While I haven’t played the card game Android: Netrunner yet, I know that everyone who’s played it raves about how good it is. I’ve been hoping that it would come to mobile so I can finally check it out, and we finally got word that the Android universe is coming to mobile, just not in the way I was expecting it to. The game will not be based on the Fantasy Flight card game per se- like in the case of Stoneblade’s Ascension – but rather, it will be an RPG that takes place in the same universe as Android: Netrunner. The Android universe is all about a cyberpunk world where megacorps control humanity. These giant corporations have to face various hackers (called Netrunners) who are trying to stop the corporations’ agendas.
Legacy Games decided that the Android universe would be a great setting for an RPG and that players would enjoy assaulting and infiltrating corporations using RPG mechanics, a move which, according to the company, will bring more immediacy to the gameplay. The game does sound a lot like the Shadowrun games, and that’s not a bad thing. The game will have two art styles, one representing the New Angeles real world and the other the mystical Networld.
To top it off, Legacy is bringing in Meg Jayanth, the writer behind the brilliant 80 Days. Hopefully her participation will help Android RPG shine. What most players won’t like is the monetization model; the game will be F2P along the lines of Star Wars: Uprising. You’ll be able to spend money to get in-game currency in order to give your social group an edge in the special daily events. Legacy hopes that by encouraging players to spend money to aid their groups rather than themselves, the game won’t be accused of being Pay-to-Win. I suppose we’ll have to wait and see. The game won’t be coming out until next year, so stay tuned for more info.
[via VentureBeat]
Update: In an attempt to ensure that readers don’t mistake this upcoming game with a port of Android: Netrunner, the developers reached out to us with the following comment.
“While the game that we’re currently developing takes place in the Android Universe, our game has no connection whatsoever to the Android: Netrunner card game. Our game is not a port, recreation or reimagining of Android: Netrunner but instead, features completely unique gameplay that includes some characters and locations from the Android Universe’s extensive lore, which includes board games, novels, and the recently announced ‘Worlds of Android’ art and background book."
