The longest day of the year—the summer solstice—is coming. Zynga is marking the occasion with the release of Solstice Arena, its own entry in the hugely popular multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) genre. Solstice Arena, available now for iPhone and iPad, aims to let both hardcore and casual MOBA fans engage in fierce battles with friends and enemies alike.
EG:I think that game developers need to stop trying to clone popular franchises. As different as Solstice Arena is, I can tell that it just wants to be League of Legends. The annoying thing is Solstice Arena isn’t that bad, but it won’t garner as much attention or popularity by trying to compete with a massive game like LoL. The weird decision that Zynga made was making it originally for mobile which means they dodge most of the flak from trying to compete with LoL. However I’m not sure how well a MOBA game works on a mobile device.
Not only did we get the chance to sit down with Bryan Pope to get our hands on Zynga's midcore games, we got some extended info on their new mobile MOBA title - Solstice Arena. The general manager behind the game, Frederic Descamps, talked to Heavy about everything from midcore games to what games he's been playing lately. Prior to joining Zynga, he served as head of publishing at Trion Worlds, makers of the popular MMO, Rift. Mr. Descamps certainly knows a thing or two about addictive gameplay. Check out our full Q&A session below.
Pretty fun game for a quick MOBA fix when you're on the go since games last around 5-10 min. Too lazy to learn actual "builds" like on Dota or LoL though, so I just stick with recommended items like a pleb.
Still waiting on an Android release so I can play it on my tablet vs iPhone.
GamesBeat: We take a look at three real-time strategy games on mobile -- Champs: Battlegrounds, War of Nations, and Solstice Arena -- that developers specifically designed for the hardcore gamer.
Hm...I wonder if RTS is a good mobile genre. Usually that's more geared to quick-hit game sessions.
