The Hobbit hops onto browsers, mobile through Edgeworld maker

by Joe Osborne, Posted Sep 25th 2012 10:30AM

It looks like famed filmmaker Peter Jackson's (and author J. R. R. Tolkien) The Hobbit is next in line for social game maker Kabam to immortalize. Hot off the heels of a strategy game rendition of The Godfather, the Dragons of Atlantis creator has two Hobbit-themed games incoming: The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth on mobile and The Hobbit: Armies of the Third Age on browsers.

In partnership with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, both games will launch this fall. Kingdoms of Middle-earth sees to it that players build and manage their very own kingdom as well as explore and join in on a sprawling war. Armies of the Third Age, on the other hand, is said to be more focused on fast-paced combat and strategy with players taking the lead among one of the races: Dwarves, Elves or Orcs. Of course, both releases will be free-to-play (and supported by micro-transactions.)
"We are very pleased to work with Kabam in creating immersive free-to-play online games on massive scales across multiple platforms," Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment SVP of Digital Games Greg Ballard said in a release. "Kabam's Armies of the Third Age and Kingdoms of Middle-earth will be an excellent way for The Hobbit film fans around the world to delve more into the iconic story and interact with the characters in the universe."

Click here to sign up for The Hobbit: Armies of the Third Age beta test Now >

Are you excited about two social games based around The Hobbit, or are you concerned for the brand? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.

Tags: kabam, the hobbit, the hobbit armies of the third age, the hobbit armies of the third age web, the hobbit facebook game, the hobbit kingdoms of middle-earth, the hobbit mobile game, the hobbit social game, warner bros, warner bros. interactive entertainment

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Kabam trades dragons for desert planets in Edgeworld for Facebook

Prepare to activate your "Check Your Edgeworld Base!" phone alarms. Kabam, creator of strategy Facebook hits like Dragons of Atlantis and Kingdoms of Camelot, has launched Edgeworld on Facebook and Google+ Games. (Kabam is also the first Facebook developer to launch a game on Google+ Games.) Edgeworld takes a visibly different approach to strategy games than its predecessors, with a focus on real-time combat between players.

The game also focuses heavily on mood, with rallying, futuristic music and a story that unfolds as you play. You've been enlisted as commander of a rogue faction of The Union, a collection of nations who landed on the planet Cerulea to harvest the resources and technology of an advanced, ancient alien race known as The Ceruleans.

You know, standard sci-fi fare. Like most real-time strategy games on Facebook (and elsewhere, really), you must gather resources to build an efficient base, muster defenses for that base and execute strategic attacks against both other players and the storyline factions.

That said, players can choose to focus on either the sprawling campaign, much like Empires & Allies, or to go to war with other players. Regardless, your "safe status" will eventually disappear as you progress in the game, so you'll have to fight opposing players eventually. (Within three days of starting the game, to be exact.) While players can purchase protection from other players, the easiest way to ensure your survival in this game is to form alliances with fellow commanders for mutually-assured protection.

The game seems to have been heavily influenced by traditional strategy franchises like Starcraft and Command and Conquer. However, competing Facebook strategy game maker Kixeye claims that Kabam copied its Backyard Monsters in Edgeworld's creation. Regardless of where Kabam sourced its inspiration from, Edgeworld looks to be a blast, and already enjoys over 400 thousand players. With strategy games looking (and sounding) like this, it's no wonder that nearly 80 million Facebook gamers are playing strategy games on the platform. Just remember to sleep, kay?

Click here to play Edgeworld on Facebook Now >

Have you tried Edgeworld out yet, and if so, what do you think so far? Do you think this is the start of a growing trend in social games? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.

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Kabam Officially Announces Edgeworld for Facebook Following Google+ Launch

Edgeworld is a real time strategy game for Facebook and Google+ from veteran developer Kabam. This is the company’s first foray into the real-time genre, all its previous strategy games having been asynchronous in combat. The game first arrived on Facebook in mid-May in a semi-closed beta state that lasted several months while Kabam evidently readied a simultaneous Google+ launch.

According to our traffic tracking service AppData, Edgeworld currently has 420,825 monthly active users and 86,634 daily active users.

Edgeworld is a strategy game of base-building, unit management and player vs player combat. The game has a lot of gameplay elements in common with Kixeye’s popular Facebook strategy title Backyard Monsters, which has led to accusations of cloning. We leave it to the dedicated players to have the final say in the cloning matter, but we do believe it’s worth pointing out that while the early-level experiences are very similar, there is potential for Edgeworld to differentiate itself from Backyard Monsters in post-launch content that further explores traditional RTS gameplay elements.

During a game of Edgeworld, a player is expected to collect resources from their production buildings, build structures to fund and defend their base, train units to be ready to assault other bases — both player and computer-controlled — and then send said units into battle to assert their dominance over the game world. The game is controlled by a simple mouse-driven interface which is introduced through a straightforward tutorial and followed by seven days of protection from attack by other players to allow newcomers the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the game thoroughly.

The game features real-time chat and in-game mail facilities, much the same as other Kabam titles. Rather than a traditional “neighbor” system, Edgeworld players populate a persistent game map and are able to see when potential opponents are online. Players who attack offline opponents are likely to cause more damage than those who are online and able to react to an assault.

To keep higher-level players from constantly attacking lower-level, Kabam has introduced a balancing mechanism that reduces the amount of spoils an attacker can collect based on levels — which means there are diminishing returns for a level 10 player attacking a level 2 player. Beyond that, there is no match-making to restrict who can attack whom and a player’s best chance at safety after a 7-day tutorial period expires is to either buy defenses or join an alliance.

Edgeworld is monetized through its premium currency of Platinum, of which the player is provided with 10 units to begin with, and which can then be purchased using Facebook Credits. Platinum can be spent on extra resources for use in building construction, speed-ups, boosts, tickets to enter the prize draw to win additional items and hours of protection from attack from other players.

As for the game’s future, Kabam is planning on a standard set of updates to the game that introduce new armor, enemy types, and higher level caps for players and structures. An interesting feature due out a month or so after launch will place players’ bases on a grid map with adjacent bases and plots of land. Players can use the map to expand their territory by conquering unclaimed spaces adjacent to their bases as “outposts,” or by stumbling on other players’ bases and attacking or allying with them. Ultimately, features like the maps system and emergent gameplay from the PvP mode will set Edgeworld apart from Backyard Monsters over time.

You can follow Edgeworld’s progress using AppData, our traffic tracking application for social games and developers.

Additional reporting by AJ Glasser.

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