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DeNA sidelines social play with former ngmoco studio Scattered Entertainment's The Drowning

An FPS to 'revolutionise' core games

DeNA sidelines social play with former ngmoco studio Scattered Entertainment's The Drowning
With an intention to usher in the "next revolution of core mobile games", Japanese social gaming giant DeNA has unveiled the first title to be served up by the studio formally known as ngmoco Sweden, iOS FPS The Drowning.

Scattered Entertainment's first game, which is being headed up by former Battlefield executive producer Ben Cousins, promises "console quality" gameplay, as well a graphical tour de force.

To that end, Unity Technology has announced that it is collaborating with Scattered and publisher DeNA to "implement cutting edge mobile technology" in The Drowning.

Let's get together

This isn't the first collaboration of its type – Unity previously worked with Luma Arcade on Bladeslinger and Madfinger Games on Shadowgun.

Such relationships, Unity CEO David Helgason explained, are essential for advancing the development of the Unity game engine.

"This kind of technical cooperation is very important for us," Helgason explained.

"It's easy to sit in a lab and dream up awesome technological improvements, but by pushing the envelope with great game studios we can rapidly improve Unity."

And feel alright

For DeNA, however, The Drowning could represent something of a shift in strategy for the firm in the west, with the company playing on ngmoco's strengths following the publisher's acquisition by DeNA back in October 2010.

The firm claims the game will see players fight for survival "in a world where unexplained oil spills have transformed millions into soulless creatures,"

"Players craft and upgrade a powerful and unique arsenal of weapons as they work together and alone to explore, survive and dominate," added DeNA.



Tokyo-based social gaming consultant Dr. Serkan Toto has speculated that The Drowning could represent something of a social gaming departure for DeNA, with Cousins having spoke openly about the game's single-player focus.

Eurogamer claims Cousins has confirmed there will be a social multiplayer mode, however, built around asynchronous rather than real-time play, with players co-operating to complete objectives and unlock additional content.

In control

More attention, however, is currently being focused on the game's unique control scheme – players tapping with two fingers to shoot at the centre point of the screen rather than using a virtual stick system – and the collaboration with Unity.



"Working with Unity during the development of The Drowning has given us the technological tools to craft an incredibly beautiful game that is sure to be the most visually advanced mobile game on the market," Cousins said.
The Drowning will launch as a free download on iOS in Q1 2013, with an Android version also likely to debut at a later date.



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PocketGamer.biz's news editor 2012-2013