Michal Ždanský Gameloft is one of the most successful game publishers/developers in the mobile market. It reported a turnover of 61,7 million euros for the last quarter and expects to reach a total turnover of around 2013 million euros for 240. Every year, the company churns out dozens of games for iOS, Android and, recently, Windows Phone, but most of them are not very original. Gameloft has made many millions by copying successful games from consoles and PC, and they are not ashamed of it at all.
Gameloft has a long tradition in the mobile gaming world. Long before he started developing games for the App Store, he was involved in Java game development and belonged together with Fish Labs (Galaxy on Fire) among the top, in fact, he still hasn't left this platform. The company was founded in France in 1999 by Michel Guillemot. The same Michel Guillemot who co-founded one of the most successful gaming companies today – Ubisoft – and is also the brother of current Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot.
Already on the Java platform, Gameloft was one of the developers with the most available titles. Its menu included, for example, racing games from the series Asphalt, a football simulation Real Football or licensed offshoots of well-known games – Prince of Persia, Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon and also movie games. Here, Gameloft was also a leading developer when it came to bringing movie characters to mobile phone screens.
The opening of the App Store created a completely new opportunity for Gameloft, which the publisher seized and focused on most of all platforms. In 2008-2009, quality iOS games were in short supply, as were developer studios. So Gameloft started churning out one title after another. At that time, he tried to satisfy the hunger for well-known titles from PC and consoles by releasing copies of these games. Although the main characters and the story were different, it was clear to every player where Gameloft was more than inspired. He "ported" many well-known and successful games to iPhone displays in this way. To give you an idea, here's a partial list of the games Gameloft was inspired by:
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- Hero of Sparta I/II = God of War
- Shadow Guardian = Uncharted
- Modern Combat = Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Zombie Infection = Resident Evil
- Eternal Legacy = Final Fantasy XIII
- Dungeon Hunter = Diablo
- Sacred Odyssey = Zelda
- Starfront - Collision = Starcraft
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- Brain Challenge = Brain Age
- Gangstar = Grand Theft Auto
- Blades of Fury = Soulcalibur
- Skater Nation = Tony Hawk Pro Skater
- NOVA = Hello
- Order & Chaos = World of Warcraft
- Six Guns = Red Dead Redemption
- 9mm = Max Payne
- Silent Ops = Splinter Cell
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Despite blatant copying of well-known titles, Gameloft has never faced a lawsuit filed by the developers of the original titles. One cannot deny Gameloft - it brought the types of games that were missing mainly on the iPhone and later on the iPad. gangsta we were able to play long before it hit the App Store gta 3, or 9 mm before making his debut here Max Payne. O World of Warcraft not to mention However, Gameloft still stands by the same strategy today, and in five years the App Store has brought few truly original titles.
After all, Gameloft is not particularly ashamed of copying, at least it appears from statement by Michel Guillemot:
Our games are not for hardcore gamers, but for people who want a deep experience. If a game type is not available, then you should do it. The only harm you can do here is to miss a good idea.
It's hard to say exactly how deep an experience Gameloft's CEO has in mind. His games are not characterized by a deep and well-thought-out plot, on the contrary, it is very often shallow and rather just complements the action, unlike the original titles. In addition, Gameloft is far from being at the technological peak in terms of graphics processing, which it was at when the first part of NOVA was released, nor the use of Unreal Engine in Wild Blood did not produce the expected result.
It certainly doesn't mean that all Gameloft games are bad. For example, the last two parts Modern Combat they were able to fill the absence perfectly Call of Duty, which until the recent release strike team she insisted. As well as classic real-time strategies of the type Starcraft you won't find much in the App Store and Starfront not a bad game at all.
However, it is a shame that a company as capable as Gameloft churns out a large number of games every year on a treadmill at the expense of depth and sometimes quality. He can still endlessly release movie games (most recently, for example Dark Knight Rises, The Amazing Spiderman) and iterate over established titles (Asphalt), however, it may not take long for players to lose interest and give preference to the often more sophisticated indie titles that are currently conquering the App Store (Minecraft, Limbo, ...)
There is a lack of really strong and original brands that Gameloft could boast of. Not just licensed remakes or ports of pre-existing titles. You won't find a large number of original titles in its offer. Backstab not exactly an ideal example of a good game and siberian strike is long forgotten.
What about Gameloft? preparing as another game? Dragon mania, to great surprise, again a copy, this time of a successful social-strategy game Dragon City, where you take care of dragons instead of a farm. The never ending story continues…
Here I have to defend Gameloft, although their games contain some reference to console games, but those games are very fun and Modern Combat 4, for example, ranks among the top of mobile gaming.
I agree, otherwise I have most of the games from Gameloft, they are great.
No one disputes that:
“It certainly doesn't mean that all Gameloft games are bad. For example, the last two parts of Modern Combat were able to perfectly fill the absence of Call of Duty (…)"
I agree with it too... In essence, gameloft remakes console blockbusters into mobile gaming... Although it's like a copycat with different names... But thanks to them, we have something to play;)
It seems as if the author of the article is criticizing Gameloft for what he is doing, thanks to him mobile gaming has moved to a previously unimaginable level and developers from other studios can see how far mobile gaming can go, yes, the only thing I agree with is that some games are fast paced, but a large number of games such as the nova series, modern warfare, dungeon hunter, gangstar and many others, this is currently the top of mobile games and the fact that they copy the theme or style from a PC or console game is really stolen from me, for what Gameloft is doing he should have been praised and not blamed for being a hillbilly. Otherwise, I don't know how to compare NOVA to Halo, rather to Crysis.
dungeon hunter is not based on the devil, but based on the same game from ps2, psp and ps vita