Game of War: Fire Age
A mobile strategy game driven by alliances and aggressive monetization.
Machine Zone launched Game of War: Fire Age in 2013, a free-to-play mobile strategy game with massive online battles. Its flashy ads made it famous, and it ranked among the highest-earning apps in 2014 and 2015.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Machine Zone
- Platforms
- Android
- iOS
- iPadOS
- Released
- July 25, 2013
- Genre
- Strategy
- Modes
- Multiplayer
Facts from the source article.
Business and marketing
Machine Zone's CEO described the company as probably the world's largest direct response marketer and largest single product marketer on mobile, with 200 marketing employees out of about 550 worldwide as of 2015. Approximately $40 million was spent marketing Game of War: Fire Age in 2014. Along with digital and social media ads, highly produced television commercials featuring model Kate Upton were created, using her sex appeal to promote the game in fantasy settings. These ads debuted in the United States during an NFL Thursday Night Football game and later appeared during Super Bowl XLIX and other sporting events. Upton was replaced in 2015 by singer Mariah Carey, with her first commercial revealed on September 14, 2015. A famous 30-second advertisement featured players discussing the game around a campfire, complaining about a player known as Thelegend27, later revealed to be a girl in the group, sparking memes and a popularity boost.
Reception
Game of War: Fire Age was the third-grossing game app through Apple in 2014, and Machine Zone projected $600 million in revenues that year. In March 2015, it ranked in the top 10 most downloaded free apps on both the iOS Appstore and Google Play. The game and its interface have been criticized for aggressively pushing in-app purchases, with ads and upgrade buttons for gold packs priced from $5 to $100. A Forbes reviewer called it the most over-the-top cash grab ever seen, and Macworld stated it may be the most aggressively monetized free-to-play game. Reviewers also criticized the mundane gameplay; Common Sense Media described it as light on both action and strategy, noting that unless an alliance is at war, core gameplay revolves around waiting for task timers. Macworld wrote that the game lacks interesting gameplay or storyline, offering only busywork. Pocket Gamer called it Busywork the Video Game and noted the spam-filled world chat as potentially harmful, but still found it highly competitive and engaging due to human players providing competition, drama, and frustration.
Frequently Asked Questions
When was Game of War: Fire Age released?
Game of War: Fire Age was released on July 25, 2013.
What platforms is Game of War: Fire Age available on?
Game of War: Fire Age was released for Android, iOS and iPadOS.
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