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Ubisoft acquires Hungry Shark dev Future Games of London
Ubisoft announced today that it has acquired Future Games of London, a prolific mobile game developer with a string of free-to-play hits in its app catalog. Future Games of London found its biggest success with the Hungry Shark series, which was bolstered post-launch by the Discovery Channel's annual Shark Week event in 2011. The most recent entry in the series, Hungry Shark Evolution, has been downloaded over 25 million times across iOS and Android platforms. Future Games of London also developed the popular iOS billiards sim Pool Bar: Online Hustle, along with the arcade-style action game Grabatron. "The decision to sell is always a difficult one, especially when we have built so much success as an independent company, with our own IP and a direct relationship with our players," the studio states at its website. "However, as we grow the team and as the mobile free-to-play industry around us evolves, we want to be in a position to place bigger bets on better games. Being part of Ubisoft's family gives us the support, experience, marketing and resources we need to make a very big impact with our future titles."
Hungry Shark Evolution swims back to life with 3D graphics
For a long time, one of my favorite games on iOS was Hungry Shark. It's a simple but addictive game that allows you to control a shark that swims around a wonderfully inventive undersea world eating as much as you can -- whether that was other fish, swimmers or even mad scientist villains straight from a James Bond movie. Hungry Shark spawned a series of sequels and went on to be downloaded more than 40 million times. Now Future Games of London, the company that brought you the original Hungry Shark, has released Hungry Shark Evolution, a complete revisioning of the undersea world. Hungry Shark Evolution has ditched 2D graphics for some eye-catching 3D ones, which makes the game visually stunning. The game also adds some cool new features such as a massive free-roaming undersea world, 45 missions and the ability to unlock other sharks including a Mako, Hammerhead, Tiger and Great White. Hungry Shark Evolution hits the App Store today. For US$2.99 it's worth the fun. It's also formatted to fit the iPhone 5's new screen.
Daily iPhone App: Grabatron
For those of you who enjoy Future Games of London's Hungry Shark series, you might want to check out its new game: Grabatron (US$0.99 for the iPhone version, $2.99 on the iPad). Designed as a homage to 1950's monster and alien invasion movies, you play as a UFO which uses a claw to abduct farm animals and people or use huge objects like cars as battering rams. Like in the Hungry Shark games, you control the UFO by using the iPhone's built-in gyroscope. Tilt to the right or left to go in that direction. The UFO hovers over wide and varied landscapes, like army bases, farms and even 1950's Las Vegas, so there's plenty of changing scenery to keep things fresh. You can also explore subterranean caverns, some filled by scientists you can terrorize, while others hold power-ups, like stronger spaceship armor or a more powerful claw. While the game is fun to play, it can get a bit repetitive. You can only hurl a person to their doom with a giant claw so many times before you want more to do. Fortunately, there's a lot to explore and 30 separate missions to keep you engaged. My only beef with the game is that there are separate versions for the iPhone and iPad. I like my apps universal, and those who feel that they shouldn't have to buy the same game twice will be disappointed. However, for its fun, playability, and overall design, I recommend Grabatron to any casual iOS gamer.
Pool fans should check out Snooker Club for iPhone and iPad
Future Games of London, makers of the popular Pool Bar - Online Hustle and (my favorite) Hungry Shark games, have just released Snooker Club for iOS. For those of you who don't know, snooker is a pool-like game popular in Commonwealth countries. You play it on a 12-foot table with 22 balls. The person who pots the most balls wins the frame (individual game). The person who wins the most frames wins the game. In most billiards halls, you'll find groups of old men huddled around the snooker table, but FGOL has done away with the geezers and populated the Snooker Club, and you can play as one of seven beautiful women. You can play vs the computer or against a friend using two-player mode. Like Pool Bar before this, Snooker Club features beautiful graphics with fluid camera controls and great ball physics. Best of all, the game is free for a limited time. Snooker Club is a universal app and requires iOS 4.1 or later.
Win a copy of Hungry Shark 3 for iPhone
The guys at Future Games of London have just released Hungry Shark 3 for iPhone. The Hungry Shark series is one of my favorite games for iOS (you can read my review of Hungry Shark Trilogy for iPad here). Hungry Shark 3 pits Hungry Shark against shark finners, mad scientists and leaking oil rigs. The latest edition of the Hungry Shark series also adds full HD support for Retina Displays, more than 25 new types of food (fish, crabs and people) and Game Center support. Hungry Shark 3 for iPhone is a steal at 99 cents, but for our loyal TUAW readers, Future Games of London has given us five copies of Hungry Shark 3 for iPhone to give away for free. To enter the drawing, simply leave a comment for this post. As always, the official rules are below: Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older. To enter leave a comment on this post. The comment must be left before Saturday, February 12, 11:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time. You may enter only once. Five winners will be selected in a random drawing. Prize: Promo code for Hungry Shark 3 for iPhone (Value: US$0.99). Click Here for complete Official Rules.
Chew through the undersea ecosystem in Hungry Shark Trilogy HD
I have a new favorite iPad game, and it is Hungry Shark Trilogy HD. Maybe it's because I have an unreasonable fear of sharks that I love Hungry Shark so much. It allows me to control the very thing I fear. In Hungry Shark Trilogy you play as the shark, and your mission pretty much mimics a shark's real life: your only goal is to eat and keep eating. While a singular goal might seem rather monotonous, it's anything but. The Hungry Shark world is full of things to explore. As you chomp and bite your way though dozens of kinds of fish, penguins, scuba divers and seagulls, you'll discover just how rich the undersea environment is. There are hidden caves, sea mines and secret objects galore. As the shark, the more you eat, the more you grow and the stronger you become, which comes in handy when you come across the best boss of any iPad game -- the giant crab. Eating also allows you to earn points, which unlocks other Hungry Shark episodes, or levels, in the game. Hungry Shark Trilogy HD for iPad is an update to the popular Hungry Shark series for iPhone. And if you've played Hungry Shark on the iPhone, you'll be blown away by the game on the iPad. The game really shines on the iPad's larger screen, and the developers at Future Games of London have been able to work a lot more background detail into the ocean environment. The iPad version also offers all three "episodes" of the Hungry Shark iPhone games in one. It also gives the user two ways to control the shark: via the iPad's built-in accelerometer, or by onscreen joysticks. My only gripe with the game is that I wish it had an option where you didn't have to continually eat to survive. That way you could take your time and fully explore the game's undersea worlds. Hungry Shark Trilogy HD is available on the App Store now for US$4.99.
