Battle Academy for iPad is Released!

[Erik Rutins]

Slitherine and Matrix Games are proud to announce that their flagship product and award-winning strategy game Battle Academy has made the transition to mobile with the release on the Apple iPad! Available now, eager strategists can go on the Apple iTunes Store and download the game and play it on the go!

With the release of the 1.8.0 patch yesterday, players can now start or continue their multiplayer games of Battle Academy on their iPad. The award-winning PBEM++ system, the new generation of play-by-e-mail technology for turn-based games, has taken one step further to allow cross platform compatibility, so that a game can be started and continued on any platform.

Battle Academy can be downloaded from the Apple iTunes Store. Click here to purchase.

Iain McNeil, Development Director of the Slitherine and Matrix Games group of companies said: “This is not our first game for the iPad, but it’s definitely the first title that is fully focused to our core community of players. It’s a game like no other on the platform, with a technology that proves our dedication to the wargaming niche and a testament to our continued will to invest and innovate to grow the market”.


About Battle Academy

Approachable, absorbing and visually impressive yet detailed, Battle Academy revolutionizes the strategy games market with a blend of intuitive design and compelling game play driven by cutting edge technical innovation.

Inspired by an original online game concept devised by the BBC, the game has more than 30 battles in a range of theatres of war from the North African desert through D-Day to the to the snowy Ardennes mountains where the Allies battled to repel the final German offensive.

The team at Slitherine worked with Professor John Buckley, Military Historian at the University of Wolverhampton and a keen wargamer himself, to make sure that the strategy, tactics, scenarios and available firepower of the battles fought in WW2 were turned into realistic AI behavior, powering expertly crafted battles.

Get more information on Battle Academy from its official product page on the Slitherine or Matrix Games site.

[blastpop]

Apple products, thank you, no.

[Grotius]

A real wargame on an iPad? Thank you, yes!

[ruixilyy]

Is the IPAD version completely identical to the PC version? I mean, the content (missions) of the three campaigns.

[PipFromSlitherine]

The iPad version contains all the content of the PC and Mac versions. It runs from an identical data set - which is what allows you to play against (or continue your MP games from) the PC and Mac versions. Also means the ingame downloadable user content works as well!

Cheers

Pip

[Grotius]

Downloading it now. Pricy for an iPad app, but I never bought the PC game, so that's how I'm rationalizing it.

[ruixilyy]

SO it is the same thing. No need to buy it AGAIN.

[JFalk68]

Is anyone else having trouble downloading it from the App Store? I am stuck at waiting...

[cccbss]

I already buy PC version in Augest 2010. Did I need pay 20$ for ipad version? Not any privilege?

[Grotius]

Ruix, I had no problem downloading and installing the iPad game. Ran a bit of the tutorial, it worked fine.

My impression is that it's the exact same thing as the PC game. I have no idea if there's any discount for PC-game-owners, but my impression is not.

[laska2k8]

there'll be something also for Iphone ?

[PipFromSlitherine]

@ruix : It is the same game - the iPad allows you to play against PC or Mac players, or to continue ongoing MP games of yours from either PC, Mac, or iPad depending on where you are.

@laska : the UI wouldn't work on the phone-sized screen unfortunately.

In terms of giving some advantage to people who already have the game, it is unfortunately not allowed by the Apple store policies.

Cheers

Pip

[jjdenver]

So is it the same as the first Battle Academy release and doesn't include any of the expansions (sealion, france, etc)? Too bad if so since I've played through all of the first game scenarios I think already. Any plans to add more scenarios? That would be the only carrot to buy it for people who already have the PC version of the first Battle Academy.

[cccbss]

Infact ipad version and PC version no substantial difference. So I don't want to pay 20$ for another platform.

[cccbss]

you can offer PROMO CODE (exchange code) for older buyer who purchased pc version with full payment!

[Splusmer]

I believe an iOS developer/publisher can only give out 100 promo codes, and I don't think Apple's rules/terms allow a publisher to sell those codes.

That said, I do wish the iOS version at least included some expansions for $20.

[IainMcNeil]

You are only allowed 50 promo codes these days. These are all needed for the press to review the game.

In addition Apple policy forbids us from giving out codes to people who bought something else as its seen as a way of bypassing their revenue collection and manipulating store charts so it would get us banned from the store. So as things stand I think its very unlikely Apple will allow anything like this in the short to mid term so unfortunately there is nothign we are able to do to offer any kind of discount to owners on other platforms. Its exactly the same as if you were looking at a PS3 or X360 version. You'd have a hard to convincing Microsoft or Sony to let you have a free copy because you had the PC version iOS is a different platform and needs to be thought about in that way.

[Canuck_jp]

Hope you guys are successful and put out an Android version and then I'll buy it!

[z1812]

I was actually expecting to see more forum traffic regarding this title. Hopefully there will be enough interest and sales that future and past games will be considered for the iPad. My best to Matrix and Slitherine with this release.

[JDM]

I thought you might be interested in the points from our press release, it's all looking very good so far, Battle Academy has made it into the top 10 strategy charts across Europe, including France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and the UK, and the top 20 in the U.S. And that’s just after its first few days and if you forget the free to play games it’s actually charting in the top three!!!

Their has been a huge amount of chatter about the premium price, but this hasn’t stopped it climbing the charts and the player feedback reports on iTune is awsome. Wargames are not mass market sellers in the Angry Birds sense and if we are to make more games for the new tablets we need to make a return on our investment. Fortunately, So far the momentum behind Battle Academy has been exceptional and shows no sign of slowing down. We think that the cross-platform support in multiplayer, that we have created will prove highly popular and so far that is proving to be the caseSo its not just the game itself we have invested in but the whole cross platform gaming experience.
Regards
JDM