ZeptoLab
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Cut the Rope studio challenges King's 'candy' trademark in EU
Cut the Rope studio ZeptoLab submitted an official claim against King's trademark on "candy" in the European Union, in an attempt to cancel the registration entirely. ZeptoLab submitted its claim on March 20 in London. "Candy is an integral part of the Cut the Rope franchise, and we do not support King.com trademarking and preventing others from using it," ZeptoLab CEO Misha Lyalin said in a press release. King is the company behind Candy Crush Saga, and it attempted to trademark the term "candy" in the US earlier this year. The US trademark was approved for publication in January, but following backlash from the public and the IGDA, King withdrew its application in February. At the time, King said, "This does not affect our EU trademark for Candy and we continue to take all appropriate steps to protect our IP." King's US trademark registration on the word "saga" was suspended in December.
Cut the Rope 2 perfects the art of having in-app purchases without being a jerk
With the rise of freemium gameplay and in-app purchases comes the occasionally awkward growing pains of figuring out when profits hamper gameplay. At its worst, this trend has brought about the addict-taunting wait times between lives imposed by titles like Candy Crush. You either pay them or wait 30 minutes to play again, or move onto another game that doesn't nickel and dime you. Candy Crush is also the king of another vile new habit for mobile gaming; giving you single-use power-ups that can then only be earned again by purchasing more. There's no other way to earn them other than the power of the dollar. Thankfully, a recent title has reminded us that not all freemium games are born from gameplay-ruining profit motives. Some developers actually care about making their games fun first, and wildly profitably second. ZeptoLab, makers of the popular Cut the Rope series, is one such developer, and its solution to the payment-for-power-ups issue has warmed my heart. It brought me back to a game I enjoyed, but felt like I could never properly finish without opening my wallet. Every day, Cut the Rope 2 gives players the chance to win free power-ups. Immediately upon opening the app, you're presented with four butterflies and asked to pick the prettiest one. Depending on your choice, the game gives you between one and 10 of any given power-up. This gives you the opportunity to keep playing the game strategically using power-ups without paying more than the initial US$0.99. If you want to play like you're Richie Rich, throwing balloons and candy rain around all willy-nilly, you still have that option. This iOS-exclusive game is the first time we've seen such a reasonable compromise in the battle between profit and playability. We reached out to Semyon Voinov, co-founder and creative director of ZeptoLab to ask what inspired the company to take this approach to in-game purchases. "Mobile gaming is in a constant state of evolution and it's clear that free-to-play is the direction the market is headed. There's a balance between paid and free gaming that we're very mindful of, and we'll be using both models in our Cut the Rope and future games. But aside from that, what we're primarily focusing on is designing beautiful, fun and entertaining games that people will love. We designed Cut the Rope 2 so that you can enjoy it without having to pay for power-ups, and one element we added as a reward for regular play is the opportunity to earn free power-ups." That's a refreshing stance to hear from a developer, especially one whose last title was downloaded 400 million times. Cut the Rope 2 leaves a lot of potential money on the table in the name of being as fun as possible, and it's brought me back to the title day after day. It even inspired me to actually buy a needed power-up out of appreciation for not feeling milked. Voinov is right; freemium is the way of the future. Sadly it's too much to ask that every developer put gameplay above its bottom line. But with Cut the Rope 2, ZeptoLabs deserves special credit for paying attention to the desires of the people who play its games -- the latest update for the title allows players to access bonus levels without spending any power-ups. Instead, they can be unlocked by completing sub "missions" within the game's levels and collecting medals. It provides yet another option for players in a game that already rewards players for creative solutions. We can only hope that more developers try to emulate this customer-friendly approach to in-game purchases, or at least agree to not subject players to arbitrary time limits between levels.
Cut the Rope 2 will debut before year's end
If you've been following the various iterations of Cut the Rope over the past few years, you might have been wondering if developer ZeptoLab would ever treat us to a proper sequel. Well worry no more, as Cut the Rope 2 is now officially headed our way before the end of the year. According to a press release by ZeptoLab, the new title will "re-imagine the universe" of the previous titles, and yes, main character Om Nom is indeed featured prominently. Along with the announcement of the sequel, the company revealed that the several versions of Cut the Rope have topped 400 million downloads worldwide. According to ZeptoLab's estimates, players are now cutting ropes at a whopping 42,000 per minute. The company (curiously) didn't reveal what systems Cut the Rope 2 will debut for, but given that the original game made a name for itself on iOS, it's a good bet that iPhone and iPad owners will be able to cut the new ropes when the game debuts this holiday season.
Cut the Rope 2 severs ties this holiday season
ZeptoLab will launch a fully fledged sequel to its mobile hit Cut the Rope this holiday season, the developer announced today. Cut the Rope star Om Nom has had a busy schedule over the last few years, following up his landmark 2010 debut with multiple expansions and appearances in the iOS and Android spinoff games Cut the Rope: Experiments and Cut the Rope: Time Travel. Collectively, the Cut the Rope games have been downloaded more than 400 million time worldwide. ZeptoLab adds that players have cut more than 60 billion ropes to date, and Om Nom has been fed more than 20 billion times. And yet, he still hungers. ZeptoLab did not announce its target platforms for Cut the Rope 2, but iOS and Android seem like a safe bet.
Daily iPhone App: Cut the Rope: Time Travel sends Om Nom through the centuries
Cut the Rope is one of the most-downloaded apps on the App Store, and its developers, ZeptoLab, have made quite a character out of its lead, Om Nom. The series' latest incarnation is called Cut The Rope: Time Travel, and it's available on the App Store (in both iPhone and HD versions) right now. As you can tell by the title, Time Travel sends Om Nom through a crazy creation off into various time periods, and the biggest innovation in this game is instead of just feeding one candy to one creature, you have two pieces of candy to safeguard through the game's physics-based puzzles. Om Nom is joined by a period-specific friend in every level, and that friend also has some candy to eat. Additionally, every time period also offers new tools to play with, like chains that need to be cut a specific way, or a time-freezing tool you can use. One of Cut the Rope's charms is that it's always been very casual, and ZeptoLab's polish is on display here for sure. But I found some of these puzzles fairly hard, so I wouldn't be surprised if this one is a little bit tougher than the other Cut the Rope games. It's also interesting that while the first Cut the Rope was published by Chillingo, ZeptoLab has essentially abandoned that partnership, as they're self-publishing this game as well. That doesn't mean anything for the gameplay, but it is a fairly unique choice by ZeptoLab, as many developers that work with Chillingo stuck with the company. Aside from the game's publishing status, however, Cut the Rope: Time Travel is another excellent iteration of the popular series, offering plenty of new levels to explore, and another big helping of Om Nom's charm. ZeptoLab has doubled up the puzzle-based gameplay, and put together another sure winner for Cut the Rope fans. The iPhone version can be had for $.99, and the HD version is $2.99.
Cut the Rope: Time Travel lands on iOS, Android soon
ZeptoLab is gearing up to launch the third entry in its Cut the Rope series soon, Cut the Rope: Time Travel. This latest adventure follows Om Nom, the critter with a craving for candy, as he gets sucked into a time machine and travels to various periods in time to presumably solve various physics-based puzzles to make it back. You know, that old chestnut.Cut the Rope: Time Travel will launch on iOS and Android simultaneously, though ZeptoLab tells Joystiq it's currently unsure of when exactly that will be. As far as how time travel will fit into the game, this is also a mystery.%Gallery-185389%
Mozilla unveils browser-based Unreal Engine 3 using JavaScript
Firefox producer Mozilla teamed up with Epic Games to bring Unreal Engine 3 to the web, without the need for plugins such as Flash. Mozilla and Epic took only four days to port Epic's engine to the web by using JavaScript code. The results, as demonstrated by this video unveiled at GDC, certainly look impressive.Mozilla engineer director Vladimir Vukicevic told TechCrunch his company's intentions to make the web viable for high-performance games. Mozilla also said it's "opening up the path to web-based games on mobile," revealing it's working with partners that include Disney, EA, and Cut the Rope creator Zeptolab who are using the same JavaScript tech to "bring performance optimizations to their top-rated games."Mozilla's intentions aside, while Unreal Engine 4 may be all shiny new and around the corner, its predecessor is showing it still has the ability to learn new tricks.
Cut the Rope now on Steam, discounted to $5
Adorable puzzle game Cut the Rope is now on Steam for a trim $5, which is half off the regular asking price. This promotion will only last for the next week until March 29, at which point Valve will ... sew this terrible analogy back together. It'll get more expensive, okay?
Daily iPhone App: Pudding Monsters brings Cut The Rope charm to a new franchise
ZeptoLab is a Russian developer best known for their extremely popular iPhone game Cut The Rope, and its many spinoffs and other platform versions that have made their way out into the world. The company's latest game is Pudding Monsters, and while it's not a direct sequel to Cut the Rope, the new game is definitely heavily influenced by the old: This is a very cute puzzle game starring some charming monsters, and some simple physics mechanics that slowly stack up into more and more complex challenges. The cute monsters here are the Pudding Monsters, a globby group of eyeballs, basically, that scoot around a 2D plane when swiped, only stopping when they hit an obstacle or one of their friends. Any monsters that touch together fuse into a bigger monster, and then that monster slides around. On each plane, there are star spots that you need to align the monsters over, and that's the challenge: Slide all of your monsters in the right ways so that the stars align. That all may sound complicated, but like Cut the Rope, it's much clearer and easier when you actually do it. Plus the quick restart options for each of the game's 75 levels mean that even if you mess up, you can jump right back in and try again. Personally, I think I like Cut the Rope's rope physics a little bit better, but this game is just as charming and fun as Zeptolab's first big hit. Unlike Cut the Rope, it's not published by Chillingo (which is sort of a strange decision -- usually devs who publish with Chillingo stay with that company), so it might not reach the highest heights of Cut the Rope's success. But the game is great, and for just US$0.99, it's well worth picking up, especially if you're a Cut the Rope fan. There are both standard and HD versions for the iPhone and the iPad, so the game is weirdly not universal. But either one you choose is a good time.
Zeptolab's new Pudding Monsters, Infocom games and more now available on iOS
Today's the last Thursday before the big App Store freeze, which means this is basically developers' last chance to get on the marketplace before the big holiday rush. As a result, then, there are a ton of big new releases, all available now for your purchasing pleasure. ZeptoLab is the company behind the App Store's breakout hit Cut the Rope, and they're back with a new game called Pudding Monsters, where you slide little puddings around the fridge to combine them into larger creatures. It's a lot of fun, and only US$0.99. Activision's surprised us all with a title called Lost Treatures of Infocom, which is a collection of old text adventures from the company's storied past. The first Zork is available for free, and you can get a number of other old Infocom games by in-app purchase. Crescent Moon has released a sequel to its Ravensword RPG called Ravensword: Shadowlands. This is a big, bold release with great graphics and really deep gameplay, and you can grab it today for $6.99. Jordan Mechner, best known as the man behind the Prince of Persia games, is back with a new one called Karateka. The reviews on this game's other platforms haven't been great, but maybe it'll do better on iOS. It's $2.99. Square has released the remade version of Final Fantasy 4, and it's not cheap: You'll pay $15.99 to go back to play through the old Japanese RPG. 11 bit Studios' Anomaly Korea is finally here -- it's a really good-looking reverse tower defense game published by Chillingo. It's $2.99 as well. Parashoot Stan looks like a well-polished falling game that might be worth a try, out for just 99 cents. Shadow Warrior is an iOS rerelease of the old PC title from 3D Realms, and it's out now for free to try, $1.99 for the full game via in-app purchase. I haven't heard much about Ronin, but it looks like a well-made action game, available today for 99 cents. Disney's dropped its Where's My Holiday spinoff of Where's My Water and Where's My Perry, featuring some free levels from the two popular games. Grab it for free, and it'll give the kids something to do while you're wrapping the presents and cooking Christmas dinner. And finally, everybody's third favorite worm (after Earthworm Jim and the Worms) is back for the holiday season in Super Mega Worm vs. Santa 2. Just 99 cents for days and days of happiness? Yes please. Man, that's a lot of great new games! We may see some more new titles later on this week, but from here on out, there will mostly be just sale and price drops. The App Store freezes tomorrow, and most developers now have their ducks in a row, hoping that when all of the new iPhone and iPad owners make their way to the store next week, their apps will be the ones they're downloading.
Cut the Rope dev Zeptolab unleashes Pudding Monsters on iOS, Android Dec. 20
Cut the Rope developer Zeptolab is ready to launch its next mobile game, Pudding Monsters. This tile-based puzzler stars little blobs of pudding – who just so happen to also be monsters – out to rescue their pal from the clutches of an evil refrigerator owner. They'll sell refrigerators to anyone nowadays.You can combine smaller monsters of a similar color to make bigger monsters, and each comes equipped with its own unique ability, USA Today reports. Swiping around the game board allows you to move monsters, but that's really all we've got to go on right now. Pudding Monsters is set to launch on Android and iOS devices on December 20,
Pudding Monsters is newest game from Cut the Rope creators ZeptoLab
ZeptoLab is a Russian developer most famous for creating the enormously popular Cut the Rope series on iOS, and today the company has announced a brand-new game, called Pudding Monsters. There's a quick teaser trailer down below, and while it doesn't yet show any real gameplay, you can probably guess what this new physics-based puzzler's about: Cute little monsters moving around a level towards a goal. According to ZeptoLab, the cute little creatures can be glooped together, and there will be different types with different abilities as well. At any rate, we'll see the game when it arrives in just a few weeks, on December 20. It's worth noting that while Chillingo published the original Cut the Rope game, ZeptoLab has chosen not to go with Chillingo for this title (nor did it partner up with Chillingo for the Cut the Rope: Experiments spinoff, either). That's an interesting choice -- most developers we've heard from really appreciate Chillingo's support. For example, 11 Bit Studios is sticking with the publisher for a few different games. But whatever the reason for its choice, ZeptoLab is going it alone on this one, and if the trailer below is any indication, the game will probably be just as cute as Cut the Rope (though the editor in me winces at the title of the video -- maybe ZeptoLab could use an extra English proofreader). And, ZeptoLab certainly hopes, it's just as popular.
Cut the Rope inks toy deal, getting 'Bath Time' content update soon
Cut the Rope will transcend the virtual world inside of your techno-gizmo for that of the real. Several new partnerships will ensure Cut the Rope-branded products are in your local brick-and-mortar soon.A new board game that mimics the gameplay of the app will launch from Mattel, along with digitally enhanced toys that interact with your device. An example given details an OmNom toy interacting with an iPad to unlock a special Cut the Rope app. Jakk's Pacific will produce a plug-and-play game console for your TV. It will come with a special controller to play Cut the Rope on your TV.Finally, there will also be a new update for Cut the Rope: Experiments that introduces a new character and new physics, and adds water-based puzzles into the mix. No word on when the update will launch as of right now -- ZeptoLabs is waiting on Apple approval right now for Bath Time.
Cut the Rope gets ported to HTML5, gets chronicled on the way
Outlined during Microsoft's CES keynote earlier this week, gaming app Cut The Rope has had its journey to the world of HTML5 published for the masses. Tying together features like CSS3 styling and canvas-rendered graphics, the blog post details in cheery technical detail how creators ZeptoLab and Pixel Lab (not related) transferred the game from Objective-C to Javascript. Check the game for yourself down at the source and expect to see some extra levels designed especially for the browser platform. We'd love to play through those new levels, but we're all a little busy here...
Cut the Rope: Experiments swings onto iOS tomorrow
This is just all happening so fast. We've barely absorbed the knowledge that a new Cut the Rope game is in the works, and now we're deluged with sweet nuggets of information about it. For starters: ZeptoLab's follow-up to its adorable, mega-popular puzzler is called Cut the Rope: Experiments and it's arriving on the App Store tomorrow. The "Professor" we told you about yesterday is apparently a mad scientist toying with our diminutive hero, Om Nom. Jeez, talk about a dark turn! We'd get PETA involved, but we're honestly not sure if Om Nom is a P or an A or something in-between.
Cut the Rope debuts on Android, free for one week
ZeptoLab has a candy-filled treat for owners of Android devices: its hit puzzler, Cut the Rope, has launched for the mobile platform and will be available free of charge for one week. The game is debuting exclusively on the GetJar app store but, according to its developer, will be made available through the Android Market and other branded e-storefronts eventually. Cut the Rope for Android will be ad supported during this initial period, so those who eventually pay for it will be getting something extra -- or, rather, something less, in terms of advertising.
Cut the Rope gets new 'Magic Box,' gigantic playable demo
Good news, fans of the delightful, physics-based iOS puzzler Cut the Rope! (Or, rather, bad news, if you had things you needed to do today.) An update is now available to the ZeptoLab-developed hit which adds 25 new levels as part of the "Magic Box," and also adds three new Game Center achievements. The new gameplay mechanic this time around is top hats, which serve as portals for your tethered confections -- much like the stockings featured in Cut the Rope: Holiday Gift. To celebrate the new levels, Chillingo has constructed two massive playable demo stations featuring nine touch screens a piece. If you've got business at Los Angeles' Hollywood & Highland Center or Atlanta International Airport, keep an eye out for these big, beautiful displays -- it's likely to be the most satisfying rope-cutting you ever do.
Cut the Rope wins at BAFTAs
Cut the Rope is still one of my favorite games on the App Store, and apparently the folks at the British Academy of Film and Television agree -- they've honored the game as the Best Handheld Game of 2010. It's actually quite an honor for Chillingo and developer ZeptoLab, as the game beat out presumably much bigger budgeted titles for the Nintendo DS and PSP, including the very big studio title God of War: Ghost of Sparta. It's definitely a nice indicator for the mobile gaming business that iOS and its associated developers have made a huge splash in the industry lately. The BAFTAs are like the British Oscars, only our friends across the pond also honor video games and interactive entertainment. Here are all of the video game nominees and winners. Cut the Rope is the only one I recognize as an iOS-only title, though there are a few cross-platform titles on the list that made it as well. Congrats to Chillingo and ZeptoLab on the win.
Cut the Rope ensnares over 6 million people, free V-Day update coming
Beyond making such prestigious lists as Joystiq's 2010 App Store Buyer's Guide, ZeptoLab's adorable iOS puzzler, Cut the Rope, is now sitting atop another notable app store ranking: Apps that have sold over six million copies. Publisher Chillingo announced the game's sales achievement this morning, alongside news of a free 25-level update coming in time for Valentine's Day. "This 1.2 update is our gift to you this Valentine's Day for being the greatest fans out there," ZeptoLab CTO Efim Voinov said in the release. The game's $0.99 price tag will remain unchanged by the additional levels going forward. We've dropped a clip from the update just below the break, so don't say we never get you nothin'!
Cut the Rope wraps up a million sales
Cut the Rope, the addictive puzzler for iPhone and iPad, has sold a million copies in ten days. According to publisher Chillingo, that makes the game the "fastest selling title on the App Store to date." Chillingo is currently working with developer ZeptoLab to create updates, which will be revealed "soon." The game cost $1 on iPhone and $2 on iPad. There's also a lite version to get a taste of what makes the game and its star, Om Nom, so compelling. Note: if similarly named games confuse you, Cut the Rope has nothing to do with all those "cut the cheese" programs on the App Store.
