Category: Mobile Game Releases

To be fair, Activision has known about mobile for a while. They’ve dabbled with it on-and-off like most publishers who aren’t mobile-focused have and they’re not against simply acquiring companies that specialise in this space. For example, they bought King back in 2016.

As far as their own ‘first-party’ stable of franchises are concerned, Owen previously reviewed a Call of Duty spin-off called Strike Team. But we imagine neither this nor Call of Duty: Heroes really inspired Activision to get out of bed. Neither are currently available to purchase or play anymore, as it happens.

But it seems the recent release of Call of Duty: Mobile has really caused the videogame giant to cast its Eye of Sauron on Mobile-land. In a recent earnings call, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick reported that the Call of Duty player base grew from 40 Million to 100 Million through 2019, and he attributes a large part of the growth to the new mobile game.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4b8FRUDNZo?controls=0]

In terms of revenue, mobile is now the largest platform with it accounting for 34% of the company’s total revenue for the past year up to December 31st, 2019. This is up from 2018’s 29%. Console and PC only account for (roughly) 30% and 26% respectively during 2019.

We’re not sure specifically how much revenue COD Mobile has totted up so far. Much of that 2019 figure is probably going to be from King. Sensor Tower reported last year that COD Mobile netted $17.7 million and 90 Million downloads in its first week and Activision also confirmed this week that the game had surpassed 150 million downloads world-wide. Current estimates for January 2020 put the game’s revenue for the month at $13 million, so I think it’s fair to say things are going well.

Off the back of this, Activision seem to be more confident on past commitments to evaluate their mainline franchises. All of Activision’s top-line franchises will probably be getting mobile ports of one form or another, with Blizzard’s Diablo: Immortal currently next on the list.

What Activision-owned franchise do you want to see given the ‘Mobile’ treatment?

So, Company of Heroes is pretty great, right? And the fact that it’s coming to iPad is like D-Day levels of greatness. What would be more great than these two incredibly great facts? Some actual in-game footage!

Perhaps Feral are trying to reassure us that, yes, the game does exist and that, yes it IS coming out next Thursday. Whatever the reason, we’ve been treated to four minutes (and thirteen seconds) of live gameplay in a new video:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOhEjOIfa9s?controls=0]

One thing I didn’t spot before – Company of Heroes needs 5 GB of storage! That seems quite high for a mobile game, right? As the video goes on to explain however, this can be mitigated somewhat with the ability to pick and choose what you want to have installed. They break up the campaign missions into several chunks and the skirmish maps are also bundled together by size, so if space is a premium you don’t have to have everything installed all at once.

I’ll admit, back when I used to play CoH on PC, I used to love playing as the British faction who were added later as DLC. I hope Feral get to bring them over as well, even if it’s just for skirmish matches.

Company of Heroes iPad is due out on February 13th, 2020.

Might & Magic Chess Royale was familiar almost before I opened the app on my phone. Broadly, these auto-battlers are so simple that learning one game means you can play all of them and Chess Royale differed little from its auto-battle ancestor Dota Auto Chess.Each individual Auto Chess game has unique quirks, and Chess Royale has two that are immediately apparent.

Firstly, you’re playing against 100 opponents (the equivalent of squaring off against a decent-sized restaurant full of players) and secondly, the game is optimised to be done in 10 minutes. It makes the whole experience concentrated into a tight play session.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kciUPlyHzhw?controls=0]

The last bit is Chess Royale‘s biggest strength: it means I can dig into it between meetings at work, while sprawled on the sofa watching TV and I’ve even played a couple of games sat on the toilet, guaranteed to be finished before my butt goes numb. The first time I loaded into a game and the camera showed me all 100 potential victors was wild. A small ocean of the canned emoji responses rippled out of the portraits, reminding me that I’m taking part in a much bigger game. In play, this doesn’t really change the game outside of creating more spectacle, but that’s something that can help make a quick game feel more meaningful.

A few other interesting mechanics are in play: you’re much more fragile than other games in the genre and with lower health each loss really hurts. As players start to drop out, spells are brought into play which can offer up powerful abilities for those who to buy them, granting powerful critical strikes or even stun effects.

The other side of this coin is that because the game is over quickly, you don’t get to explore different strategies quite as much as I’d like. This comes with a double whammy: on mobile, the fights are too messy to follow, the polished aesthetic and flashing particles making it hard to keep track of exactly what’s happening. Added on top of this is the fact that the character designs — beautiful when you view your future fighters in the shop — are muddy and confusing in combat leaving you wondering whether it’s your tank or your assassin getting stuck in.

The combination of all of this is that you don’t feel attached to your collection of units, and it’s so hard to follow what’s going on with combat that it resolves in a confusing fashion. It’s hard to make a good judgement on what units are performing well and which are just getting battered.

It’s a real shame because Chess Royale feels incredibly polished despite also feeling generic. Dota Underlords benefits from having recognisable Dota 2 characters, the chunky aesthetic makeing it easy to clock who exactly it is whaling on who. Compare that to the swirling beige mess of Chess Royale combat. 

A few months earlier, Chess Royale could have been The Next Big Thing, but instead it gets lumped into the ‘too little-too late’ wave that follows after a genre explodes. It’s easy to remember how H1Z1 and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds made battle royale a popular genre and most remember a little game called Fortnite took the world by storm. But we don’t think about titles like The Culling 2, Ring of Elysium or even Islands of Nyne. Sadly, Chess Royale falls into this latter category and shows that the auto-chess bubble has already started to burst.

For my money, the best auto-battler out there is Hearthstone‘s Battlegrounds mode, which takes the auto-battler formula and creates something distinctly unique. If you’re a fan of Blizzard’s card game, chances are you’ll dig the deck-building battler which adds something new to the genre. You field cards that you slowly upgrade over time and you fight for dominance by building a stronger and stronger stable. If it weren’t for the fact that it’s infected with the same nonsense that the wider CCG suffers from, it’d be damn near perfect.

Take a step back, and it’s easy to see how Hearthstone‘s success in the auto-battler genre spells doom for Ubisoft’s latest offering: it’s been a long time since Might & Magic felt exciting and it’s hard to identify exactly what Might & Magic‘s core identity should be. In its place, we get this AAA rendition which manages a rote recreation of an auto-battler that somehow lacks a soul of its own.

If this is indicative of what else is to come, then I suspect we’re already feeling the death throes of a flash-in-the-pan fad. The shuddering death of last year’s hit genre isn’t a negative, it’s just the calm before the next storm of innovation. We’d like to think there are still some new ideas left in Auto Chess, but Might & Magic Chess Royale is not one of them.

Might & Magic Chess Royale is available to download for free on iOS and Android.

Star Traders: Frontiers was one of my favourite games of 2019, and it turns out it was one of your favourites as well as it won our highly prestigious Pocket Tactics Game of the Year Award for 2019. It’s a wonderful sandbox open-world sci-fi RPG, and it’s made by two brothers known as ‘The Trese Brothers’.

What sets this dynamic duo apart from other smaller teams is their commitment to post-release support. It’s easier to see on the game’s Steam page, but essentially the brothers Trese are very good at making a game, laying out a road-map of post release content and patches, and sticking to it. Since STF released its received everything from new ships, to new quests and everything else in-between.

The only thing that would ruin this perfect scenario is if the brothers decided to move on and work on a new game. Which is exactly what they’ve gone and done:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCavPLvJAd8]

Cyber Knights: Flashpoint is the Trese brothers new project and it’s currently going through Kickstarter. It’s more Templar Battleforce then it is Star Traders, featuring squad-based turn-based tactical combat, base-building, and lots of character customization. It also looks like they’re stepping up their game by going fully 3D. Move over Phoenix Point, the REAL XCOM successor is coming to town…

… is what I would say if I was excited about this. But since it’s not Star Traders, I’m not. This looks rubbish. I mean, who could get excited by this (Literally everyone?-ED).

As with STF before it, the main focus of this campaign and the new game will be a Steam release. Following the Alpha period, Cyber Knights will have a stint in Steam Early Access. Only once it’s been released properly on PC will the team then focus on doing mobile ports to iOS and Android. They might also consider other console releases, but it will be on a case-by-case basis and will depend on the success of the other versions.

So there you go – a new Trese Brothers game that looks like Cyberpunk meets XCOM, but it’s not Star Traders so it doesn’t matter. Hey, have I told you about Star Traders?

At the time of writing, the Kickstarter campaign was already fully funded, with 30 days left on the clock.

Fire Emblem Heroes has, hands down, proven to be the other most popular Nintendo properties on mobile. Sensor Tower data from last week shows that, out of the $1 Billion+ revenue that Nintendo-published mobile games brought in in 2019, 61% of it came from FE Heroes.

It’s first place out of six with the No. 4 spot being held by Mario Kart Tour, which brought in only 8% and that’s with a $5 premium subscription offering. Clearly, Fire Emblem Heroes’ next step is to do something bold that meets the needs of their player base… like introducing a premium subscription offering? (Announcement at 11:40 below)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POoIZWjHA-g]

This rather strange move was announced on Saturday. Fire Emblem Heroes is a typical free-to-play strategy game in many ways (although it’s quite thematic), but it’s managed to convince a relatively small number of people to spend quite a lot of money. It may have brought in 61% of the revenue, but it only represents 4% of total downloads across the six games.

Out of all of the plans they could have considered, a $10 (!!?) premium subscription is not the one I would have chosen, or even guessed.

If you do choose to subscribe, you gain access to give key benefits:

• Resplendent Heroes – new versions of existing heroes with new attire, voices and a +2 stat boosts. Two are on offer every month during set periods, and you can choose between attires if you manage to secure one. An option to purchase Resplendent versions separately is planned.
• Special ‘FEH Pass Quests’ – available twice a month, offers unique rewards.
• Expanded Summoner Support – you can bond with up to three heroes, instead of just one.
• Re-Act – Essentially an ‘undo’ or ‘re-do’ button, you may go back to the start of the previous turn or the current turn, depending on what’s just happened. Unlimited uses, and works on the Game Over screen. Doesn’t work in Coliseum or Aether Raids.
• Auto-Start – Essentially an ‘auto-battle’ feature, you can have the game automatically replay maps for as long as you have stamina remaining. When choosing a map you get to set how many times you want it to replay.

Fire Emblem: Heroes isn’t a game we’ve been keeping on top of, so it’s hard to expertly assess the impact of these features. The community has already expressed their concern over this new pass – the video itself is already at 11K dislikes vs. 6.3K likes.

The FEH Pass will be available to purchase after the 4.2 update, which is due later this week on February 5th.

So you’ve bought yourself a tablet. Maybe it’s an iPad, maybe it’s a Galaxy or ZenPad. Maybe you’re a longtime mobile gamer and longtime PT reader who has chafed at the restrictions of your itty bitty phone screen (Maybe you’re called Richard-ED). Maybe you’ve just googled “best tablet games” and landed on our page.

Since the roll-out of ‘Universal’ after phones got bigger and sharper resolutions there haven’t really been as many tablet-exclusive games, but there are still quite a few amazing experiences that only unlock once you’ve upgraded to a larger screen. This article runs down a few of those games that are only for iPad or Android tablet owners, plus some that only really shine when played extra large.

What are the best iPad and Android Games?

• Invisible, Inc.
• Prison Architect
• Darkest Dungeon
• FTL
• Sunless Sea
• Civilization VI
• Rome: Total War
• The Banner Saga

Best Tablet Games | General Advice

To start with, board games are always better on a screen that’s closer in size to a tabletop. Tablets are great ways to play solo versions of your favorite table games against AI or play online when you can’t find any like-minded friends. You can even pass the tablet around in some titles, which can be a lot easier than setting up all those pieces yourself. App versions are also a great way to preview a game you may be interested in, since they typically cost about a tenth of what you’d pay for the whole box of cardboard.

Best Tablet Games

Invisible, Inc.

Indie masters Klei found a perfect fit when they brought the incredibly unique stealth tactics of Invisible, Inc to tablets. You’ve never played a tactics game quite like this before: a turn-based high-stakes Metal Gear Solid. Invisible, Inc. isn’t a game that you can half-ass, as each turn has the potential to devastate your team.

Careful choices regarding which guards and security systems to incapacitate are a must, and your team’s quickly dwindling resources will keep you on edge the whole mission. Those missions are procedurally-generated, by the way, to always be surprising.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz80VkQn1xg]

Prison Architect

You couldn’t fit a sim as detailed as Prison Architect into a tiny phone. This game goes beyond mere cells and exercise yards to require the player to handle utilities, staffing, and more. Putting the screws on the player are disasters like riots and floods, and of course the ever-present budget difficulties. Who can serve justice when there’s the almighty dollar? The game is free-to-try in demo mode, to boot, so there’s really no excuse for missing this excellent sim. Available on iOS and Android.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdbQYZW9Upo?controls=0]

Darkest Dungeon

The gorgeous woodcut artwork of Darkest Dungeon would look like chickenscratch on a tiny phone, which is why this game is exclusive to tablets. In this game, you lead parties of graverobbers, plague doctors, highwaymen and others into challenging dungeons full of weird and deadly monsters. This detailed dungeon-crawler needs the extra screen real estate to present its complex systems.

While it can be frustrating that a lot of the information you need is hidden under tooltips that only pop up when long pressing interface elements (which can also lead to misclicks), overall, the exceptional tactical combat and unique party management of Darkest Dungeon, plus its unrelenting pitch-black humor make it a must have for RPG fans that own a tablet.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-mXN3akTPU?controls=0]

FTL

FTL: Faster Than Light underwent some pretty clever revisions to make its intense gameplay work on a touchscreen. It’s still one of the best games to have integrated roguish elements into other styles of gameplay. It’s only on tablets because its detailed strategies need room to breathe. Fire in the engine room? Open some doors to vent it to space! Pirate’s shields are too strong for your lasers? Take it out with a boarding party of rock people! Still one of the most challenging and most compelling experiences on any platform, if you’ve got a tablet FTL is one you can’t miss.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9oYEug0ffA]

Sunless Sea

For gamers looking for a little story, look no further than Sunless Sea. You may have enjoyed gamebooks like Sorcery and 80 Days on your phone, but Sunless Sea is so much more. It’s based on the weird fantasy of the browser game Fallen London, where horror and gothic whimsy go hand-in-hand. In addition to its exceptional writing and eerily well-developed setting you get a tricky roguish survival adventure where you have to balance your need for fuel, food and crew with an aching desire to discover what lies just beyond the horizon.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhIk2PqPU3o?controls=0]

Civilization VI

Now, Civilization VI isn’t exclusive to tablets, but would you really want to try to fit all of human history into a palm-sized screen? I thought not. Where other games get stripped-down mobile versions, Civ VI is the full-fat PC original minus only cosmetic flourishes. It is, of course, an amazing strategy game worthy of the storied lineage of Sid Meier’s Civilization and it plays great on your tablet. The base game is a bargain since the expansion packs have been released.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N94YvcvbBXI?controls=0]

Rome: Total War

Another surprising PC port was the first Rome edition of Total War. Although an older entry in the series (released in 2004 on PC), Rome: Total War is considered by many to be the series’ high point. The tablet version not only adapted the game to touch controls, but updated the graphics. Want to see hundreds of tiny hoplites clash in epic real-time tactical battles? Rome has got that. Want to command a campaign that spans the Mediterranean? Hop in. Two expansions have only made this colossal game more titanic. Available on iOS and Android.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DN9Hu0lTqY0]

The Banner Saga

For a more epic tale there’s the Banner Saga, a PC trilogy whose third act has yet to hit mobile, but whose first two installments pack enough tragedy and hard-won triumph to fill dozens of hours. In between tight turn-based tactical rounds, you’ll make hard choices to guide the survivors of a broken world. What’s more, the games’ astonishingly beautiful animation will make you nostalgic for the fantasies of the 50s — and just like a film, these games are best enjoyed on a big screen. Available on iOS and Android.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbIH0vS9AG4]

What games do you enjoy playing on Tablet over phones? Let us know in the comments!

Anyone who’s familiar with the PC version of Black Desert Online will be used to the development studio adding in new classes, whether they be brand new or new gender-specific options for existing class-types.

With a much smaller class-set on launch, Black Desert Mobile has all of that to look forward too, and the first new class since launch has just been added: Say hello to The Sorceress.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DrQPrrM8WA?controls=0]

You can make your character look like anything, of course, but the ‘default’ look for the new class looks oddly familiar… imagine if The Witcher’s Yennefer were done in Anime styling and wore less clothes, perhaps. For the header imagine I selected one of the less risque clothing options in the character creation menu.

The Sorceress is billed as an adaptable class, capable of both up-close and long ranged attacks. This can be summarized by two of her moves – the Shadow Kick, which does exactly what you think it does and the Dark Pulse, which is a ranged attack. As you can see from the video above she can do a bunch of other moves as well, depending on your style.

This new update also brings with it a new magical enhancement system as well. When your Black Spirit consumes items, it can generate magical residue which can be in turn used to buff weapons via the new system.

Of course, you know what the best thing about this new update is – I get to play the Flappy Bird game again.