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ZombsRoyale.io

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ZombsRoyale.io
Developer(s)
  • End Game Interactive
  • Yang C. Liu
Platform(s)
ReleaseMarch 14, 2018
Genre(s)
Mode(s)Multiplayer

ZombsRoyale.io is a battle royale game developed by End Game Interactive. It was released for web browsers in 2018, with iOS and Android ports later that year. A simplified take on the genre, game matches follow up to 100 players who must fight on a large map to be the last survivors. It uses simple 2D graphics and a top-down perspective.

ZombsRoyale.io was the fourth title by End Game, a Washington–based developer established the year before. Despite featuring no zombies, it was named so because it used the same engine as End Game's Zombs.io. The game was made to follow the recent trends of both battle royales such as Fortnite Battle Royale (2017) and .io games such as Agar.io (2015). It received little attention from journalists, but became the tenth most Googled video game in the U.S. that year and its popularity helped End Game raise over $3 million from investors.

In ZombsRoyale.io matches, the last standing team or player wins.

Gameplay

ZombsRoyale.io is a top-down battle royale game.[1] Like other .io games, it has simplified gameplay and 2D graphics.[2][3] There are three game modes, Solo, Duo, or Squads, and limited time modes which rotate regularly. Like other battle royales, up to 100 players — some of which may be computer-controlled bots — are dropped into matches. Games are typically short, around five minutes long.[4]

Players parachute into the map out of a plane, where weapons, mostly various types of firearms, healing items, and ammo can be found in buildings and crates. A cloud of poisonous gas slowly closes in, limiting the play area and forcing players together. Depending on the game mode, the last player or team standing wins.[4][5]

The quality of weapons, which include sniper rifles, SMGs, tridents and grenades, are determined by their rarity.[6]

Background

End Game Interactive was founded in Bellevue, Washington, in 2017, by web developers Yang C. Liu and Luke Zbihlyj.[7][8] The pair were best known for PokéVision, an unofficial website which tracked Pokémon in the 2016 AR game Pokémon Go. It had a userbase of 50 million, around half the game's players, before the CEO of Pokémon Go developer Niantic asked it to be shut down a month after it started.[9]

The viral success of Agar.io (2015) and Slither.io (2016) led to a new genre of browser game. .io games are defined loosely by their domain name, simplicity, and massively multiplayer elements. The genre's mechanics pit players against each other and have a "low-commitment, die-and-retry" gameplay loop. End Game Interactive decided to start making .io games, but their first effort, the shooter LASERSHARKS.io, was not successful. They then made Zombs.io, a tower defense and base building game and one of the first .io games with a persistent world. A week later, they made Spinz.io, a fidget spinner version of Agar.io, in a second attempt to make a viral streamer-friendly game after LASERSHARKS.io.[10] The YouTubers PewDiePie and Jacksepticeye made videos playing it.[11]

Development

End Game Interactive's small team of around 20,[12] led by CEO Liu, spent four weeks developing ZombsRoyale.io and the rest of 2018 maintaining and expanding it.[7] It was released for web browsers in early 2018, while a PC client came out sometime later.[8] iOS and Android ports were released in May.[2]

Although there are no zombies in the game, the game was named ZombsRoyale.io because it used the same engine as End Game's Zombs.io.[13] Like how Spinz.io was made to capitalize on a recent fidget spinner trend,[10] ZombsRoyale.io was inspired by the rise of battle royale games such as PUBG: Battlegrounds (2017) and Fortnite Battle Royale (2018).[2][14] Liu did the art for both Spinz.io and ZombsRoyale.io.[7]

Reception

In 2018, ZombsRoyale.io was the tenth most Googled video game in the U.S., the only non–AAA game in the top ten. It received little coverage from game journalists,[15] but amassed 45 million players by 2020.[8]

Rock Paper Shotgun's Ollie Toms, an avid player of battle royales, appreciated the top-down perspective, which he thought gave all players an equal footing and prevented third-partying, the practice of sneaking up on two players already fighting. Because of this, he found it more enjoyable than other battle royales. Coupled with the short rounds, Toms felt ZombsRoyale.io was "Less satisfying than winning a 45-minute PUBG match, for sure - but also far, far less frustrating."[16] From the same publication, Dominic Tarason said ZombsRoyale.io was "simple enough to pick up and play despite containing just about everything you'd expect from a modern Battle Royale shooter." Because of the top-down graphics, Tarason said the "focus [was] on clever positioning rather than run-and-gun action."[13] A TouchArcade writer described it as "a very interesting blend" of Fortnite and PUBG, but with a 2D top-down view,[2] while Gamezebo said it was "part PUBG, part Hotline Miami".[5]

In 2020, End Game Interactive raised $3 million in seed funding from investors such as Supercell, Scooter Braun, Unity founder David Helgason, and Twitch founder Kevin Lin.[8] The company said they would use it to expand on ZombsRoyale.io and create more games like it.[3] In 2021, Liu was an honoree of the Forbes 30 Under 30 in Games.[17]

See also

References

  1. ^ Morgan, Rachel; Shore, Matt; Nelson, Samantha (March 22, 2023). "Best battle royales for Android 2023". Android Central. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d Madnani, Mikhail (May 11, 2018). "'ZombsRoyale.io' Is a 2D Top Down Battle Royale That Blends 'PUBG' and 'Fortnite, Available Now on iOS". TouchArcade. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Grubb, Jeff (February 28, 2020). "End Game Interactive raises $3 million to build expand on ZombsRoyale.io". VentureBeat. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  4. ^ a b Toms, Ollie (May 1, 2019). "60 Zombs Royale tips - top tips on how to play ZombsRoyale.io like a pro". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Hewitt, Marc (April 27, 2018). "Frantic multiplayer shooter Zombs Royale is part PUBG, part Hotline Miami". Gamezebo. Archived from the original on January 31, 2022.
  6. ^ Toms, Ollie (April 29, 2019). "Zombs Royale weapons guide - best guns, weapon stats, new XBow and XM8 weapons". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c Ha, Anthony (February 28, 2020). "End Game, the startup behind Zombs Royale, raises $3M". TechCrunch. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  8. ^ a b c d Perez, Matt (February 28, 2020). "Scooter Braun, Makers Fund And Supercell Help Raise $3 Million For Creator Of Popular 'ZombsRoyale' Game". Forbes. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
  9. ^ Turk, Victoria (August 6, 2016). "We Talked to the Creator of PokéVision About Losing 50 Million Users Overnight". Vice. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
  10. ^ a b Castello, Jay (February 22, 2018). "The rise and rise of .io games". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
  11. ^ Sheehan, Gavin (June 27, 2017). "Someone Made A Fidget Spinner Verision Of Agar.io … Why?!". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
  12. ^ "End Game Interactive". Forbes. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
  13. ^ a b Tarason, Dominic (March 16, 2018). "Who needs 3D? ZombsRoyale.io boils down Battle Royale". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  14. ^ Allan, Darren (March 20, 2019). "Well-known battlegrounds: the rise of battle royale games". TechRadar. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
  15. ^ Bailey, Dustin (January 3, 2019). "Google's top ten most-searched games of 2018 run from Fortnite to Zombs Royale". PCGamesN. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
  16. ^ Toms, Ollie (December 3, 2019). "Have you played… ZombsRoyale.io?". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  17. ^ Perez, Matt; Cai, Kenrick (2021). "Forbes 30 Under 30 2021: Games". Forbes. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
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