Next Games soft-launches The Walking Dead: Our World, Rovio soft-launches Angry Birds Blast Island, and RewardMob partners with Waves
It's been a big week for soft launches on mobile with not one but two stories about the latest games hitting the top spots of our Hot Five list.
First up is Next Games' The Walking Dead: Our World, which will have players shooting zombies in the head down their local park or pub. It's currently available on Android in the Philippines.
Second is Rovio's Angry Birds Blast Island, a direct sequel to the previous Angry Birds Blast, which has players popping bird-filled balloons and engaging in daily, weekly and monthly events.
Blockchain, dragons and hidden objects
Third up, RewardMob has partnered with Waves to launch a new blockchain-based mobile gaming platform.
And finally, our contributing editor Jon Jordan investigates what exactly is going on with Puzzle & Dragons developer Gungho, and Matt Suckley takes a look at hidden object games and if they're still finding success.
Click the link below to find out more about the stories that caught our reader's eye over the last week.
#5: Are hidden object games still finding success?
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Are hidden object games still finding success? »Hidden object games don't often make the headlines but there are still plenty of these titles out there.
And as far as we can tell,they're still pretty popular, so we decided to take a deeper look into how much success they're finding.
"It's a genre that largely flies under the radar, then, but the appeal of hidden object has endured throughout the casual PC era and well into mobile free-to-play," writes Matt Suckley.
"However, newer launches – even those from the resurgent G5 Entertainment – tend not to come with a bang. And while older games maintaining their audiences is healthy, the genre's growth will be dependent on a new crop of successes."
#4: $6 billion on from Puzzle & Dragons’ launch, whatever happened to Gungho Online?
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$6 billion on from Puzzle & Dragons’ launch, whatever happened to Gungho Online? »Puzzle & Dragons has been, and continues to be, an enormous success, but it has also been in a continuous decline for years now.
That doesn't mean that Gungho has particularly suffered, however, so Jon Jordan wants to know: whatever happened to all the money it made?
"Some has been paid out to shareholders in the form of dividends, while a big chunk was spent buying back shares from investor Softbank in two tranches in 2015 and 2016," he writes.
"Acquisitions included Grasshopper (2013) and mobile gaming network PlayPhone (2014) and there were also investments such as gameplay sharing app Kamcord (since acquired by Lyft), and ongoing publishing deals including Gameloft’s Disney Magic Kingdoms in Japan, Turbo’s Super Senso and the forthcoming game from Signal Studios."
#3: RewardMob partners with Waves to launch blockchain-based mobile gaming platform
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RewardMob partners with Waves to launch blockchain-based mobile gaming platform »RewardMob has partnered with Wave to launch a new blockchain-based mobile gaming platform.
“Blockchain technology provides additional security, speed and flexibility that allows us to innovate in the loyalty rewards space,” said RewardMob CEO Todd Koch.
“Crucially, the Waves Platform also securely administers, manages and delivers all of our RMOB loyalty tokens to players. We want to grow our business by 15 times in the next six months and with the Waves Platform support; it is making this happen and at a rapid-fire pace.”
Eventually, Koch hopes to expand operations beyond rewards, turning RewardMob into a high volume platform for competitive mobile gaming, including esports.
#2: Rovio soft-launches casual puzzle sequel Angry Birds Blast Island
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Rovio soft-launches casual puzzle sequel Angry Birds Blast Island »If you're a fan of Angry Birds Blast, the balloon-bursting entry from 2016, then rejoice! The company has now soft-launched Angry Birds Blast Island and it looks like it's going to scratch that same itch.
You'll be popping balloons to free birds, using specal power-ups to make it easier on yourself, and competing in daily, weekly and monthly events to prove your skills around the world.
We're not entirely sure where it's available (even the best fall short sometime), though Rovio has told us that it's testing the game in select countries in the West.
So have a look on Google Play - you never know!
#1: Next Games soft-launches location-based AR game The Walking Dead: Our World
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Next Games soft-launches location-based AR game The Walking Dead: Our World »Next Games has already admitted that it's slowing down work on its first zombie game The Walking Dead: No Man's Land, but now they have a very visible reason why.
The developer has soft-launched its next zombie game, an augmented reality-enabled, location-based title called The Walking Dead: Our World.
As the title suggests, the game brings the shuffling undead of The Walking Dead TV show into the real world, albeit on your phone screen.
If you can't wait to check that out, you can get it on Android in the Philippines, though there's no telling whether it'll work outside of the country - it is location-based, after all.