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iPhone's Rolando 3 on hiatus as freemium model is worked out

Ngmoco puts a lid on roll-'em-up sequel for the time being

iPhone's Rolando 3 on hiatus as freemium model is worked out

Rolando rocked (and rolled) our world, but, although the sequel was still a great game, it didn't quite pack the same punch.

So expectations for Rolando 3 have been pretty high. Sadly, it seems the already delayed game might not land for a while yet - if at all.

Ngmoco head Neil Young has been chatting with IGN, and revealed that as Rolando 3 currently stands it doesn't fit with the company's new policy on only releasing free-to-play/freemium games.

"When we made the decision to go free-to-play, we said to ourselves, "Look. If we can't make the game free-to-play, we're not going to release it", Young explains. "And Rolando 3 as it was envisioned at that time was not a free-to-play product. So we've just taken the time to try to figure out how to do that franchise really effectively in free-to-play space."

He goes on to say that Rolando 2 sales continue to trickle out, but hasn't met the expectations ngmoco had for its premium title - undoubtedly a significant part of the company's decision to address its App Store pricing structure (along with reports of excessive piracy).

But all's not lost for more Rolando on iPhone.

"We're thinking about it and at the appropriate moment we'll deliver a new Rolando experience that takes full advantage of everything we've learned from the free-to-play world," Young concludes.

This could also explain the apparent cancellation of a project ngmoco was working on with Zen Bound creator Secret Exit.

Spanner Spencer
Spanner Spencer
Yes. Spanner's his real name, and he's already heard that joke you just thought of. Although Spanner's not very good, he's quite fast, and that seems to be enough to keep him in a regular supply of free games and away from the depressing world of real work.