Rival Kingdoms downloaded 1m times in first week

UK developer Space Ape games has revealed that its recently released iOS title Rival Kingdoms was downloaded over 1m times in its first week of release.

The numbers were in no small part aided by some very decent YouTuber backing for the game, which itself has generated some 120,000 views. Mirror’s Edge and Tomb Raider writer Rhianna Pratchett served as the game’s writer.

We’re thrilled at the overwhelming response we’ve had to the release of Rival Kingdoms,” Space Ape CEO John Earner said. We’ve spent a lot of time exploring why players love the strategy genre so much, and we’ve seen fantastic reviews come in, with the game achieving over 2,000 reviews clocking in at four point six stars.

Many mobile strategy games offer a satisfying loop for a few minutes, but lack depth and sophistication. And, on PC and console, depth and sophistication come at the cost of convenience and time. We wanted to build a game that can scratch the gaming itch at a bus stop or checkout queue, but also offer hours of base development, alliance building and combat, with great music, better-developed characters and narrative and beautiful graphics”

Space Ape’s first game, Samurai Siege, has been downloaded over 10m in its first year, generating over $20m in the process.