Train2Game News Google Play outnumbers iOS

Google PlayGlobal Google Play downloads exceeded iOS App Store downloads by around 60 per cent last quarter, according to a new report.

According to the Q2 2014 Market Index from analyst App Annie, Google Play downloads shot up by 15 per cent compared to the same period in 2013.

The growth is apparently being driven by emerging markets, with Brazil, Thailand and India all seeing significant increases in Google Play downloads.

In India this is being helped by a large number of consumers switching to smartphones. The country climbed two spots to become the third biggest Google Play downloader during Q2 2014.

Meanwhile, Brazil’s market share in Google Play downloads doubled in the Sports category from Q1, partially thanks to the country’s hosting of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

The World Cup’s impact on the Sports category wasn’t limited only to Brazil – the entire category grew by 20 per cent, with notable increases in World Cup winner Germany, runner-up Argentina and the US.

China and Japan were the primary drivers of iOS revenue, which despite falling download numbers still managed to bring in 80 per cent more revenue than Google Play. The latter remains the largest country in terms of App Store and Google Play revenue combined, with games providing more than 90 per cent of the total figure.

Oliver Lo, EVP of marketing at App Annie, commented on India’s rise in the download charts: “The notion that ‘West is Best’ is holding less sway as Google Play and iOS App Store are being increasingly supported by emerging smartphone markets such as India and China.

“The fact that only 10 per cent of the Indian population is smartphone-enabled is an exciting prospect for app publishers looking for new markets to explore. We expect strong Google Play downloads combined with future smartphone adoption to help set the stage for rapid growth in India’s mobile app-related revenue by 2017.”

Source: MCV

Train2Game News The Witcher Mobile Battle Arena

The Witcher Battle ArenaCD PROJEKT RED, creators of the critically acclaimed Witcher franchise of games, and Fuero Games are proud to announce The Witcher Battle Arena, a bold extension of the series into the realm of mobile entertainment.

“With mobile devices as powerful as they are and the graphics they offer being so beautiful, we can finally plunge into mobile gaming and deliver our take on free gaming to gamers worldwide,” said Adam Badowski, Head of Studio, CD PROJEKT RED.

The Witcher Battle Arena is a fast, fun and accessible MOBA game based in the Witcher universe. Designed with mobile devices in mind, Battle Arena combines great accessibility and a balanced learning curve with complex tactics and a limitless array of skill-based strategies gamers can deploy during each battle. Designed with fairness in mind, the game features no pay-to-win elements and allows players to unlock every piece of in-game content entirely via gameplay.

In the Arena, six heroes battle it out to the death, trying to capture and hold three conquest points in short, intense and action-packed skirmishes. The intuitive system of character progression allows you to create player-tailored character builds and unique item configurations to surprise your friends and stagger your foes. Become legendary characters such as the witcher Letho of Gulet, dwarven adventurer Zoltan Chivay or the mighty sorceress Philippa Eilhart and use their diverse skills to gain the advantage and crush those foolish enough to cross your path.

“In a world full of enter-your-PIN-number-to-win mechanics, what we value above all is well-balanced and honest gameplay,” said Tadek Zieliński, Creative Analyst, CD PROJEKT RED. “Battle Arena is all about skill and dedication, and we’ve spent hundreds of hours planning to make it a paragon of fairness in mobile gaming,” Zieliński added.

Designed by CD PROJEKT RED and developed by Fuero Games, The Witcher Battle Arena is scheduled to launch sometime in Q4 2014 on iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and Windows (Tablets), with free future updates planned to expand the game both in terms of number of characters, gameplay modes and more.

“The whole team here at Fuero Games is really excited at the prospect of developing a game for such a big and engaged community as that of The Witcher. I’m convinced that our skill in mobile multiplayer game development, combined with the creative flair of CD PROJEKT RED, will produce an experience Witcher fans will want to come back to again and again,” said Stanisław Fiedor, CEO, Fuero Games.

You can enjoy the teaser trailer below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCAIOxBS3b4

Train2Game News Unity for PS Mobile offers Vita support

PS VitaUnity now fully supports PlayStation Mobile, allowing users on the PSM Developer Program to publish content to the PlayStation Store and Vita for free.

The PSM build option works with both the free and Pro versions of the Unity game engine.

The new release features in-app purchase APIs and also allows developers to distribute their titles to PlayStation TV.

Unity for PS Mobile differs from the existing Vita build option however. PSM support is designed to provide free access for development on a standard retail Vita, while the existing Vita build option provides full native access to the handheld and full access to PSN.

Visit the official website for more information.

Train2Game News Amazon Phone

Amazon FireAmazon is getting into the smartphone market with its freshly revealed Fire Phone, the company announced this week.

Engadget reports the phone will pack support for a 3D interface with Dynamic Perspective head-tracking system that can be used in games.

The gadget packs a 4.7 inch Gorilla Glass display with HD resolution screen, a 13 megapixel camera, dual stereo speakers, a quad-core 2.2GHz processor, Adreno 330 GPU and 2GB of RAM.

It also includes Amazon’s free Mayday customer support service, unlimited cloud storage for photos, and Firefly – a feature that uses Fire Phone’s camera to recognize a variety of items, such as games, books, DVDs, CDs, bar codes, URLs, phone numbers, QR codes, and more.

Fire Phone will be priced at $200 for the 32GB version and $300 for the 64GB, but note that’s with a vaild AT&T contract – off-contract the devices will cost an additional $450. Pre-orders can be put down directly through Amazon starting today.

Reports of an Amazon smartphone emerged earlier this year, around the unveiling on new microconsole Fire TV.

Train2Game News Firefly Runner now on Windows 8

Firefly runnerUK based video games developer, Red Kite Games has launched Firefly Runner, an action packed, free-running child friendly adventure for Windows Phone and Windows 8 with proceeds going to charity.

Released last week on iOS, Android and Kindle, Firefly Runner can now be downloaded from both the Windows Phone Store and the Windows Store for a one off purchase of 79p with a free trial of the game also being available. Red Kite Games will donate 15% of the revenues generated by Firefly Runner jointly to the charities GamesAid and SpecialEffect thus helping both charities in their work for good causes centred around children and young people.

In the game, players can help Switch the courageous firefly, run, fly, shoot and rescue his captured firefly friends on the stunningly beautiful, yet treacherous, Firefly Island. Players can challenge their reflexes by running, flying and firing their deadly slingshot to take out Switch’s insect foes including grumpy hornets, burping slugs and scuttling spiders. Keep Switch alive and you’ll reach gigantic scores; unlock all the achievements and become the ultimate firefly.

The launch of Firefly Runner has been helped by a series of pro-bono collaborations from games companies including AppyNation, ACE, Carbon Digital, Game Republic, Johnny Atom Productions, Pitstop Productions, PressSpace, Sheridans and Universally Speaking all of whom have donated their services free of charge.

Firefly Runner is now available from the App Store, Amazon Marketplace, Google Play, Windows Phone Store and Windows Store.

Train2Game News Chartboost new Targeting and Monetization for Mobile

ChartboostChartboost, the largest business engine for mobile games, has announced the launch of three new products – Post-Install Analytics (PIA), Retargeting and Newsfeed.

Chartboost’s expanded product offering is part of the only unified solution exclusively for mobile game developers to target and re-engage segments of players through in-game messaging and retargeting campaigns, all from one Dashboard.

“Chartboost is committed to providing mobile game developers with the tools and insights to create campaigns that drive high ROI and solve for their in-game business goals,” said Maria Alegre, CEO and co-founder of Chartboost. “For the last three years we’ve been focused on creating the best discovery and monetization platform for mobile games, so with the release of these new products we’re building more robust solutions for mobile game developers looking to engage, retain and grow.”

The Post-Install Analytics (PIA) measures player activity and engagement after they’ve installed the game via the Chartboost SDK. It creates analytics reports for game developers, that aggregate player behavior, to help them optimize their ROI. PIA tracks player bootups, session length and in-app purchases, analyzing how often and how long players are in the game, who is a paying customer, and their in-app purchase behavior. This data is presented in Custom Reports that give developers control of the data they want to receive in their desired format including:

·         In-app purchase revenue
·         Average revenue per user
·         One to seven day retention
·         Average session length

Retargeting builds off of PIA and allows game developers to maximize the value and ROI of their campaigns by allowing them to target players who installed the game based on their playing and payer behavior. These players are more likely to re-engage with the game or be converted into paying players because they already have the game installed. Retargeting is comprised of the following features and benefits that will allow an advertiser to target their existing players for re-engagement and monetization:

Features & Benefits

·          Tracking & Segmentation – Track and create custom player segments based on player behavior in the game:
o    Bootups (frequency, last login, install date)
o    Session length (average length)
o    IAP (total spent, spent per purchase, number of purchases)
·          Targeting – Target specific player segments who have previously installed the game and by device list for higher retention, re-engagement and/or monetization.
·          Deep Linking –  Leverage deep linking support to direct players to a specific location in the game.
·          Quality –  Receive higher quality re-engagement through the largest mobile gaming-only platform.

Newsfeed was built specifically for the mobile game experience, providing an in-game messaging tool that allows game developers to engage and retain their players through real-time communication, or “stories.” Newsfeed helps developers generate awareness and interest in updates, new features, and promotions, and scores over existing solutions like push messages that players tend to dismiss and forget, by showing messages both in a slide-in banner and a persistent feed. In addition, it can serve as a cross-promotional tool that drives players to other games in their portfolio.

Newsfeed supports rich messages that include images, text and calls-to-action, and provides engagement metrics for each story. It also provides stories with an optional countdown timer allowing developers to build excitement and a sense of urgency around in-game events like limited time offers.

Features & Benefits

·  Customization – Developers have the option to build and manage their own fully customizable UI.
· Dynamic Messaging – Include an image, title and body text, countdown timers and links, including in-game slide-in banner to alert players instantly.
· Access & Control –  Player-specific options to control how many times and how often a message is shown, supported by transparent analytics to capture CTR and unique clicks.
· Simplicity –  Easy-to-use Dashboard message creator to draft, update and send messages to the Newsfeed.

Post-Install Analytics (public beta) is free and available today via SDK 4.5 for iOS and SDK 4.1 for Android.

Retargeting (closed beta) will run on a cost per click basis and will be available later this month to advertisers who update to SDK 4.5 and sign up for early access.

Newsfeed (public beta) is free and available today via SDK 4.5 for iOS with Android support coming soon.

Train2Game News Marmalade SDK goes free

MarmaladeDevelopers will now be able to download the Marmalade SDK for free.

Marmalade Technologies has announced that a free license is now available for its flagship product, which enables studios to create games for multiple platforms, including iOS Android, Blackberry, Tizen and both Windows Phone and Windows Store using a single codebase.

Developers will also have access to other products, such as Marmalade Quick, Marmalade Web and Marmalade Juice, which helps them convent iOS projects to run natively on Android.

Meanwhile, developers with Marmalade’s Indie, Plus or Pro licences can now develop games for Windows and Mac, Roku and selected Smart TV platforms.

“Following feedback from our developer community, I’m delighted that we are now able to give all developers the world over the ability to experience the full power of the Marmalade SDK for free,” says CEO Harvey Elliott.

“We know from our community that maintaining native performance for apps across different platforms is a top priority, and now all developers can use a free version of the Marmalade SDK, meaning no compromise on performance whatever their platform and freeing them to concentrate on making fantastic apps and games.”

Source: Develop

Train2Game News Redkite Games supporting games charities

Firefly runnerFrom now until Thursday you can help SpecialEffect and GamesAid simply by purchasing a game by Redkite games.

Red Kite Games are proudly supporting GamesAid and SpecialEffect with Firefly Runner and will be donating 15% of the revenue share equally into each charity.

Firefly Runner is an action packed, free-running adventure set on the stunningly beautiful yet treacherous Firefly Island. Join Switch as he takes flight in search of treasured light orbs and magical keys. After lift-off avoid obstacles, collect cherries and perform acrobatic loop-de-loops to gain extra points.

The studio has the following to say about the project; “We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has played Firefly Runner and we hope that you are enjoying the game as much as we have enjoyed making it. GamesAid and SpecialEffect do amazing work helping disadvantaged and disabled children and young people, but without your support and the support of the wider games industry this would not be possible.”

Firefly Runner is available now on iOS and Android devices. Download the game now to help SpecialEffect and GamesAid!

Train2Game News Mobile VR Headset

Oculus RiftSamsung and Oculus, the firm behind the Rift virtual reality headset, are working together on a new headset, rumours have claimed.

Engadget, citing “sources close to both companies”, reports that the deal will benefit both companies – Oculus will provide Samsung with early access to its mobile software development kit and will help develop the user interface for the headset, while Samsung will provide Oculus with early access to its upcoming high-resolution OLED screens, which the latter firm plans to integrate into its future headset models.

The screens, which provide a resolution higher than that of Full HD 1080p, will also be used in Samsung’s future smartphone models, the sources added.

The sources also teased some details of Samsung’s rumoured VR headset.

The headset is said to require a connection to a smartphone, which doubles as the display for the device.

The device also includes multiple sensors, including an accelerometer, with the processing power for motion tracking provided by the connected smartphone. The headset is said to support use with a game controller, or can be controlled instead using motion tacking and voice recognition. Physical control buttons are included on the outside of the device.

The sources added that the headset’s rear-facing camera supports for video pass-through, meaning that the user can choose to “see through the phone using the rear camera, which shows a video feed of the outside world to your eyes”.

Unlike the Oculus Rift, Samsung’s VR headset is said to be focused on media experiences rather than gaming, but some games are reportedly in development for the platform.

Train2Game News Dragon Quest VIII on Mobile

Commemorating the 10th anniversary of the initial Japanese launch on the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, SQUARE ENIX’s DRAGON QUEST VIII: Journey of the Cursed King is now available on iOS and Android devices.

The game lets players take on the role of the “Hero,” the last survivor of King Trode’s army. “Hero” must track down the evil jester who stole a powerful sceptre and caused this tragedy.

“Following its PlayStation 2 system launch in 2004, DRAGON QUEST VIII: Journey of the Cursed King saw immense success and became an instant cult classic,” said Noriyoshi Fujimoto, producer of the mobile version of DRAGON QUEST VIII: Journey of the Cursed King. “The game is perfectly suited as a tremendous value for mobile and tablet as a full 60-plus hour console game with an epic tale of friendship, bravery and adventure. We’ve put in extra effort for the controls to be intuitive and easy to play. Its 10th anniversary is the ideal milestone to re-release the game for fans and new players alike.”

DRAGON QUEST VIII: Journey of the Cursed King lets mobile players explore the game’s vast grassy fields, snow-capped mountains, daunting dungeons and restless seas. Players can slide their screens to pan the camera in a full 360 degrees around the character. In addition, DRAGON QUEST VIII: Journey of the Cursed King also features the original title’s revolutionary synthesizer score, orchestrated by the series’ long time music composer Koichi Sugiyama.

Additional Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King features include:

Controls: Players have access to smooth, intuitive touch-panel controls and a customizable user interface. The in-game directional button is also customizable, allowing one-handed (or two-hand) play.

Battle: Reworked combat system allows for one-tap turn-based battles as well as more complex play. Players can choose an in-game battle strategy to move their character and parties automatically during battles; players also have direct control of their characters and parties during battles.

Auto Run Mode: As the fields are vast, players now have the option to auto-run through boundless environments.

Monster Recruit: Monsters inhabiting the game can be recruited into the player’s party.

Alchemy Pot: This pot allows players to mix various products in order to create new, stronger items.

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King is now available for $19.99 on iOS and Android devices which I find a particularly steep price for a mobile game but you may think differently!