Social gaming giant Zynga announced the purchase of mobile game developer NaturalMotion today, TechCrunch reports. Zynga purchased the Oxford-based company for $527 million, composed of $391 million in cash and roughly 39.8 million shares of Zynga's stock.
NaturalMotion's body of work includes mobile games like Clumsy Ninja and CSR Racing as well as Backbreaker, the developer's unlicensed football game based on its Euphoria engine. Published by 505 Games, Backbreaker launched in June 2010 on Xbox 360 and PS3 after its iOS and Android counterparts. The game received a sequel in Backbreaker 2: Vengeance, which was one of the first games to come from NaturalMotion's publishing division. The developer announced its move to publish digital games in November 2010.
The acquisition is accompanied by news that Zynga is also laying off 15 percent of its workforce, which amounts to about 314 employees.
#nfl2k
If you're sick and tired of Madden NFL, or if you just don't want to wait until the end of the month to complain about it, why not get a real downloadable roster update for a sports video game really released two years ago, the way everyone says it ought to be. More »
#backbreaker
Backbreaker's small but extremely passionate following got some bad, but not really unexpected news. "Unfortunately, and unofficially, it is very unlikely that we will revisit [Backbreaker]/full-on football again," the game's lead developer told a forum member. More »
#gamingappoftheday
Yesterday brought word that NaturalMotion, the makers of the popular Backbreaker series of games for iOS devices, had landed a license to make an NFL game. It released today. NFL Rivals, for $2.99 (iTunes), combines the offense and defense games of Backbreaker and Backbreaker: Vengeance with authentic NFL uniforms and schedules, and adds some bragging rights. More »
#payback
Backbreaker: Vengeance got an Xbox Live release date on Wednesday but no price. Now, the game's developer has followed up with one: $15 (1200 Microsoft points.) Not only is that well more than the iOS version of the game and its predecessor (99 cents each) but, as Pasta Padre points out, it's more than what you can pay for a new copy of the original game right now. More »
#xboxlive
Backbreaker: Vengeance, the minigame sequel to the more popular elements of last year's Backbreaker, will release on Xbox Live on June 29, but won't be coming to PlayStation 3 outside of Europe. More »
Love football but hate the parts where there's throwing and play-calling and team management and defense and kicking? Us too. For our sadly ignored minority there's Backbreaker: Vengeance, coming to XBLA on June 29 for an undisclosed price. The digital release takes the original game's Tackle Alley mode, which charges the player with avoiding a preset formation of defenders as they attempt to score, and expands it to a full game.
Though it's an XBLA exclusive for now, the arcade football action will also come to PSN later this summer ... but only in Europe. Who wants to break the news to them that it's not that kind of football?
#mobile
First spied in development seven months ago, Icebreaker will arrive on the iTunes App Store next week as a hockey-style complement to Backbreaker, the football title whose "Tackle Alley" minigame saw tremendous success as an iPhone port. More »
NaturalMotion officially unveiled what it was teasing earlier this week, and ... it's kind of confusing. Backbreaker: Vengeance uses the same subtitle as the company's recent iOS football game, but it is not the same game.
The new Backbreaker: Vengeance (who are these football players seeking vengeance against?) is an XBLA-exclusive, arcade-style game that "takes inspiration" from the first Backbreaker's "Tackle Alley" mode. That means one runner attempting to cross the field against various arrangements of pre-placed defenders.
Check out a trailer after the break -- especially if you're fond of body-crunching sounds. Actually, that advice also works in regards to buying the game this summer.
#backbreaker
Backbreaker: Vengeance, a variant on the original Backbreaker's wildly popular "Tackle Alley" mode, will be released for the Xbox 360 over Xbox Live this year by NaturalMotion and 505 Games. It's exclusive to the 360. More »
The official forum for NaturalMotion's Backbreaker football series was updated with the above image of three players from three different teams navigating a field of tackle dummies.
It could be a console sequel to Backbreaker, either original or adapted from the iOS Backbreaker 2: Vengeance (which makes sense given the tagline on the image), but the forumites all arrived pretty quickly at the idea that it could be an Xbox Live Arcade/PSN title based on the "Tackle Alley" mode, which tasks players with getting past a line of defenders.
When NaturalMotion is ready to tackle an official announcement, it said, it'll do so on the Backbreaker Facebook page.
#screengrab
Backbreaker developer NaturalMotion offered fans of the series a sneak peek at the next installment in the unlicensed football video game, one that takes a different approach that EA Sports' dominant and NFL backed Madden game. What is it? The developer isn't talking just yet, but Backbreaker fans are kicking around theories in the game's official forums. More »
Physics can make or break a game -- imagine how boring Half-Life 2 would've been without the gravity gun. NaturalMotion, the studio behind Backbreaker, shows how physics work in-game through its Euphoria engine (a staple of Rockstar's most recent games, like Red Dead Redemption and GTA IV).
#igameoftheday
Backbreaker's addictive Tackle Alley minigame put you on the field as a ballcarrier juking and spinning his way through 100-yard touchdown runs. Backbreaker 2: Vengeance puts you in the game on defense, blasting those showboats out of the water. More »
Developer NaturalMotion, perhaps best known for its Morpheme and Euphoria middleware, has announced that it will begin publishing games digitally, beginning with a couple of iOS projects. According to GI.biz, Jenga and Backbreaker 2: Vengeance (really -- that's the subtitle for a football game?) will be the first products out of the company's new publishing division. The developer's first Backbreaker game has been reportedly downloaded over three million times from the App Store, offering a solid clue as to why NaturalMotion is moving in this new direction.
"We believe there is a significant opportunity in combining the ease of use and connectivity of social games with the stunning performance of modern devices such iOS, Android and consoles," said CEO Torsten Reil. According to the NaturalMotion website, Jenga for iOS will be the publisher's inaugural release this holiday.
#iphone
Backbreaker's iPhone version - a port of the popular "Tackle Alley" minigame from the console title - flips the script in a sequel that tasks players with stopping the computer runner. New moves and "super showboating" will also be featured. More »
#rumor
NaturalMotion Games, the developer of the football cult fave Backbreaker, is now working on an ice hockey game apparently titled "Icebreaker," according to a video profile by the BBC. More »
First Hoggy, now Backbreaker. NaturalMotion's iPhone/iPad port of its addictive "Tackle Alley" challenge is also free for today only on the iTunes App store in North America and the U.K. Thanks jayc4life! More »
Although it wasn't out by Wednesday it didn't take much longer. Backbreaker's game-remaking "Greathouse" patch is available over both PSN and Xbox Live. See here for a rundown of everything it fixes and adds. More »
Developer NaturalMotion has signed a deal with restaurant chain KFC to brand the free "lite" version of its Backbreaker Football game for the iPhone. For a month, the sponsored title will offer up 10 new waves to play through, as well as a special "Chicken Dance" touchdown celebration, all courtesy of the Colonel's own marketing budget.
The full version of the game (which contains more gameplay modes and the chance to customize your characters) is also on sale for 99 cents on the App Store. So, whether you just try a bite or go all-in, you can start hitting torsos even harder than the Double Down does.
#iphone
A day after releasing news of its behemoth patch on Xbox 360, the folks who make Backbreaker say its free iPhone version has picked up a Kentucky Fried Chicken sponsorship. Runners will now celebrate with, what else, the Chicken Dance. More »
505 Games has announced a new update for its Euphoria-powered footballer, Backbreaker. Dubbed "Greathouse," this new update -- which should be available sometime in "early August" -- adds a host of features the community have apparently clamored for, such as an "improved Quarterback camera view and passing game" and 100 new plays, including nine new formations to use. Greathouse also tweaks gameplay on the other side of the ball, introducing a new "user catch system" and "full control" over interceptions.
#patch
New plays, better AI, a suite of replay cameras and new "focus modes" are among features coming to the football title Backbreaker, possibly as soon as Wednesday, through one of the largest patches I've ever seen for a sports game. More »
#stickjockey
This past week I had so much fun tinkering around with a game that I'm almost embarrassed to go back and read my original review. Because I was very hard on Backbreaker. More »
#clips
You're a halfback, not a soldier, but it doesn't feel right to call these "turns," "tries," "chances," or "men." No, these are "lives" at stake in Backbreaker's Tackle Alley, where 99.22 percent of its players have ended up "dead." More »
#jesuschrist
Rob Donald called it back in May: "I am totally expecting to see ... a perfect recreation of The Last Supper in someone's end zone." The Backbreaker producer hasn't been proven right yet, but one artist is hard at work. More »
