Temple Run 2 might have a shot at knocking Angry Birds Space off its perch.
It’s always funny to watch “hardcore” gamers struggle with unashamed casual games. “You just run and jump!” they lament, clutching their copies of Dark Souls to their chests. “How can anybody like this!?” It’s even funnier when those same casual games go on to make massive piles of money.
Temple Run 2 a game in which you quite literally just run and jump, is one such success, having clocked up 20 million downloads in its first four days of availability on the iTunes App store. Released on January 17th, Imangi’s sequel to 2011’s iOS hit is the current top free app. But is it making any money? Well, it’s currently the second most top-grossing app in the US.
Those 20 million downloads mean Temple Run 2 is in with a shot at replacing perpetually successful, disgruntled Avians simulator, Angry Birds Space, as the fastest-growing mobile game to date. Rovio’s effort managed a record setting 50 million downloads in its first 35 days of release last spring.
Despite the success of Temple Run, Imangi is still a tiny company, boasting only three employees; husband-and-wife duo, Keith Shepherd and Natalia Luckyanova, and artist, Kiril Tchangov. For comparison, Rovio had a staff of nearly 300 as of 2011.
“We’ve had the opportunity to grow a lot, but we value our independence and … the small size of our studio,” Shepherd told Polygon shortly before the release of Temple Run 2.
I, for one, welcome our new casual overlords.
Source: Polygon
