Yesterday saw Apple quietly drop 20 new titles on its Apple Arcade subscription, among them Fingersoft’s ever-popular Hill Climb Racing+, a remaster of the original Hill Climb Racing.
“We are thrilled to announce that Hill Climb Racing is now a part of the exclusive Apple Arcade marketplace. Being featured on this platform is a tremendous opportunity for us, and we couldn’t be more excited to share our game with a wider audience. Apple Arcade is known for its high-quality games, and we are honoured to have Hill Climb Racing+ included in this collection”, said Fingersoft CEO Jaakko Kylmäoja.
“Apple Arcade is changing the mobile games market in a positive way: their advertisement and in-app purchase free model allows us to provide our players with an uninterrupted and immersive experience”, Kylmäoja said. “After 10 years of Hill Climb Racing, we have an astonishing amount of gameplay content. With Apple Arcade, the players can fully enjoy the vast world of Hill Climb Racing in a new way.”
Running up that hill
Since the first release of the original Hill Climb Racing in 2012, the franchise has gone on to be a global hit, with both the original and its sequel accumulating over 2 billion downloads across platforms. This success has seen the franchise grow, with Hill Climb Racing 2 last year making the move to cloud gaming, and a Lego crossover going into beta earlier this year.
At present, it’s unknown how this move will affect future releases in the franchise, however it’s worth noting that Fingersoft has entered into an agreement with Flexion to release both Hill Climb Racer and its sequel on alternative app stores.
“The alternative distribution market has traditionally been difficult to evaluate for both developers and investors due to the lack of official performance data,” said Flexion CEO Jens Lauriszon. “But the strong growth in Flexion is an indication that the alternative app stores have reached such a level that even the biggest independent developers like Fingersoft are starting to take an interest.”
its continued strong performance highlights the strength of Finland’s mobile-first gaming industry. Could we see a new contender at next year’s Finnish Game Awards? Only time will tell.