SGN launches Skies of Glory as the first cross-platform Android-iPhone game
SGN today launched its first game where players with Android phones can engage in multiplayer competition with players using iPhones.
The Skies of Glory flight combat game launched last fall on the iPhone, and its Android version is launching today. Players can connect via Wi-Fi and other wireless modes and play each other in multiplayer dogfights. Such live cross-platform play hasn’t been possible before, but the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company did the necessary work to make it happen.
You can form a team of Apple pilots to fight against Android users or have players on different platforms fight on the same side. The Android version requires players to have version 2.0 or higher of the Google mobile operating system. Such phones include the EVO, NexusOne and Droid. The Android version was developed in collaboration with Revo Solutions Games, which developed the original iPhone game.
Randy Breen, chief executive of SGN, said in the mobile games panel this week at VentureBeat’s MobileBeat 2010 that cross-platform games will help broaden the audience for mobile games over time. It’s more convenient for friends to be able to play each other across any platform, since the odds of friends having the same phone are relatively low.
“Mobile phones are unquestionably the gaming platform of the future. Smartphones are becoming accessible to all, and we are really excited to offer a true multi-platform, multiplayer social mobile gaming experience through ‘Skies of Glory,” Breen said. “As more and more people connect with family and friends through gaming, we continue to facilitate that connection regardless of users’ device or platform preferences.”
SGN and Revo Solutions created an open multiplayer platform framework to support a variety of platforms with a range of wireless connectivity, from EDGE to 3G and Wi-Fi. SGN has had more than 18 million downloads of its iPhone and iPod Touch games. It remains to be seen whether Apple itself will be a fan of cross-platform play.
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About the Author, Dean Takahashi
Dean is lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He covers video games, security, chips and a variety of other subjects. Dean previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News, the Wall Street Journal, the Red Herring, the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register and the Dallas Times Herald. He is the author of two books, Opening the Xbox and the Xbox 360 Uncloaked. Follow him on Twitter at @deantak, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.
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