It appears mobile publisher GAMEVIL is having a little experiment with the free gaming model, as the third installment of its popular Zenonia role-playing franchise has just launched on the Android Market for ZERO COST.
Previously, the asking price for Zenonia 1&2 has been around the $5 mark, give or take the odd promotional period, so this is a rather risky move to take for a big-news sequel…
…bit it does mean Zenonia 3 is bound to STREAK into the free game downloads #1 spot overnight. Currently there don’t seem to be any ads on it either. [UPDATE : It's a "freemium" game supported by in-app purchases].
Here’s the official release.
Highly Anticipated ZENONIA 3 comes to Android for Free
LOS ANGELES, CA – June 30th, 2011 – GAMEVIL(R), a leading mobile games publisher and developer, announced that its highly anticipated game ZENONIA 3 is now available on the Android Market. More notably, this marks the first time a full game in the series is offered for free on any platform.
In ZENONIA 3, players will guide Chael through a fateful journey in search for his destiny and to uncover the truth behind his family background. The vast realm of Midgard spans well over 200 maps and a hundred quests, from fiery depths to the open skies populated by creatures and legendary monsters. Four distinct melee and ranged character classes each have 13 active skills and 9 passive skills in addition to combos, and the introduction of a new Fairy helper-system adds another layer of leveling strategy. Streamlined inventory and item management lets players focus on the action. In-game titles give special stat boosts and a new Execution Room Mode allows for single or asynchronous co-op play for loot, in addition to the returning online PvP arena.
“ZENONIA 3 is packed to the brim with an expansive story, exciting combat and RPG action, extended online play,” said Kyu Lee, Head of GAMEVIL USA. “We’re very proud to share this next chapter of our flagship RPG series with Android fans, and welcome everyone as we offer it for free.”
ZENONIA 3 is available now for FREE from the Android Market, or at http://market.android.com/.
For more details, please visit www.gamevil.com.
Motorola’s latest flagship dual-core Android monster is a massive, original powerhouse, that’s a big improvement on previous MOTOBLUR mobiles – but still isn’t a total winner.
A slim and glamorous phone from Sony Ericsson, with the sharpest display around. It’s no powerhouse and the screen’s not the biggest out there, but we don’t mind. Because it’s cute.
LG’s first glasses-free 3D phone is a heavy, fat monster, with a clever 3D effect that works rather well. As a smartphone, though, it’s heavy and underwhelming.
A very shiny thing from Sony Ericsson, with a 3.7″ screen and Android 2.3.3 inside. But is it exciting enough to win fans in today’s spec-obsessed market? Can man live on one core alone?
INQ’s Android phone is an interesting “boutique” piece of hardware, packed with unique interface customisations that go far beyond the headline Facebook integration. We like it a lot.
ExtremeT
/ June 30, 2011We figured out that a good majority of the reason it is free is due to the new Zen currency that is in it now. Essentially Zenonia 3 is a Freemium game although it is possible to earn Zen without having to purchase it as well.
Gary C
/ June 30, 2011Thanks. I should get in the habit of playing these bloody things some time.
Anton Gully
/ July 1, 2011The first two games are showing as 99c on the Market – worth buying? Stupid question. 99c…
Ariel2011
/ July 1, 2011You can find them for free in different forums and websites
http://www.sploonch.com/s/__HYBRIS__/product/Sploonch/gamevil-zenonia_android-1.5-en/detail.jsf
Anton Gully
/ July 1, 2011Stupid question really, but is that legit?