Gameloft has quite literally turned the practice of copying game concepts wholesale for similar-yet-different releases into an art form. The studio's mobile releases mimic a range of popular games, from "Uncharted" to "God of War" to, most recently, Blizzard's popular RTS "StarCraft." It seems that Gameloft isn't done mining Blizzard either. A newly posted trailer for "Order & Chaos Online" carries the very strong scent of an even more popular title from the developer, "World of Warcraft."
The trailer, which is easily found on Gameloft's Facebook page, shows a game that shamelessly nods to the aesthetics of "WoW" as giant screens of text cut in, reading "Massively," "Multiplayer," "Online" and "Role-Playing Game." Taken as a whole, this leaves little doubt that the studio is cooking up some sort of "WoW"-alike.
Gameloft has found success in developing a generally solid-to-great group of mobile platform-based games that riff on popular console releases. Some frown upon the company's approach, but it's clear after playing the games that talent and craft go into creating each one. Perhaps Gameloft is a little more shameless about the ripping off than, say, "Dante's Inferno," but that's really all part of the charm.
What we unfortunately don't have yet is any detail on "Order & Chaos Online" beyond this initial trailer. There's a Facebook page up where fans can vote for the forces of Order or Chaos, with new information coming to the camp that receives the most votes (vote Chaos!!), but that's about it for now. The lack of information also means that we don't know how payment might work with a game like this, though Apple's recent added support for in-app subscriptions certainly sets the stage for something familiar, right? For now, we'll all just have to stay tuned for more info.