We learned earlier this week in our SwitchArcade Roundup that developer Picomy’s flying platformer Heroki would be arriving on the Nintendo Switch on July 20th, but that doesn’t mean that they’ve forgotten about their roots on mobile. Today a new self-published version of Heroki ($4.99) has arrived in the App Store bringing with it all sorts of new features, including “full HD support for high-end devices such as iPhone Plus models and the iPad Pro, all running @ 60fps; full support for iPhone X; iMessage Stickers; full support for Apple TV 4K; lots of gameplay improvements and several bug fixes and performance improvements." Heroki was originally released on iOS back in July of 2015 and was published by Sega. According to a post from Picomy in our forums, this is what has happened since that time and why they’re moving forward the way they are:
3 years after Heroki’s release, SEGA was going to discontinue Heroki on the App Store and they decided to give back Heroki free for us to release and support in the future (Which is a great gesture by the way!).
The plan was to transfer their version to our App Store account, but because Heroki uses iCloud, the transfer was technically impossible.
So therefore, we and SEGA searched for the best possible solution and therefore Heroki was also updated on SEGA’s account so that the current SEGA users can still enjoy Heroki on their latest iDevices.
While it’s very cool of Sega to transfer the rights of Heroki back over to Picomy so they could continue supporting it, it’s never a great situation whenever there has to be a separate re-release of a game you’ve previously paid for. At least both parties are trying to make it as painless as possible for existing customers, and if you already owned the Sega-published Heroki you can indeed get the newly-updated version by visiting your Purchase History in the App Store. If you have that original version of Heroki currently installed, you’ll have to actually delete it and then re-download from Purchase History in order to get the most up-to-date version. I’ve just tested and can confirm that this works, but if you have existing game progress you don’t want to lose you might want to hop into the game and make sure you’re backed up to the cloud before deleting and redownloading. If you’re simply new to Heroki and intrigued by the colorful trailer above, then grab the version that’s linked at the bottom of this post, as this will be the version that will continue to be supported in the future, and you can find three year’s worth of impressions as well as current discussion about Heroki in the thread in our forums.
So I guess that means the Sega version won’t get any future updates? That’s what they seem to be implying.
I have the same question... We don’t have future updates?
@mrMr. Mayhem That's how I understood it, aside from this new update yesterday all future updates will only come to the new self-published version, not the old Sega-published version. Which kind of stinks but if the alternative is not having the game at all anymore I'd rather have this.
Thanks Jared for the very informative post! :)
And indeed we had to choose between Heroki being pulled from the App Store or release a new version that will be there as long as the App Store will be there.
It’s an important note for developers in general: Once you integrate iCloud, transfering your app from one account to another is impossible.
For what it’s worth, our focus currently lies on completing Monomals so the sega version will be the latest one for a while (untill we update Heroki with new content but when that time comes we’ll see what we can do for ex-sega customers.)
Really appreciate all your understanding and please, do send us a PM if you still feel this is unjustified.
How about each time you do any small update to the app, you have a window open first come first serve where they show you proof of the Sega version purchase and you give them a promo code to get the current version, that way over time most of the people will be transitioned over to it.
I like your idea a lot and it's something we discussed internally before. Unfortunately, we haven't received any promo codes since this is viewed as an update, not as a new app. Although technically it is a new app. We're going to contact Apple and see if they can provide us with promo codes. Meanwhile, we're helping customers who can't update by buying them American or European iTunes Gift cards. It's quite painstaking but we try to do our best.
Again, thank you for all your understanding!
Each time there is a new update to an app you either get 100 or 150 codes per minor release. Please look into that, please put me on the list when you get that going.
Hi daniel, can you send me a PM on TA board? I might be able to help you
I tried sending you a PM, got error messages on TouchArcade's end. I sent you a PM to your Facebook page, can you check that?
Done! Cheers mate
I'm wondering if maybe it will? Just because _something_ is different from the norm here—something that requires the app to be deleted and re-downloaded as the article describes. Good question though.
FYI, don't go to the purchase history by tapping your avatar in Settings. Tap your avatar in the App Store app instead. (The history in Settings has no search and can't re-download.)
Thanks for this. For those still confused, tap your photo at the very top of the "Today" tab in the App Store app, then hit "purchases."
Wow... interesting stuff and a great gesture by the developers! (and Sega too...)
I downloaded a new version, but the app still says 2016 on the title screen... should it say 2018?