, on to the App Store, available right now as a free download. "It's going to be sort of a surprise announcement," says Keith Shepherd, who chatted with TUAW earlier today. "Being a sequel kind of gave us the opportunity to start fresh and use what we'd learned." Shepherd says Imangi wanted to "level up the look and feel of everything" with the sequel, but of course the couple was also dealing with the success of their first game, and the arrival of their first child at the same time. "We have a baby now in the house that's impacted our own time," says Shepherd, "and we decided if we were going to do something bigger that we'd need some help from other folks." So they decided to two add two more people to the core team of three, joining forces with another developer called FuzzyCube software. FuzzyCube hosts a few developers who've formerly worked at Microsoft's Ensemble Studios, and Shepherd says having their expertise around definitely makes Temple Run 2 look better than ever before. "It takes place in an all-new world and environment, and I think you'll be blown away by how great it looks," he promises. The game's look and feel isn't the only big upgrade: There are also new powers and abilities to encounter in the endless runner, and Imangi decided to accept some fan feedback and fill out the game's characters a little bit. In the original game, characters were only cosmetic, but in the sequel, each character has their own ability that players can power up and use at a certain time. "It adds a little bit of a strategic element" to the action-based gameplay, says Shepherd. Those abilities can also be powered up by the game's new currency: gems, in addition to the coins players earned in the original. Temple Run started out as a paid app, and Imangi only switched it to freemium to try and shore up some flagging popularity. But of course once the game went free, Temple Run found some huge success, and Shepherd says Imangi has decided to start out free with the sequel. That extra currency is designed to keep players playing -- "We are using the gems more for some of the consumable type things," says Shepherd -- but Imangi also wants to make sure that the freemium aspect of the game doesn't get in the way of players enjoying it. "What happened with Temple Run 1 from a gameplay standpoint is that we really ran out of things for people to spend their coins on really fast," Shepherd says. "But we followed that same path of being really generous with coins in Temple Run 2." Fans of the first game should love the additions to the second, but even if not, Shepherd says the original title won't be far away. "We're keeping it on the App Store," he says. "It's a classic at this point, and we don't want to remove it for folks who want to continue playing the original. We do have some plans for some things that we want to add to it still, and obviously we do have some plans for adding things to Temple Run 2." Imangi, like a lot of successful app developers, has known for a long time that updating a game post-launch is a great way to keep it popular, and Shepherd says that "with Temple Run 2, we completely rewrote the entire game so that it would be easier." Finally, Shepherd tells us that while this Temple Run sequel is the current focus, we'll still see some more original titles from Imangi in the future. "I think in the short term, we have a lot of work still to do on Temple Run 2 and Temple Run, and we're probably going to have most of our focus on that," he says. "But I think we're really itching to work on a new game too. That's why we got into this business: To really enjoy making games. We always have ideas that we're kicking around," he promises, "so you'll see some more things in the future." Temple Run 2 is now available on the App Store for free.
Temple Run 2 launches tonight in US, UK [update: it's out now!]
Update: Temple Run 2 launched worldwide, and is now available on the App Store.Temple Run 2, a sequel to the mobile infinite runner Temple Run, is scheduled to hit the US App Store late tonight, Touch Arcade reports. The game hit the New Zealand App Store for free today and is set to launch on iOS devices in the US at 11 p.m. EST, according to Touch Arcade. The original Temple Run has been downloaded 170 million times and is available for Android devices, too.The above video shows off Temple Run 2's gameplay, including all a generous amount of swipes, double taps and tilts to run through some fresh levels. Members of the Touch Arcade forums note that the sequel will hit the UK at midnight tonight, as well, so people worldwide limber up those tapping fingers.
Temple Run 2 appearing today on the App Store
Uber-popular game Temple Run's surprise sequel has hit is about to hit the US App Store. Released earlier today in the New Zealand App Store, Temple Run 2 builds on the success of the first Temple Run, while ratcheting up the graphics, physics and gameplay. TouchArcade got its hands on an early copy of Temple Run 2 and the site says that everything users loved from the first game is still there. Namely, that's our hero running his butt off from scary monkey monsters. However, Temple Run 2 builds upon its predecessor in leaps and bounds. The game takes place during a perpetual dusk in a floating temple in the sky. All the graphics have been improved, but the real pleasure in Temple Run 2 comes from its more fluid movements. In the first game, turns were made very mechanically -- at 90 degree angles. Temple Run 2's environments are more hilly and curvy and turns and movements have a more real, natural feel. Also the game adds other improvements, like stretches where you're operating a mine car and the ability to play as four different characters. Temple Run 2 is available now as a free download. Stay tuned -- we'll have an interview with Imangi Studios, the creators of both Temple Run versions, on the site later on this evening.
