z2live
Latest
Z2Live picks up former AAA execs, rebrands as Z2
Z2Live is the company behind some really big freemium hits on the iOS App Store, including Battle Nations and Trade Nations. The company has today announced that it's rebranding itself as Z2, dropping the "Live" and premiering a new brand identity on its new website. Beyond the rebranding, Z2 is also announcing a number of additions to its executive team, including some developers formerly from some very large gaming companies. Glen Pryer is joining the company as VP of Operations, and he's a former director of global planning at Blizzard Entertainment and former VP of 38 Studios. Adam Flanders is a new senior VP of sales and marketing, who previously worked with both Glu Mobile and THQ. And Shanis Windland is the new senior director of finance, and formerly worked with Big Fish Games. Those are definitely some notable pickups, and they show that Z2 is doing fairly well at pulling in talent with the few titles it has running so far. The company was originally put together to create a multiplayer community on Apple's iOS platform (similar to OpenFeint and a few other networks that were floating around back then), but since the inception of Trade Nations, it's put together a solid reputation as a studio building popular freemium MMO-style titles. It'll be interesting to see what Z2 has coming up next, given this new spin on the brand, and all of the growth it's experienced lately.
Daily iPhone App: Battle Nations
You may have played Z2Live's first big freemium iOS game, Trade Nations, and the recently released Battle Nations is a sort of spiritual sequel to that one. It features the same kind of Farmville-style gameplay, so if that turns you off, you should probably just go ahead and move on (Happy Thanksgiving!). But I do have a place in my life for about one of these games at a time, and Battle Nations is a really well-done version of this kind of game, complete with a pretty interesting turn-based combat twist. The idea is that you're running a growing encampment of soldiers in an empire, so you need to first lay out housing and workplaces for the soldiers, and then work to make your technology better and your army bigger. The core loop of the game is earning gold and XP with farms and businesses, and then you use those resources to make your troops, which can then carry out missions and win fights for you. There's a single-player "storyline" to play through (though you can't really "lose" fights -- you just try again until you win), and then the game is also very social, so you can start fights with friends, or give them some counterattack help if they're getting attacked by someone else. Battle Nations has pretty much everything you want in a casual game like this -- solid graphics and sound, and a pretty strong backbone (though loading up the game when it starts can be slow, and unfortunately Z2Live uses their own sign in service rather than Game Center, which doesn't help). My one problem with the game is that it's a little slow: There's a long tutorial sequence in which you're taught how everything works, and your various tools and mechanics unlock as you level up. I also hope that there's a market system like the one in Trade Nations that allows for trading and selling resources between friends, but if there is a market to unlock, I haven't gotten there yet. Still, for the low, low price of free, Battle Nations is a solid freemium empire building game that will keep you coming back at least as long as it takes to build up your camp to where you want it. It's free on the App Store, in a universal version, right now.
TUAW's Daily iOS App: MetalStorm Online
Z2Live is the Seattle-based developer behind the popular freemium Trade Nations title for iOS, and the company's latest release is another freemium app called MetalStorm Online. As you can see from the picture above, it's a combat flight simulator, which has you piloting a series of jets through the air and trying to take down enemies both real and computer-controlled. It's relatively simple, so flight buffs will be disappointed with how superficial the game is, but as an arcade flight simulator, I liked it. The plane is controlled by tilting your iPhone and tapping or swiping on the screen to fire or perform flight maneuvers, making for a simple but satisfying combat game. It's all freemium, so you can earn coins by playing (or buy them with in-app purchases), and then use those to upgrade your plane or its various components. You can play a versus match online with friends or strangers, and it worked surprisingly well for me when I played with a random person over Wi-Fi. You can also try single player against waves of enemies, or play co-op with a friend. Yes, the in-app purchase notices are annoying, but there's a fun flight shooter here even without spending a dime. MetalStorm Online is free in the App Store right now.
Trade Nations dev picks up new funding, former Xbox exec Ed Fries
Here's another iPhone dev hitting the jackpot. Developer Z2Live is the company behind the hit iPhone social game Trade Nations, and it's picked up what's probably a nice chunk of change in a round of funding from VC firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson. Unfortunately, the actual total of funding hasn't been disclosed, but given the popularity of the game and its in-app purchase business model, there's likely six digits or more of money changing hands here. It's enough to attract some talent, too -- the company has also picked up Ed Fries to join the board of directors. Fries was originally a Microsoft executive who co-founded the Xbox Project and helped put together Microsoft Games Studios. More recently, he's been working on 3D printing at FigurePrints, a company that makes real-life printouts of in-game avatars. This position sounds like it will overlap with that one, but even so, Z2Live will most likely benefit from the experience.
