Namco Bandai has as bad a case of sequelitis with its Tales series that Square Enix has with its Final Fantasy franchise. Marking the 14th (seriously) game in the series, the publisher announced that Tales of Kizna will launch on DeNA's Mobage. Slated to release only on Japan's version of the popular mobile social game network, KLab Ltd is handling the game's creation.
The Tales series of Namco RPGs (role-playing games) always takes on a heavy Japanese anime aesthetic with real-time combat and deep, twisting plots, but Tales of Kizna will have players battle enemies cooperatively using character cards. And since the game will feature characters spanning the entirety of the franchise, we're expecting a much lighter story this time.
Players, as with most social games, will have the option to join guilds and form parties to do battle with one another. On paper at least, the game sounds a whole lot like a mobile Mafia Wars, but with a card game as its combat system. Tales of Kizna is due out on Japan's Mobage network this November, and Japanese fans of the series can pre-register for the game right now.
We imagine this game marks the start of Namco Bandai's joint venture with the social gaming giant, BDNA Inc. DeNA has reportedly had trouble gaining a foothold in the U.S. and abroad with its Android version of Mobage. But to help move that along (as its main competitor, Gree, gets a move on with OpenFeint), the company has reigned in some big time developers. For one, No More Heroes maker Grasshopper Manufacture looks to bring the bloodiest social game to date to Mobage in Japan and abroad.
[Via Gamasutra]
Do you think such a niche RPG will do well on DeNA's Mobage network? Do you wish DeNA and its competitors would bring such games stateside and elsewhere?
Thứ Ba, 21 tháng 2, 2012
Infographic: 35 percent of social gamers never played video games
STFU NOOB
First, it's understood that social games are dominated by soap-loving casual gamers. Then, we find that the amount of hardcore gamers on Facebook are growing. After that, it's found that a large amount of social game fans actually own game consoles. Now, an infographic by Mashable reports that a whopping "35 percent of social gamers have no previous gaming experience."
If anything, we now know that social game fans are the most diverse group of gamers the industry has ever seen. Well, it's either that or at least one of the upteen studies, infographics or surveys on the topic is completely wrong. Mashable's Zachary Sniderman also found in his research, titled "The Economics of Social Gaming," that one in every five Americans over the age of six has played a social game. That figure amounts to nearly 60 million Americans.
Of course, the infographic finds that Facebook is the dominant social game platform, with 83 percent of social gamers using the social network to get their daily farming fix. What's most interesting is the finding that 28 percent of U.S. and UK-based social game fans have paid real money for virtual currency. This is leaps and bounds beyond usual the 3 to 5 percent figure thrown around to estimate the amount of paying social gamers
Keep in mind while reading this fancy-looking infographic that the term "social gamer" could mean anything from fans of free-to-play games like MapleStory to Facebook games and perhaps even mobile social games. At this point, what's important to take away is that social game fans could very well be the most diverse type of gamer from demographics to play habits.
What do you think of these new numbers compared to studies released in the past? Are you part of the 35 percent that has never played a traditional game before social games?
First, it's understood that social games are dominated by soap-loving casual gamers. Then, we find that the amount of hardcore gamers on Facebook are growing. After that, it's found that a large amount of social game fans actually own game consoles. Now, an infographic by Mashable reports that a whopping "35 percent of social gamers have no previous gaming experience."
If anything, we now know that social game fans are the most diverse group of gamers the industry has ever seen. Well, it's either that or at least one of the upteen studies, infographics or surveys on the topic is completely wrong. Mashable's Zachary Sniderman also found in his research, titled "The Economics of Social Gaming," that one in every five Americans over the age of six has played a social game. That figure amounts to nearly 60 million Americans.
Of course, the infographic finds that Facebook is the dominant social game platform, with 83 percent of social gamers using the social network to get their daily farming fix. What's most interesting is the finding that 28 percent of U.S. and UK-based social game fans have paid real money for virtual currency. This is leaps and bounds beyond usual the 3 to 5 percent figure thrown around to estimate the amount of paying social gamers
Keep in mind while reading this fancy-looking infographic that the term "social gamer" could mean anything from fans of free-to-play games like MapleStory to Facebook games and perhaps even mobile social games. At this point, what's important to take away is that social game fans could very well be the most diverse type of gamer from demographics to play habits.
What do you think of these new numbers compared to studies released in the past? Are you part of the 35 percent that has never played a traditional game before social games?
Lady Gaga says gaga-game over to Moshi Monsters' Lady Goo Goo
Lady Gaga has finally seen the Lady Goo Goo music video that garnered millions of views on YouTube, and she didn't like it. Developer Mind Candy announced that Lady Gaga slapped the Moshi Monsters creator with an injunction over "The Moshi Dance," preventing the song's release as a single on iTunes through Mind Candy's new Moshi Music division.
Lady Gaga's lawyers were granted the injunction during an Oct. 10 hearing at the New Rolls building in London, England. More specifically, the injunction keeps Mind Candy from "promoting, advertising, selling, distributing or otherwise making available to the public The Moshi Dance OR any musical work or video which purports to be performed by a character by the name of Lady Goo Goo, or which otherwise uses the name Lady Goo Goo or any variant thereon," according to a release.
Mind Candy says that the lawyer's basis for the injunction was that kids may not be able to tell the difference between the cartoon Lady Goo Goo and the very real Lady Gaga. "This court ruling is a huge disappointment," Mind Candy founder and CEO Michael Acton Smith said in a release. "It's pretty obvious that kids will be able to tell the difference between the two characters. The shame is that millions of kids fell in love with Lady Goo Goo's debut single on YouTube and now won't be able to enjoy her musical exploits. It was all done in the name of fun and we would have thought that Lady Gaga could have seen the humour behind this parody."
Well, we can certainly understand Mind Candy's reasoning: There is no way kids would mistake this terribly annoying song (this writer is also much older than seven) for the real Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" (also fairly unbearable). However, it's clear that Mind Candy looked to turn a profit from the parody, which is right about when the lawyers swoop down in any situation. In other news, Moshi Monsters has over 50 million players with plans for yet another Nintendo DS game--they're doing just fine.
Were you a fan of Lady Goo Goo's "The Moshi Dance"? Do you think Lady Gaga's lawyers were right in ordering for an injunction against Mind Candy over the parody?
Lady Gaga's lawyers were granted the injunction during an Oct. 10 hearing at the New Rolls building in London, England. More specifically, the injunction keeps Mind Candy from "promoting, advertising, selling, distributing or otherwise making available to the public The Moshi Dance OR any musical work or video which purports to be performed by a character by the name of Lady Goo Goo, or which otherwise uses the name Lady Goo Goo or any variant thereon," according to a release.
Mind Candy says that the lawyer's basis for the injunction was that kids may not be able to tell the difference between the cartoon Lady Goo Goo and the very real Lady Gaga. "This court ruling is a huge disappointment," Mind Candy founder and CEO Michael Acton Smith said in a release. "It's pretty obvious that kids will be able to tell the difference between the two characters. The shame is that millions of kids fell in love with Lady Goo Goo's debut single on YouTube and now won't be able to enjoy her musical exploits. It was all done in the name of fun and we would have thought that Lady Gaga could have seen the humour behind this parody."
Well, we can certainly understand Mind Candy's reasoning: There is no way kids would mistake this terribly annoying song (this writer is also much older than seven) for the real Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" (also fairly unbearable). However, it's clear that Mind Candy looked to turn a profit from the parody, which is right about when the lawyers swoop down in any situation. In other news, Moshi Monsters has over 50 million players with plans for yet another Nintendo DS game--they're doing just fine.
Were you a fan of Lady Goo Goo's "The Moshi Dance"? Do you think Lady Gaga's lawyers were right in ordering for an injunction against Mind Candy over the parody?
RockYou to cast Hooked into Facebook's waters next week [Exclusive]
Between Zoo World and Gourmet Ranch (among other titles), Facebook developer RockYou lays claim to over five million monthly active players. Hoping to add to that player base, we've received exclusive info from developers on the company's newest title--Hooked--set to launch in beta sometime next week.
Hooked is the first title from RockYou's new studio in Redwood City, California, and it offers casino-style video poker and slots in the popular 60-second "blitz" gameplay format. The game's theme is an "undersea fantasy world" (just check out those adorable card fish in the logo), and it will offer various gameplay modes depending on each user's desired play style.
You'll be able to play in synchronous multiplayer, along with a solo mode. Both modes offer a variety of weekly leaderboards that will compare your stats to your friends. When the game launches in beta next week, early adopters will be given extra incentive to come back through "Tickets," which seem to be a type of currency that we'll be able to use on a variety of different features that won't yet be available at launch, but will come soon after release.
One feature we do know of however will be cross-platform capabilities, as a mobile version of Hooked will launch shortly after the launch of Hooked on Facebook. The specific mobile platforms weren't made clear to us, but we'll make sure to follow up with that as we know more. Looking forward to playing Hooked when it launches on Facebook? Check back with us next week as we'll hopefully be able to take a look at RockYou's new title in all of its underwater, animated glory.
Do you like 60-second, fast-paced gameplay setups, or do you enjoy games that aren't rushed, allowing you to really take your time?
Woodland Heroes hits Facebook with furiously furry (and cute) strategy
Facebook games (and their developers) kind of have a thing for cute, furry creatures. Well, it seems more like an obsession at this point, and while start up studio Orlando, Fla.-based Row Sham Bow isn't exactly helping the situation with Woodland Heroes on Facebook. Though, at least its debut social game takes the furriness in a decidedly new direction ... one that involves catapulting pigs.
Woodland Heroes pits players against the evil King Bear as he tears across the raccoons' treasured forest land with massive armies. The game has you fighting back enemy forces with giant weapons made of sticks and stones (get it?) that launch everything from pigs to acorns in a modern if adorable take on Battleship meets Risk. (Players have to defend captured territories.)
The game, which seems to have launched in early October, looks to straddle the ground between hardcore strategy social games with its combat system and progression and casual games with its approachable characters. According to the company's website, Row Sham Bow is comprised largely of industry veterans, namely from EA Sports.
"Fascinated by the free-to-play space," the company looks to bring fun to social games. Well, raccoons facing bears in epic battles, flinging pigs and boulders at one another is certainly a step in the right direction. Now, all Row Sham Bow needs is to approach Trey Parker and Matt Stone for what would make for an awesome Facebook game.
Click here to play Woodland Heroes on Facebook Now >
Have you hopped into the strategy sub genre of games on Facebook yet? What do you think of Row Sham Bow's debut in Facebook games?
Woodland Heroes pits players against the evil King Bear as he tears across the raccoons' treasured forest land with massive armies. The game has you fighting back enemy forces with giant weapons made of sticks and stones (get it?) that launch everything from pigs to acorns in a modern if adorable take on Battleship meets Risk. (Players have to defend captured territories.)
The game, which seems to have launched in early October, looks to straddle the ground between hardcore strategy social games with its combat system and progression and casual games with its approachable characters. According to the company's website, Row Sham Bow is comprised largely of industry veterans, namely from EA Sports.
"Fascinated by the free-to-play space," the company looks to bring fun to social games. Well, raccoons facing bears in epic battles, flinging pigs and boulders at one another is certainly a step in the right direction. Now, all Row Sham Bow needs is to approach Trey Parker and Matt Stone for what would make for an awesome Facebook game.
Click here to play Woodland Heroes on Facebook Now >
Have you hopped into the strategy sub genre of games on Facebook yet? What do you think of Row Sham Bow's debut in Facebook games?
Thứ Bảy, 18 tháng 2, 2012
Look, Activision, do you want to make Facebook games or not?
Seriously, it's not a hard question. And yet, the omnipotent games publisher continues to flip-flop on the subject of social games. In October, Activision Blizzard (Call of Duty ring a bell?) CEO Bobby Kotick told Los Angeles Magazine that, while the company is at a point where it's ready to invest in Facebook games, it doesn't expect much to come of it. Here's an excerpt from Kotick's conversation:
As of October Activision chief executive Bobby Kotick still wasn't ready. "If we can't put a creative foot forward, it's not interesting to us," he told me at the company's headquarters, which is tucked in an office complex on Ocean Park Avenue. In assessing Facebook, Kotick says he's been "trying to figure out what we could do that's different from what's being done. So now that they've gotten a large enough audience and we've done enough analysis of the opportunity, we can commit capital." He adds, however, "We don't have huge expectations."
Um, just curious ... what's the point then? Since then, Kotick spoke with Bloomberg, seeming refreshingly bullish on the prospect of Facebook games. Over the summer--before either interview--the Activision chief admitted that the company was into social games. But shortly after, other executives within the company made points to denounce Facebook gaming. What gives?
Here's the thing: If you're not going to go full bore into the social games space, then you're not going to get anywhere. Just look at EA, for instance. It's cost the company upwards of $2 billion in acquisitions to hit second place on the charts with 56.9 million monthly players, and that's not even close to the industry leader Zynga's 218 million. If Activision doesn't have "huge expectations" of its efforts in Facebook games, why even spend the cash? Hell, the publisher's own former game creators may beat it to the punch.
[Via LA Observed]
Is it even worth it for Activision Blizzard to get into Facebook games at this point?
As of October Activision chief executive Bobby Kotick still wasn't ready. "If we can't put a creative foot forward, it's not interesting to us," he told me at the company's headquarters, which is tucked in an office complex on Ocean Park Avenue. In assessing Facebook, Kotick says he's been "trying to figure out what we could do that's different from what's being done. So now that they've gotten a large enough audience and we've done enough analysis of the opportunity, we can commit capital." He adds, however, "We don't have huge expectations."
Um, just curious ... what's the point then? Since then, Kotick spoke with Bloomberg, seeming refreshingly bullish on the prospect of Facebook games. Over the summer--before either interview--the Activision chief admitted that the company was into social games. But shortly after, other executives within the company made points to denounce Facebook gaming. What gives?
Here's the thing: If you're not going to go full bore into the social games space, then you're not going to get anywhere. Just look at EA, for instance. It's cost the company upwards of $2 billion in acquisitions to hit second place on the charts with 56.9 million monthly players, and that's not even close to the industry leader Zynga's 218 million. If Activision doesn't have "huge expectations" of its efforts in Facebook games, why even spend the cash? Hell, the publisher's own former game creators may beat it to the punch.
[Via LA Observed]
Is it even worth it for Activision Blizzard to get into Facebook games at this point?
Facebook Pokémon clone MinoMonsters migrates to iOS for $1
You might remember MinoMonsters, game developer Josh Buckley's take on Pokémon for Facebook. Well, that game was either just a test or a flop for the 17-year-old entrepreneur, as his new studio has re-released the game as an iPhone and iPad app. In this new-and-improved MinoMonsters, players must journey across the Kingdom of Zancardi, capturing and battling creatures called Minos for, well, the sake of battling monsters. Come on, it's not as if Pokémon's plot is rock solid either.
The youngin's new studio is called MinoMonsters Inc., so you can tell the guy's dedicated to the concept, which will cost you $.99 on the App Store. Once purchased, you can start trading blows back and forth in turn-based bouts with opponents' monsters either within the game's story or your friends from anywhere in the world. Just like in Pokémon, players' monsters gain new abilities and will become stronger, which helps players find new monsters and defeat tougher opponents.
MinoMonsters in action
The first thing we noticed with these screens of the game in action are the impressive, seemingly hand-drawn graphics. Seriously, this game looks like an episode of Pokémon--look, the comparisons are inevitable at this point--at least when still. MinoMonsters (the company) promises that you can find players to do battle with in under 30 seconds. The game's primary competition on iOS, Monster Galaxy, doesn't seem to have multiplayer just yet. So, now MinoMonsters is the closest you're going to get a Pokémon game on your iPhone.
Click here to download MinoMonsters for $.99 on the App Store Now >
Are you craving that Pokémon experience on your iPhone?
The youngin's new studio is called MinoMonsters Inc., so you can tell the guy's dedicated to the concept, which will cost you $.99 on the App Store. Once purchased, you can start trading blows back and forth in turn-based bouts with opponents' monsters either within the game's story or your friends from anywhere in the world. Just like in Pokémon, players' monsters gain new abilities and will become stronger, which helps players find new monsters and defeat tougher opponents.
MinoMonsters in action
The first thing we noticed with these screens of the game in action are the impressive, seemingly hand-drawn graphics. Seriously, this game looks like an episode of Pokémon--look, the comparisons are inevitable at this point--at least when still. MinoMonsters (the company) promises that you can find players to do battle with in under 30 seconds. The game's primary competition on iOS, Monster Galaxy, doesn't seem to have multiplayer just yet. So, now MinoMonsters is the closest you're going to get a Pokémon game on your iPhone.
Click here to download MinoMonsters for $.99 on the App Store Now >
Are you craving that Pokémon experience on your iPhone?
Number of Diner Dash maker Playfirst staffers get axed in restructuring
An unspecified number of Playfirst employees were served the worst dish last week: unemployment. The San Francisco-based social and casual game maker, known best for its Diner Dash franchise, laid off a number of staffers due to "restructuring", according to Gamasutra. The website reports that the developer held more than 100 employees as of late last year, just as the studio opted to focus more on social and mobile games.
Unfortunately, that initiative hasn't fared so well for Playfirst, as the developer was forced to close all of its Facebook games, including Diner Dash and Chocolatier, due to poor performance in the face of big league players like Zynga and EA. In fact, Gamasutra reports that a number of ex-Zynga and Playdom employees that joined Playfirst have since left the company. Nevertheless, the developer looks to press on.
"Our future plans are to continue to focus on the mobile casual gaming space," Playfirst VP of marketing Katie Kihorany told Gamasutra. "Part of this focus means continually making sure that the organization is structured to allow us to focus on creating those great games. Unfortunately, sometimes that means restructuring, so that we can better achieve this goal."
The company would not disclose to Gamasutra exactly how many employees were let go last week. And if Playfirst's iconic Diner Dash franchise--which boasts over 550 million downloads--can't succeed on Facebook, what can? It's terribly unfortunate news like this that affirms the even more unfortunate notion that the fat cats of Facebook gaming will only get fatter.
Unfortunately, that initiative hasn't fared so well for Playfirst, as the developer was forced to close all of its Facebook games, including Diner Dash and Chocolatier, due to poor performance in the face of big league players like Zynga and EA. In fact, Gamasutra reports that a number of ex-Zynga and Playdom employees that joined Playfirst have since left the company. Nevertheless, the developer looks to press on.
"Our future plans are to continue to focus on the mobile casual gaming space," Playfirst VP of marketing Katie Kihorany told Gamasutra. "Part of this focus means continually making sure that the organization is structured to allow us to focus on creating those great games. Unfortunately, sometimes that means restructuring, so that we can better achieve this goal."
The company would not disclose to Gamasutra exactly how many employees were let go last week. And if Playfirst's iconic Diner Dash franchise--which boasts over 550 million downloads--can't succeed on Facebook, what can? It's terribly unfortunate news like this that affirms the even more unfortunate notion that the fat cats of Facebook gaming will only get fatter.
This Scrubs game for Android says, 'It's never too soon for nostalgia'
Come on, Scrubs was canceled a little over a year ago. And it's last few seasons weren't even that great. (Yeah, I said it!) Luckily, it looks like mobile game maker HeroCraft has opted to focus on the golden years of J.D., Turk and Dr. Cox's escapades in its Android game based on the hit comedy. Simply know as "Scrubs", the game is scheduled to hit the Android Market on Dec. 14.
The Scrubs game, which was first revealed this summer for both iOS and Android devices, will throw players into the role of Sacred Heart's newest intern. With that, players will have to help patients and solve mysteries to help restore the hospital's reputation, according to PocketGamer. In other words, and based on the trailer below, it looks a lot like a hidden-object game.
However, HeroCraft has mixed things up with a few mini games to mix things up amongst the slew of hidden-object scenarios. Of course, the developer has made strides to inject some of the show's quirky humor into the game. The game has yet to be priced, but we're going to ballpark it somewhere between $.99 and "free"--call us dreamers. But for unlimited access to that version of Zach Braff's mug, we'd pay much, much more for the laughs alone.
The Scrubs game, which was first revealed this summer for both iOS and Android devices, will throw players into the role of Sacred Heart's newest intern. With that, players will have to help patients and solve mysteries to help restore the hospital's reputation, according to PocketGamer. In other words, and based on the trailer below, it looks a lot like a hidden-object game.
However, HeroCraft has mixed things up with a few mini games to mix things up amongst the slew of hidden-object scenarios. Of course, the developer has made strides to inject some of the show's quirky humor into the game. The game has yet to be priced, but we're going to ballpark it somewhere between $.99 and "free"--call us dreamers. But for unlimited access to that version of Zach Braff's mug, we'd pay much, much more for the laughs alone.
Kabam on Edgeworld's release and what battles lie ahead [Interview]
Even at first glance of its war-torn landscape filled with futuristic buildings blasted to bits by the laser weapons of alien and mechanized armies, it's clear that Edgeworld is San Francisco-based developer Kabam's most ambitious project yet. Formerly known as Watercooler, the studio and publisher is filled with fans of traditional strategy PC games. Even CEO Kevin Chou was a world-ranked StarCraft player back in the day.
Inspired by sci-fi staples like Star Wars, Star Trek and even the Halo series of shooter games, Edgeworld is the culmination of Kabam's ongoing mission to bring a true 4X (explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate) game experience to Facebook. Since the game's "open beta" release in August, the team is hard at work to make that vision a reality as it claims to have in previous games. (As of this writing, the game enjoys over 858,000 monthly players, according to AppData.)
We sat down with Edgeworld Producer James Holloway recently to hear his thoughts on the game post-release, and what plans he and the rest of the Kabam team have for the strategy game in the future.
Edgeworld in action
Now that Edgeworld has released, what are your knee-jerk reactions? What do you love about the game at release, and what would you like to fix most?
We're really pleased with the release so far. We're seeing a lot of people come back to play the game--it has a really high retention. A lot of people are joining Alliances and engaging with each other. In every sector, I see chat is very active. But this is just the beginning.
The biggest thing that I think we're missing is that our Alliance feature is pretty lean right now. The thing that we would like to emphasize more is a cooperative play of the game. I think we have just the basics right now. The new Maps feature is going to integrate very tightly with alliances--you work together [with Alliances] to conquer territory.
We have about four unique turrets and nine units, and that's just the beginning. We're working on a new unit and a new turret that we're really excited about, and those are going to launch in the next month. We'll be introducing higher levels of our buildings. So, there's a lot more content that we need to create, and we're just getting started.
What's the most interesting thing you've seen players do in the game since release--something that never happened during testing?
One thing that we sort of didn't anticipate was that some Alliances and players are attacking each other for resources. At one point we didn't have inter-Alliance resource sharing, so right now you can actually send resources to other players to help them out. So, we didn't have that feature [originally].
But what people were doing was working around that by setting up their Command Centers, which are what contain your resources, outside the perimeter of their turrets. [Players would then] leave their Alliance, cook it, and then attack them and take their resources. So, they were doing resource transfers before the feature was even allowed.
Do you have any interesting or helpful gameplay tips for the players to get ahead in Edgeworld?
Certainly! If you're just starting out, we give every player two days of starter protection wherein no other player can attack you. That's a free few days of protection, and use that time wisely to build up your base and experiment with different configurations. Allow the Factions to attack your base. There's a lot of experimentation with the units.
Players are posting on the forums, talking with each other and also within their Alliances about the best combinations of units to deploy when attacking a base. There are a lot of combinations of tanks and DPS [damage per second] units you can deploy. Rhinos, or other types that have a lot of hit points, can take a lot of fire, and then you can deploy units with longer range or higher DPS behind them.
Edgeworld blast
Depending on what your goals are--like, you might want as many resources as possible--you might want to deploy the Raiders. The Rhinos draw fire from the turrets, while the Spectres sit outside and fire away at the turrets. You really want to upgrade your Spectres to give them a longer range.
We have two different types of units in the game right now: infantry units and mechanized units. It's not necessarily that the mechs are more powerful than the infantry--we're still constantly balancing the game to make sure every unit has its role.
Another thing is that the Warp Gates are really important as far as attacking goes. As you upgrade those, you increase their capacity so that you can actually deploy more units on the ground [at once]. As you unlock more units, the more powerful units will start to consume more of the [Warp Gates'] bandwidth, so you want to upgrade those to deploy the biggest army that you can.
Thanks for talking with us (and for the tips), James.
Territories Could Blow Alliance Play Wide Open
During our chat, Holloway had something brand new to show coming soon to Edgeworld. (Though, it's still in the concept phase, so weren't provided images.) It's a feature tentatively known as "Territories," and the game's producer hopes that it will expand Alliance play into something even more meaningful.
"We haven't seen a past feature like this that I can think of, and we all play a lot of games," Holloway gushes about what he's about to show me. "We're trying to make this a deeper, more robust 4X or empires building game."
As it relates to the game's story, many of the Galactic Union's outposts have been abandoned during the war for Cerulea IV, and they're ripe for the taking. The Territories feature will provide you with a map of the entire planet Cerulea IV, with your home base appearing in the center as a star. Your home base will be surrounded by either hostile, Alliance or neutral territories marked in red, green or simply displayed as abandoned outposts, respectively.
Edgeworld concept art
It's up to you to work with your Alliance to invade either hostile (controlled by enemy Alliances) or neutral outposts, and keep them under your control for as long as possible to reap their benefits, which weren't revealed to us. (Our best guess is additional resources to keep your home bases going.) Players will individually attack outposts just as they would enemy bases, and can call on their Alliance for help asynchronously.
However, players cannot build on these outposts, only bolster their existing defense turrets with their own resources to maintain control of the benefits they provide. This will make it more difficult for enemies to invade. Speaking of invading, players can only enter outposts that are adjacent to their own base or controlled outposts. Eventually, we see the Territories feature becoming a constant struggle between opposing Alliances, and hopefully something for us to work toward.
"This is very different from our other strategy games," Holloway says. "In most cases you individually own tiles on the map, but in this case you kind of need an Alliance to own territory. This is something we're really excited about. We're still working on it and prototyping it, but hopefully we'll have something out in the next four weeks."
Inspired by sci-fi staples like Star Wars, Star Trek and even the Halo series of shooter games, Edgeworld is the culmination of Kabam's ongoing mission to bring a true 4X (explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate) game experience to Facebook. Since the game's "open beta" release in August, the team is hard at work to make that vision a reality as it claims to have in previous games. (As of this writing, the game enjoys over 858,000 monthly players, according to AppData.)
We sat down with Edgeworld Producer James Holloway recently to hear his thoughts on the game post-release, and what plans he and the rest of the Kabam team have for the strategy game in the future.
Edgeworld in action
Now that Edgeworld has released, what are your knee-jerk reactions? What do you love about the game at release, and what would you like to fix most?
We're really pleased with the release so far. We're seeing a lot of people come back to play the game--it has a really high retention. A lot of people are joining Alliances and engaging with each other. In every sector, I see chat is very active. But this is just the beginning.
The biggest thing that I think we're missing is that our Alliance feature is pretty lean right now. The thing that we would like to emphasize more is a cooperative play of the game. I think we have just the basics right now. The new Maps feature is going to integrate very tightly with alliances--you work together [with Alliances] to conquer territory.
We have about four unique turrets and nine units, and that's just the beginning. We're working on a new unit and a new turret that we're really excited about, and those are going to launch in the next month. We'll be introducing higher levels of our buildings. So, there's a lot more content that we need to create, and we're just getting started.
What's the most interesting thing you've seen players do in the game since release--something that never happened during testing?
One thing that we sort of didn't anticipate was that some Alliances and players are attacking each other for resources. At one point we didn't have inter-Alliance resource sharing, so right now you can actually send resources to other players to help them out. So, we didn't have that feature [originally].
But what people were doing was working around that by setting up their Command Centers, which are what contain your resources, outside the perimeter of their turrets. [Players would then] leave their Alliance, cook it, and then attack them and take their resources. So, they were doing resource transfers before the feature was even allowed.
Do you have any interesting or helpful gameplay tips for the players to get ahead in Edgeworld?
Certainly! If you're just starting out, we give every player two days of starter protection wherein no other player can attack you. That's a free few days of protection, and use that time wisely to build up your base and experiment with different configurations. Allow the Factions to attack your base. There's a lot of experimentation with the units.
Players are posting on the forums, talking with each other and also within their Alliances about the best combinations of units to deploy when attacking a base. There are a lot of combinations of tanks and DPS [damage per second] units you can deploy. Rhinos, or other types that have a lot of hit points, can take a lot of fire, and then you can deploy units with longer range or higher DPS behind them.
Edgeworld blast
Depending on what your goals are--like, you might want as many resources as possible--you might want to deploy the Raiders. The Rhinos draw fire from the turrets, while the Spectres sit outside and fire away at the turrets. You really want to upgrade your Spectres to give them a longer range.
We have two different types of units in the game right now: infantry units and mechanized units. It's not necessarily that the mechs are more powerful than the infantry--we're still constantly balancing the game to make sure every unit has its role.
Another thing is that the Warp Gates are really important as far as attacking goes. As you upgrade those, you increase their capacity so that you can actually deploy more units on the ground [at once]. As you unlock more units, the more powerful units will start to consume more of the [Warp Gates'] bandwidth, so you want to upgrade those to deploy the biggest army that you can.
Thanks for talking with us (and for the tips), James.
Territories Could Blow Alliance Play Wide Open
During our chat, Holloway had something brand new to show coming soon to Edgeworld. (Though, it's still in the concept phase, so weren't provided images.) It's a feature tentatively known as "Territories," and the game's producer hopes that it will expand Alliance play into something even more meaningful.
"We haven't seen a past feature like this that I can think of, and we all play a lot of games," Holloway gushes about what he's about to show me. "We're trying to make this a deeper, more robust 4X or empires building game."
As it relates to the game's story, many of the Galactic Union's outposts have been abandoned during the war for Cerulea IV, and they're ripe for the taking. The Territories feature will provide you with a map of the entire planet Cerulea IV, with your home base appearing in the center as a star. Your home base will be surrounded by either hostile, Alliance or neutral territories marked in red, green or simply displayed as abandoned outposts, respectively.
Edgeworld concept art
It's up to you to work with your Alliance to invade either hostile (controlled by enemy Alliances) or neutral outposts, and keep them under your control for as long as possible to reap their benefits, which weren't revealed to us. (Our best guess is additional resources to keep your home bases going.) Players will individually attack outposts just as they would enemy bases, and can call on their Alliance for help asynchronously.
However, players cannot build on these outposts, only bolster their existing defense turrets with their own resources to maintain control of the benefits they provide. This will make it more difficult for enemies to invade. Speaking of invading, players can only enter outposts that are adjacent to their own base or controlled outposts. Eventually, we see the Territories feature becoming a constant struggle between opposing Alliances, and hopefully something for us to work toward.
"This is very different from our other strategy games," Holloway says. "In most cases you individually own tiles on the map, but in this case you kind of need an Alliance to own territory. This is something we're really excited about. We're still working on it and prototyping it, but hopefully we'll have something out in the next four weeks."
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