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MMObility: The year in mobile
What a year, huh? We gamers have seen a lot of changes, but especially in the mobile market. New devices came and went, technologies spread out even further in the world, and MMO gaming established itself on the smallest screens possible. Of course, the mobile market is not as large as the standard MMO market, but it is definitely growing. As more devices appear, more players come to fill up the games. Our phones are not what they used to be, even five years ago. They are now truly tiny and powerful computing devices that are always connected. A player can literally live all of his digital life on one small device. If we look at the laptop and netbook market, we see even more growth and power. All of these devices need games to play on them, and MMOs fit perfectly into the mobile lifestyle. Click past the cut and I'll recap many of the best stories from Massively's mobile coverage!
Gameloft fends off winter blues with dollar sale on Android Market
The French game publisher already sprinkled 99¢ allspice on its iOS and Amazon Appstore titles, plus a two-for-one deal on the Xperia Play, but soon it'll bring that volume-not-margin recipe to the Android Market too. Almost all of its paid titles will reportedly go for less than a dollar between December 26th and January 5th, so if you're about to click 'Buy' on a premium purchase like Asphalt 6: Adrenalin, 9mm or The Adventures of Tintin, then it might be worth relaxing your trigger finger. The notable exception is Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation, which will apparently only be discounted for a single day sometime around New Year's Weekend -- though hopefully not while you're still preoccupied with running around in yesterday's clothes and hugging random strangers.
Gameloft puts all Android titles on sale to kick off 2012
Most developers on the iOS and Android stores decided to put their titles on sale during the Christmas holiday, but not Gameloft. That rascally developer has announced it will have all of its Android catalog on sale this week instead, starting Thursday through January 5, for just 99 cents. From Modern Combat 3 to Asphalt 6: Adrenaline, Halo-alike N.O.V.A. 2 HD, and WoW-alike Order & Chaos Online, every Gameloft title for Android will be just a buck. iOS users have seen similar sales like this before from Gameloft, but now it's time for Android users to take a turn, and load up all of those newly unwrapped smartphones with all that Gameloft has to offer for just 99 cents each.
Gameloft apologizes over unannounced move to free-to-play with Hero of Sparta 2
High profile iOS developer (and, er, taker of inspiration) Gameloft probably thought players would be excited by its character action homage Hero of Sparta 2 going free to play. And they were! They were very negatively excited. Unfortunately, the iOS update to Hero of Sparta 2 affected everyone who downloaded it, including those poor souls who had already paid for the game. That update introduced advertisements to support Hero of Sparta 2's new free-to-play business model, which understandably annoyed paying players, and, by Gameloft's own admission, "deteriorated the gaming experience." Luckily for those paying players, Gameloft issued a formal apology on their Facebook page, blaming "the craziness of the Christmas period" and stating that "this game update didn't go through our usual quality assurance process." Gameloft also pushed out a new update removing all ads from the game, and has switched Hero of Sparta 2 back to a paid app.
Gameloft bringing a dozen iPad games to Jetstar flights, curbing in-flight boredom with UNO
What's better than playing a nice round of kick the seat of the guy in front of you? Most things, really, including the dozen iPad titles that Gameloft is bringing to Australian air carrier Jetstar's rentable iPads. Real Football, Shrek Kart, Avatar, UNO and N.O.V.A.: Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance will be coming to the carrier's Apple tablets in December, with seven more games arriving in the first quarter of next year. All games will be followed by a bonus round of make sure your tray table is stored for landing.
Weekend sale on lots of iOS games
Today is indeed Veterans Day (and we do honor all of the men and women who have served for the United States of America -- thank you!), but the sales on the App Store this weekend haven't really been labeled as such. As far as I can tell, they're on sale just because. Nothing wrong with that! First and foremost, Scribblenauts is just 99 cents for the weekend. This one's a must buy -- it's an amazing game with a terrific iOS port that you should totally check out for that price. No question. EA's having a big sale with up to 80% off titles like Need for Speed, Dead Space, and Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Gameloft's sale is continuing, with lots of games, including Rainbow Six, HAWX, and the great Dungeon Hunter 2 down to just a buck. Little White Bear Studios' puzzler Tanzen is free for a limited time. Spirits for both iPad and iPhone is on sale for just a dollar. Street Fighter IV Volt is on sale for just 99 cents for the first time. Digital board game New World Colony is free to download. Kairosoft's Grand Prix Story is down to 99 cents as well. Contre Jour HD is just a buck -- this one is a really amazing title as well, grab it if you haven't yet. Peggle is also a dollar, as is Madfinger's really impressive looking Shadowgun. Finally, the non-HD version of World of Goo is just a buck. Holy moly, there are some great sales in there. Scribblenauts and Contre Jour are definitely two you should grab now if you haven't, and some of those others are steals as well. Enjoy the weekend!
Dungeon Hunter 3 screenshots leak
Gameloft's Dungeon Hunter series has delivered some of my favorite gameplay on iOS -- the second game, especially, has made for some really great single-player moments, and even some terrific co-op gameplay. Sure, the series is heavily influenced by Diablo and other hack-and-slash RPG titles, but considering Blizzard hasn't yet made a game for iOS yet, I'm happy to let Gameloft do it for now. Dungeon Hunter itself is so popular that it's even made the jump to the PS3 as a full downloadable console game. And while the company hasn't actually announced Dungeon Hunter 3, that hasn't stopped a few images from the game from leaking out onto the Interwebs. Slide to Play found an Italian blog that's got a few pictures from the unannounced title, and they look ... about like what you'd expect: Better graphics, new enemies, and about the same gameplay as before. The shot above even apes what we've seen of Diablo 3 a little bit, though obviously we're not quite looking at the level of polish in Blizzard's game. That doesn't really matter, though -- if it allows us to hack and slash through bad guys and collect the sweet, shiny loot that drops from their corpses, I'm all for it.
Gameloft puts games on sale for Halloween
We've already pointed out Sega's Halloween sales in the App Store and now Gameloft has announced deals of its own: most of its titles are on sale for just 99 cents. Unfortunately the pickings are slim, but a few good titles can be found, including the official Uno app, driving title Asphalt 6, World of Warcraft-esque Order and Chaos Online, Star Battalion, and the Gameloft Action Pack, which includes three games for a buck. I suspect we'll see more sales like this as the Halloween draws nearer. I'm not sure what it is about the holidays that make iOS developers want to put their apps on sale, but that's not a complaint. It's always nice to get inexpensive apps for even less than usual.
Gameloft dresses up iOS titles in $0.99 price tags for Halloween sale
Have you been using your single, otherwise useless dollar bills as handkerchiefs or dryer sheets? Cut that out. Not only is it illegal, it's pretty wasteful -- for instance, Gameloft will happily take those dollars in exchange for a few discounted iOS titles for a timely Halloween sale.
Gameloft starts trading shares in the US
Gameloft is one of the standout companies on iOS. While the company has received criticism for "borrowing" some gameplay themes and ideas from more popular console titles, there's no question that it has still worked hard on quality games, and picked up a lot of iOS sales for it. Gameloft is based in France, but has announced that it will start trading on the US market by selling American Depositary Receipts, which are a kind of representation of a foreign stock on the American market. The company says that 30% of its sales come from North America, so bringing the chance to invest to the US is probably a good way to pull in some new assets and interest. Not to mention that the offering brings investors a chance to catch a ride on one of the iOS' platforms biggest success stories. Gameloft has been doing really well on the App Store, and this is just another sign that it's headed for even better things in the future. As always, please note that this post is not actual financial advice. Just because the company is doing well, past performance is never a guarantee of future success in any business.
Order & Chaos security compromised, accounts hacked
Bad news for Order & Chaos Online players today. It would appear that the popular mobile MMO from Gameloft is suffering from some security issues resulting in a number of players' accounts being compromised. The issue seems to be stemming from two major holes in the game's security. There is reportedly an exploit with Gameloft's website which allows players to change another player's password, and usernames and passwords are sent between the client and server in plain text, which makes it a breeze for anyone with the smarts to run interception. Hopefully these issues will be fixed soon, but until then, stay tuned in the event that more develops. [Thanks to Andrew for the tip!]
iOS apps on sale and free this weekend
There are a few sales going around this weekend -- most of them are in tribute to the late, great Steve Jobs. Steph Thirion's Eliss is free in tribute to Jobs and his life. RPG puzzler Crystal Soul is also free. Line-drawing air combat title Pigs in Trees is free for a day. The official Jaws game is free as well, to celebrate the release of its sequel. And so is Chicken Escape and its iPad counterpart. That's a lot of free apps! Gameloft is having a Columbus Day sale, with Modern Combat 2, 9mm, The Settlers, Sacred Odyssey, and Final Fantasy-alike Eternal Legacy all on sale for just 99 cents. Their HD versions are on sale as well, so some great deals there. All of Arianesoft's apps are on sale this weekend, including the Minecraft-inspired puzzler Terracraft. Trainz Simulator on the iPad is just 99 cents, a must-have for any train fans. And Anomaly Warzone Earth (and its HD version) is still on sale at just 99 cents. If you haven't picked that one up yet, you're crazy. The iPad game especially is amazing. Once again, there's plenty of good stuff out there to play this weekend.
Gameloft optimizing titles for Sony tablets
Competition is healthy for a free-market economy, especially in the consumer electronics industry, and when a product quits being "the" product and becomes "a" product among many, it is ultimately the buyer who wins. At the moment, no consumer product is more the product than Apple's iPad, so much so that "iPad" is slowly becoming synonymous with "tablet," much in the way "iPod" became a synonym for "MP3 player." Countless Android tablets have failed to change the iPad's status from "the" thing to "a" thing, and while the majority of them suffer from a deadly combination of cheap construction and high prices, even incredibly well designed examples have failed to compete the wealth of tablet-optimized games available on the App Store. In an effort to circumvent this ecosystem-wide content drought, Sony has struck a deal with one of iOS' most prominent developers: Gameloft. The French development studio plans to release 5 titles for Sony's Tablet P and Tablet S devices: Asphalt 6: Adrenaline HD, NOVA 2: Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance HD, Spider-Man: Total Mayhem HD, Real Soccer 2011 HD and Green Farm HD. No word on pricing or availability, however Gameloft says that each game has been "optimized for, and will be directly accessible on Sony's upcoming tablets." The press release makes no mention of the Android Marketplace, however it also doesn't explicitly name the titles as Sony exclusives. Even so, people love them some Gameloft games, and tablet-optimized versions will only help intensify the competitive climate, regardless of whose tablets actually receive the titles.
Rumor: Gameloft's 'Bullet' is the Red Dead Redemption your phone's been waiting for
Gameloft is at it again, it seems. The copysmiths of the iOS world have come up with a western shooter much in the veign of Rockstar's incredibly successful Read Dead Redemption, titled Bullet. For those of you keeping score at home -- actually, how are you keeping score? Gameloft has "adapted" so many games! Regardless, its efforts have proven successful and we expect nothing less from Bullet. Apparently, Gameloft was uploading some trailers for the game, presumably for Bullet's announcement, but had forgotten to turn on the "private video" function. A Touch Arcade reader caught the goof and the rest is, as they say, history. From the two thumbnails above, we can surmise that Bullet is a third-person shooter set in the old west. But until Gameloft officially announces the game, that's all we've got to go on. Well, that and the entirety of Red Dead Redemption.
Gameloft plans to make all iOS releases universal
Gameloft believes all mobile platforms are created equally (as long as they work 14 hours a day, including weekends) and is putting a stop to iOS release segregation, according to Pocket Gamer. Gameloft plans to release all iOS titles universally, without special HD versions for iPad that can come out months after iPhone installments. In some cases Gameloft is bound by licensing to release a separate iPad version, but overall it will continue to release all games at the same time on both devices, a policy it began with April's Order and Chaos Online. Gameloft's universal release policy could very well become the norm as developers tweak the finer aspects of iPad HD development, a prospect that makes our game-organization compulsions extremely pleased.
MV Guide: August 15-21, 2011
MV Guide is a weekly rundown of the MMO gaming events planned on Massively's Livestream channel. Every week, the Massively staff logs in to play various MMOs live and in person, and we'd love for you to drop by the channel and visit. We have a combination of regular weekly games and new surprises, so you'll find a variety of titles to take a look at. During livestream events, you can participate in the live chat, ask questions to learn about the game, and simply spend some time with Massively staff and readers. (Of course, livestream events are subject to the whims of outside forces like server-side gremlins once in a while.) Follow along after the jump to see what's scheduled for this week!
Gameloft opening New Orleans studio
Gameloft is opening up a new studio in New Orleans, Louisiana, taking advantage of the state's generous tax incentives. "As it stands, we expect to employ an approximate 150 people in our New Orleans studio over the course of the next 10 years," Samir El Agili, general studio manager for the US and Latin America at Gameloft told Joystiq. "But with the fast pace and rapid expansion of the handheld and downloadable market we will adjust that number accordingly should we find it necessary." The new studio will work on a diverse range of downloadable titles, across mobile, XBLA, PSN, Facebook and future connected consoles. Louisiana is doing its best to compete against states like Texas and countries like Canada (Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, et al) in attracting game talent. EA has already been wooed by the state, with a facility at Louisiana State University handling North American QA, which it will expand with a new building that can accommodate over 600 employees in the near future.
Gameloft sales up 15% in first half of 2011
Gameloft is benefiting greatly from the age of mobile gaming, with sales up significantly in the first half of 2011. The company's controversial working conditions and ethically flexible game development appear to be producing results, with sales up 15 percent to €76.8 million ($108.8M). The publisher cited sales in emerging countries and the "massive success" of games on smartphones and tablets around the world for its prosperity. Gameloft's first-half sales on smartphones and tablets grew 55 percent year-over-year and represented 30 percent of sales; it plans to launch approximately 20 games for smartphones and tablets in the second half of the fiscal year. Gosh, we really need to crack the whip at Joystiq Publishing® China™ and get that Angry Cocker Spaniel catapult game out the door.
Order & Chaos Online now available on Facebook
Order and Chaos is branching out from its iOS roots, as Gameloft has brought the mobile MMORPG to the Facebook social networking platform. The title is free-to-play through level 10, at which point users will need to fork over Facebook credits in lieu of a subscription fee. A Gameloft press release details the pricing structure as follows: 1 day: 1 FB Credit 1 month: 10 FB Credits 3 months: 20 FB Credits 6 months: 30 FB Credits If you're wondering, 50 Facebook credits equals approximately $5.00, so you're looking at a pretty sweet deal when it comes to accessing a game that has been labeled the mobile equivalent of World of Warcraft. Order and Chaos features four races (Elves, Humans, Orcs, and Undead), as well as over 1000 skills, 2000 unique equipment items, and 500 quests.
Gameloft accused of overworking employees
A former head programmer for mobile and iOS developer Gameloft has made some pretty damning accusations against the company in a complaint. Glenn Watson says that he was made to work over 100 hours a week sometimes, and that "it was after I worked four consecutive weeks of fourteen-hour days - including weekends - that I realised I needed to resign." The issues didn't stop there, either -- after Watson resigned, he claims, he was asked to apologize for leaving others behind to do the work that he passed up. He says the best apology would be to make sure his fellow employees "never get put through the same rubbish conditions again." Other employees have backed up Watson's claims, apparently, and even the company itself says there are some long hours being worked, though they're all in line with regulations and employee contracts. It's also true, however, that Gameloft's been releasing mobile and iOS titles at a quick rate, and the company's CFO has admitted that it's "an ugly scene" in mobile game development right now. And this definitely isn't the first accusation of employee abuse in the gaming industry -- a posting by an anonymous "EA Spouse" a few years ago laid bare the hours and problems game companies often have when they are pushing to get a game out by a certain time. We'll have to see what comes of this complaint, both in terms of actions against Gameloft, and any changes the company makes in the future.
