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It lives: New Helsinki start-up Next Games to launch F2P take on The Walking Dead

Cos if you're making paid games, you're already dead

It lives: New Helsinki start-up Next Games to launch F2P take on The Walking Dead
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Announced in October 2013, we now know what Rovio's vice president of mergers and acquisitions Teemu Huuhtanen is up to.

The Helsinki-based developer - staffed with ex-Disney and Supercell folk - has decloaked clutching a deal from cable network AMC to create a mobile game based on the TV series The Walking Dead.

Of course, the franchise has already been very successful on mobile and console thanks to Telltales Games' reimagining of the graphic novel series.

Next Games' release will also look to make the most of the series' narrative tension, but this time combined with free-to-play mechanics.

After all, as the saying goes, if you're still making paid games for mobile, you are a zombie: you're already dead. You just don't know it yet.

Sweet spot

"Our take on the undead survival franchise will match the against-all-odds action and moment-to-moment tension of the TV series," Huuhtanen explained.

"We want to find that sweet spot where gameplay and narrative inform and reinforce one another.

"We're not giving away too many details right out the gate, but I can confidently state it's unlike anything we've seen from The Walking Dead franchise on home or mobile gaming hardware before."

The game's launch will coincide with season 5 of TV series.

Jon Jordan
Jon Jordan
A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon can turn his hand to anything except hand turning. He is editor-at-large at PG.biz which means he can arrive anywhere in the world, acting like a slightly confused uncle looking for the way out. He likes letters, cameras, imaginary numbers and legumes.