Mobile developer Jadu have launched their first flagship mobile title of the same name, an ambitious AR fighting-game.
Jadu, the game, involves players pitting their avatars against enemies while using their camera to superimpose the action between the two fighters over a real-world location. The aim is to ape the success of breakthrough AR titles such as Niantic's Pokemon Go and current hit Monster Hunter Now.
The developer also boasts that the game has already engaged in numerous collaborations for discoverable collectibles in-game, including working with film producer Michael Bay on the designs of the robot enemies seen in-game ahead of launch.
The developers behind Jadu seem hopeful that, even in a market where there are more AR failures than winners, that their game will provide something new and different. CEO and co-founder Asad Malik commented, “After seven years building AR projects, we finally feel like we’ve created a truly spatial experience that is also widely accessible to the next generation of gamers who’ve grown up on smartphones. Fighting the ghostly presence of a remote player in your physical space is an experience that has tickled the imagination of our beta players.”
This ARena ain’t big enough for the two of us
Naturally, the developer which rules the roost in terms of AR games is Niantic but even with hits such as Pokémon Go and Monster Hunter Now under their belts, games such as Witcher: Monster Slayer and NBA All-World have been unceremoniously shuttered by the company.
Jadu is certainly presenting a new twist on the concept, so if nothing else the AR fighting title will stand out both in terms of its originality and the collaborations that they have accrued. But if NBA All-World proved anything, it was that big names aren’t necessarily enough to keep a game afloat.
