Earlier this month, Ubisoft announced the imminent release of a touch-friendly version of Valiant Hearts: The Great War for iOS. The announcement came with news that the game would would be “based on the episodic format allowing players to play the game they way they want, just like for comic books of TV series." That’s not exactly the clearest description of an episodic game, so I asked Ubisoft to clarify.
Over e-mail, a Ubisoft representative explained that players will be able to buy Valiant Hearts either in full or in “episodes." “Valiant Hearts on console was broken up into multiple ‘episodes,’ so players will be able to purchase those individually, or the full game." The game will be out on September 4th, but pricing details haven’t been announced yet.
During that same conversation, I asked who was actually developing the iOS version of the game. Mobile ports of Ubisoft games have been handled in a few different ways in the past: sometimes they’re given to one of the smaller two-dozen odd studios in Ubisoft’s stable, and sometimes they’re outsourced to third-party companies. Valiant Hearts, in contrast, is being ported over by a team at Ubisoft Montpelier, the same group that developed the console and PC versions of the game.
Lastly, this month’s Valiant Hearts announcement also ushered in speculation (especially on our forums), that Child of Light would be the next candidate for an iOS port. Child of Light is a beautiful turn-based role-playing game by Ubisoft’s Montreal studio, released earlier this year on consoles and PC. Here’s the announcement trailer for Child of Light.
An iOS version of Child of Light doesn’t seem too far-fetched. Here’s the logic: Ubisoft Montpelier has an in-house set of development tools called the UbiArt Framework that have been used on four console games so far — Rayman Origins, Rayman Legends, Valiant Hearts, and Child of Light. Origins and Legends found their touchscreen counterparts in Rayman Jungle Run ($2.99) and Fiesta Run ($2.99), Valiant Hearts has already been announced, and Child of Light would complete the set.
That may seem straightforward, but unfortunately Ubisoft “do not have any info to share right now regarding what other games will be available on mobile."
If you missed our previous coverage, Valiant Hearts is a puzzle-adventure game that takes place during World War I about a German soldier named Karl who is in love with a French woman named Marie, based on the real-world French soldiers who fought and died in the trenches along the Western Front. I’m personally looking forward to it, and it’ll be available on the App Store on September 4th.
