Sorry FIFA fans, it looks like the popular soccer (futbol) game is going freemium this year. Electronic Arts made the not-so-surprising announcement during its Gamescom press conference in Germany this morning.
This means that when FIFA 14, or whatever it's going to be called, hits mobile devices later this year, it'll utilize EA's free-to-play business model. So while it'll be free to download, it'll likely be rife with in-app purchases...
EA Mobile and PopCap Games unleashed the long-anticipated Plants vs. Zombies 2 last Thursday and already the free-to-play game has amassed a respectable sixteen million downloads on the App Store, making it the most successful mobile game launch in EA’s history.
Matter of fact, the game has achieved one of the biggest opening weekends on the App Store ever for a mobile game title, EA boasted. If you're a fan of the franchise, you'll be delighted to learn that the first major content update is coming soon...
I reviewed the original Minigore for iPhone over at Geek.com three and a half years ago. Developed by the Finnish developer Mountain Sheep and put forth by the red hot UK publisher Chillingo, this dual-stick survival shooter with furries won me over with its rich visuals (especially with objects skewing slightly in 3D as they come in and out of the screen), unapologetic shooting and unsettling fantasy environments that include strange woods, mysterious mushroom and much more.
Four years and countless updates later, the magic is still alive. In fact, Minigore has kept up pace with technology and now looks just as cutting-edge on the latest hardware as it did back in 2009 on the iPhone 3GS. If you passed on the game, you can now download Minigore 2: Zombies free for a limited time, part of its fourth anniversary celebration...
Electronic Arts, the most prolific games publisher, during a conference call discussing its June quarter earnings, paid a nice little lip service to Apple by acknowledging that the App Store has become its biggest retail partner in terms of sales - and for the first time, too. That's another important milestone for both Apple's strides in the mobile gaming space and its application store, which last month celebrated its fifth birthday and 50 billionth app download...
Electronic Arts' free-to-play Real Racing 3, which debuted on the App Store three months ago, last month received its first major update that has brought out such improvements as cloud saves across devices, an all-new Hunter game mode, the addition of the Chevrolet Cobalt SS and Camaro ZL1 vehicles and over a hundred new events.
The super publisher is now readying a second update that will feature twilight racing at the Dubai Autodrome, new cars and - you guessed right - more events. Your trailer is right after the break...
Electronic Arts' mobile gaming arm today released a new (and free) game for iOS and Android devices, Tetris Blitz. Announced in mid-February, it's a twist on the block-dropping Tetris puzzler rather than a remake of the original game. The game actually landed on the Canada App Store a week ago in a soft-launch manner, but today rolled out across App Stores globally. Trust me, this one's worth a download. Besides, you can't really go wrong with a high-profile release costing zero bucks, now can you?
Games super publisher Electronic Arts is bringing its Frostbite game engine to the iOS and Android platforms, the company confirmed Tuesday.
Developed by EA Digital Illusions CE, creators of the Battlefield series, the Frostbite engine supports Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms and powers a wide range of video game genres, from first-person shooters to racing game and real-time strategies.
A mobile version called Frostbite Go will target "all major mobile platforms," Electronic Arts confirmed, specifically mentioning iOS and Android...
Hot on the heels of launching its free to play Real Racing 3 this morning on the New Zealand App Store (two weeks ahead of schedule), games publisher Electronic Arts announced a new game for iOS and Android devices, Tetris Blitz.
It's an “innovative new twist on the world famous puzzle game,” says Electronic Arts. A bite-sized, frenzied Tetris Blitz experience challenges you with a two-minute sprint to clear lines and rack up as many points as possible before time runs out.
Electronic Arts, the super publisher which in 2011 alone raked in $1 billion in digital revenue, brought the original Tetris game to the iPhone back in December 2009. The iPhone version of Tetris costs 99 cents and the iPad version is an additional three bucks...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ8SljDv0yw
Today is a big day for iOS gamers as Electronic Arts launches the third installment in its popular Real Racing franchise. The game was originally scheduled for February 28 release so it wasn't clear why Electronic Arts decided to post it today, but we're not complaining even though the game initially launched in the New Zealand and Australia App Store.
The good news don't end here: as promised, Real Racing 3 is a free download with some unaggressive in-app purchases, a major strategic shift for Electronic Arts which typically prices its most recent iOS games between $5 and $10.
It's a massive download: you will need to have up to two gigabytes of free space on your device to install Real Racing 3, but Electronic Arts swears "it’s worth it"...
Electronic Arts has a release date for Real Racing 3, the latest installment in its popular racing franchise. The game is scheduled for release on February 28 and will be offered for the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Android smartphones and tablets for free, a major shift in strategy for the super publisher which in 2011 alone raked in $1 billion in digital revenue.
In fact, developers say that Real Racing 3 was designed from the ground up to be a free to play experience. That right there is your undeniable proof that the freemium model is slowly but surely taking over from paid downloads...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpGS1K9mLPQ
Electronic Arts today in North America released Need for Speed: Most Wanted on the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita and Xbox 360 consoles, as well as on Windows PCs and Apple's iOS and Google's Android mobile platforms. The game is available now for seven bucks both over at the App Store and Play Store. Need for Speed: Most Wanted rolls out in Australia on November 1 and in Europe the following day.
A version for Nintendo's new Wii U console is slated to hit North American shores, Europe and Australia some time next year. The game invites you to drive "the world's hottest cars ripping through the open world, screwing with the cops and get away in style". In addition to the above launch trailer, I've also included several nice videos below the fold...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca-lV3LRxEY
You must watch this live action television commercial for Electronic Arts' Need for Speed: Most Wanted, an open-world racing game - it will totally make your day. The racing sessions have you fighting the cops and the trailer depicts that.
I instantly fell in love with the spaghetti western type soundtrack. And don't you just love how they pixelated the finger the driver gave to the cops? Thank actor/writer/director Jon Favreau for that, he's behind the ad.
Developed by Criterion Games and published by Electronic Arts, Need for Speed: Most Wanted files as the nineteenth title in the long-running series, picking up on the Most Wanted IP rather than the Hot Pursuit reboot that Criterion developed previously...