Six months after its acquisition by Candy Crush maker King Digital, Z2 is back with a new mobile gaming title for iOS.
The Seattle company, which was acquired for as much as $150 million in February, today is unveiling a new simulation game called Paradise Bay. The game harkens back to Z2’s first games, Trade Nations, which became the top grossing game on the U.S. Apple app store.
“It’s a new type of game for King which offers immersive and strategic gameplay, allowing players to build their own trading port, uncover the mysteries of their island and interact with an array of fun and friendly characters,” said Lou Fasulo, the former Z2 CEO who now leads the King Seattle studio.
Fasulo says the game is unique because it allows players around the world to make trades as they build island ports.
“As you do this, you’ll meet a variety of characters and build your friendships with them to unlock the mysteries of the island,” he said. “Z2 has always built story driven games, as you’ve seen with Battle Nations, which has more lines of narrative than The Hobbit. We have built this game with the same kind of storytelling in mind from the beginning.”
The game is free to play, and the company is currently working on an Android version for release at a later date. Paradise Bay — which allows game players to trade goods with one another and assist others on special treasure quests— also is available in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French, German, Swedish, Spanish and Italian.
King Digital, which reports earnings on August 13, reported more than 364 million monthly users during the first quarter. It had gross bookings of $604 million during the first quarter, down 37 percent compared to the same period last year. It has a market value of nearly $5 billion.
