Vainglory featured in commercial with Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon … sort of

Vainglory, the high-end multiplayer battle arena (MOBA) game for the Apple iPad and iPhone, is getting a lot of love.

Apple has featured the game from Super Evil Megacorp multiple times, and now it is featuring the game in an ad for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6+. The video ad shows the screens for two iPhone 6 devices being held by two different players. But if you notice, the voiceover characters are played by entertainers Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon. You never see their faces; you just hear their voices.

That’s a pretty good free promotion for a mobile game. This also comes on the heels of mobile studio Machine Zone using supermodel Kate Upton in a television commercial to promote its strategy flagship, Game of War. Both ads are gambits at grabbing a big slice of the mobile gaming market, which could hit $25 billion by the end of the year.

If this game takes off, it won’t be for lack of publicity. It launched last week on the App Store, and it has jumped to the No. 9 position in top downloads in the U.S. It is No. 2 in U.S. strategy games.

The San Mateo, Calif.-based Super Evil Megacorp created a brand new game engine and tailored its game for mobile devices from the ground up. Most MOBAs are popular on the PC, but Vainglory was unique as a high-end tablet and smartphone game. Super Evil Megacorp worked on the title for 2.5 years.

Apple is showing off the game because it pushes the A8 processor in the new iPhones to the limit in order to get the best 3D graphics performance. That alliance is a bonanza for a mobile game company, which would otherwise have to fend for itself in competition with a million other apps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CEa9fL9nS0