Kabam Shows Off Content Updates And A New Title In NYC

With the competition fierce and new games coming out all the time, even successful mobile companies can’t rest. Coming up with new titles and fresh updates for existing games is a necessary part of the process, which is why Kabam was showing off some of its wares to the media in New York City earlier this week in an event it co-hosted with Sega.

GameSided was in attendance to get the lowdown on what’s in the Kabam pipeline, including new stuff for some of the company’s hits and a brand new game that calls to mind a classic console series. Here’s what to look for over the next few months:

• “Fast & Furious 6: The Game” gets a big update in November focused on “Race Wars” which were inspired by the films (and real life). More licensed cars and places to race are also coming. As for the big recent announcement that Kabam is continuing its relationship with Universal to create a follow-up game that will launch around the time that “Fast & Furious 7” hits theaters next summer, the company revealed that it won’t be a tie-in to the new movie but instead will draw on the entire film series.
• Since people love dragons, expect to see more of them in both “The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-Earth” and “Dragons of Atlantis: Heirs of the Dragon.” The former will receive a visit from Smaug in December just as the second “Hobbit” movie is released. He’ll be a boss (and no doubt a tough one) in the PvE portion of the game. Meanwhile, “Dragons of Atlantis” players can add the new Nightshade Dragon to their forces in December, meaning they’ll be able to raise and control three different dragons at once.
• It’s hard not to think of “Bomberman” when trying out the upcoming game “Blast Zone,” and Kabam did not shy away from the comparisons. The pre-release build on hand in New York showed off simple yet strategic gameplay with plenty of power-ups and touch controls that worked well. The highlight was six-player multiplayer battles that reward quick reflexes and quick thinking, making every bomb count. “Blast Zone” doesn’t have an official release date yet, but the company is targeting a launch before the end of 2013.
• Through its third-party publishing program, Kabam is bringing “Wartune” from the web to mobile devices next year. The free-to-play MMO is already available online, but the plan is for it to have a full-featured presence on smartphones and tablets too—and Kabam is building a mobile version from the ground up to be tailored to those devices. A playable preview build is hoped to be ready for December.