With mere days until the official unveiling of the next iPad from Apple (could it really be anything else?), it's interesting to see a game studio commit to a tablet-first game creation approach. Finnish developer of third-person Facebook shooter Gunshine.net Supercell has announced that it will make games for tablets first and elsewhere second, according to Inside Mobile Apps (ISA)."The volume, the size and the growth rate of the platform is really interesting. More importantly, we see that there's a massive opportunity in tablets to develop new ways of actually playing games," Supercell CEO Ilkka Paanannen told ISA. "There's a much bigger screen and when you combine that with a touch interface, it enables new kinds of game experiences."
To commemorate the announcement, Supercell has also revealed Battle Buddies, the first game to employ this tablet-first strategy. Well, "tablet-first" may as well mean "iPad-first," considering its massive market share. But Supercell will consider other types of tablets in the future, according to Greg Harper, Supercell's GM of its new San Francisco office and former iWin president.
All that's known so far about Battle Buddies is that it's a team combat game designed specifically to take full advantage of the iPad sometime in Q2 2012, or before April. According to Paanannen, Supercell's new approach will separate itself from other mobile game makers that simply upscale their games to tablets. One thing is for certain: Battle Buddies will be testament to that.
Are you interested in seeing what comes from Supercell's tablet-first game creation strategy? Would other game makers be smart to do the same? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.