Karlsruhe, 06.11.2012 – Ikariam, one of the most successful browser games ever with over 51 million registered players, is going mobile: following a successful trend. The market for digital entertainment and, in particular, the mobile game sector, is constantly growing. More and more people are playing away from their stationary PCs and consoles: they are playing on the go. According to analysts at Digi-Capital, the entire digital games market will reach a turnover of 82 billion USD by the year 2015. This corresponds to an increase of a full 14 percent from 2011 to 2015. Online and mobile games in particular are named as growth drivers, which will by then will make up 50 percent (or 41 billion USD) of the entire market.
The German civilisation strategy game Ikariam, developed by the Karlsruhe-based games company is already able to look back at a successful history: launched at the beginning of 2008 in Germany, Ikariam is now played in over 60 countries; 38 different language versions allow players to dive into the ancient island world from all over the globe and now they will be able to do it on the go too.
The Ancient World is going Mobile
In November 2012, the mobile version for the Apple iPad will be released. The main focus during this implementation is to create an optimum experience with the many capabilities of the tablet. This means that Ikariam gets the full range of functions that players already know and love from the browser version but with a touchscreen experience.
“Ikariam stands out with its easy accessibility, appealing graphics and with game content that gradually becomes more and more complex”, said Sebastian Meyer, Product Director at Gameforge. “As developers and publishers, creating a mobile version of Ikariam was the next logical step and we are very pleased with the results.”
Ikariam is a browser-based strategy game, that whisks players from all over the world into an antique island setting and is completely free of charge. In an era of emerging advanced civilisations, ground-breaking discoveries and destructive battles, the player leads their civilisation to honour and glory. With a comprehensive overview, great tactics and by cooperating with thousands of other players, a huge online world can be explored and seized. Ikariam has been fascinating players from around the globe since early 2008 and so far 60 million players have registered for the game. Since November 2012, the game has also been available as a mobile version on the iPad.