Madfinger games released Shadowgun WarGames on Android and iOS at a time when battle royal games were ruling the mobile gaming scene. If you don’t know Madfinger games then you may know about its most successful game Dead Trigger and Dead Trigger 2. There was a time when reviewing a smartphone meant you had to test its gaming performance with Dead Trigger 2.
Over time Dead Trigger 2 lost its popularity to games like PUBG Mobile and Asphalt series by Gameloft. The idea behind Shadowgun Wargames was actually quite simple. Create a game that is Overwatch on mobile. Now in essence there is nothing wrong with taking inspiration from an already successful game title and do a mobile version of it but it has to be done properly. Take the most famous example of this phenomenon, Rules of Survival.
Netease games took inspiration for Rules of Survival from PUBG and made a battle royal for mobile devices. RoS was fairly successful in countries like Japan and South Korea but failed to make a mark in other regions. There were many reasons why RoS was unsuccessful but the main reason was that Netease games never had a major presence in regions outside of South Korea, Japan, China, and Indonesia.
This was not the case for Shadowgun Wargames and Madfinger games. Madfinger already had an established presence in the mobile gaming scene with Dead Trigger and Dead Trigger 2. So why did Shadowgun Wargames failed to make an impact? Well, it was badly executed. Any mobile game that is inspired by a major gaming title has to get certain elements right if it wants any level of success. Shadowgun Wargames was supposed to be overwatch mobile but was later found to be a mess of ideas.
Hype is something that is now part of all our lives. The more hype a product can get the more eyes will be on it. Shadowgun Wargames had all the eyes it needed on it. Everyone wanted to get a taste of Overwatch on mobile and since it was from the makers of Dead Trigger, the expectations were high. The higher the expectations the bigger the disappointment curve. The complaints started to come in immediately from the players who had completely different expectations from the game.
If you are going to hype Overwatch on mobile then you have to deliver Overwatch on mobile. That is exactly what did not happen with Shadowguns wargames. The game offered the aesthetics of Overwatch but that is where everything ended. Players left disappointed with the game and the ratings took a sharp hit as well. A simple Google search will reveal that many players and reviewers were disappointed with the game.
Madfinger games expected the game to be a success before it even hit the app stores. The game had a battle pass that players could buy but again, the game was still in its beta phase so nobody did buy the battle pass. Compare that to Call of Duty Mobile, a game that is in its Season 9 and is still giving free skins to its players without the battle pass.
Shadowgun Wargames is a classic example of what should not be done with a mobile game. The game still feels underwhelming and honestly, there are much better games out there if you want a PvP experience. Battle Prime is another game that is offering a PvP experience to players and it is actually worth playing.
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