Rovio Hatching New Netflix-Like Streaming Mobile Gaming Service
Play streaming mobile games on-demand and with friends – even single-player titles.
Angry Birds creator and publisher Rovio has spun off to a new venture: on-demand streaming mobile games.
Named Hatch, the new service should come online for mobile gamers during the first part of 2017.
Hatch will let players connect to a community of other mobile gamers as well as allowing them to stream any games from partners like Bandai Namco, Taito, and indie teams like the one behind Leo’s Fortune.
With Hatch, you won’t have to ever download a game again, nor update it. Everything is streaming, which means there’s no in-app purchases, either. Rovio promises that it will only have premium experiences for Hatch users.
Hatch gamers will be able to connect with friends and family easily in a community-based system that will let you broadcast live game sessions and share moments from your own gameplay. Get stuck in a particularly tricky puzzle? Ask a friend to watch you play and help you solve it.
“It’s not just about playing games, it’s about sharing new experiences with the people in your life. Hatch represents a new social frontier and a new beginning for mobile games. We are soft launching in 2017 for Android users, but ultimately our intention is to bring Hatch to other platforms such as iOS as well. Our mission is to bring everyone together over the games they love.”
- Hatch Founder and CEO Juhani Honkala
The plan is to soft launch on Android with 100 different titles, including hit games like Badland, Broken Age, Cut the Rope 2, Dokuro, The King of Fighters ‘98, Leo’s Fortune, Monument Valley, Pac-Man CE DX, Rayman Fiesta Run, République and Space Invaders Infinity Gene.
There’ll even be new Hatch Originals that can only be played on the platform itself. These will take advantage of the coop multiplayer features of Hatch, and the first Original will be titled IslaBomba: Ready to Boom, developed by Sons of a Bit.
The new company also hopes to entice developers with a new revenue model that won’t require indie teams to create an elaborate, balanced game economy. Hatch will use integrated advertising and “brand storytelling,” along with an optional paid subscription model to help fund development teams who bring their titles to Hatch.
Whether the service takes off or not, it’s an intriguing idea and a definite disruption to the traditional app-centric way of doing business. What do you think?
Via: Gamasutra
Some of the Games Coming to Hatch
