''Mobile Strike'' is a

freemium Freemium, a portmanteau of the words "free" and "premium," is a pricing strategy by which a basic product or service is provided free of charge, but money (a premium) is charged for additional features, services, or virtual (online) or physical (o ...

mobile

massively multiplayer online A massively multiplayer online game (MMOG or more commonly MMO) is an online video game with a large number of players, often hundreds or thousands, on the same server. MMOs usually feature a huge, persistent open world, although there are ...

strategy Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία ''stratēgia'', "art of troop leader; office of general, command, generalship") is a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty. In the sense of the "art ...

video game developed and published in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

Machine Zone Machine Zone, Inc. (MZ) is an American privately held technology company, founded in 2008 and based in Palo Alto, California. The company is best known for its widely advertised freemium mobile MMO strategy games '' Game of War: Fire Age'' and ' ...

(now known as MZ). The game had a high-profile advertising campaign and became one of the top-grossing apps in 2015 and 2016.

Marketing

''Mobile Strike'' is well known for its advertising campaign featuring actor and former California governor

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...

as a commander. One of its commercials was featured on

Super Bowl 50 Super Bowl 50 was an American football game to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2015 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) cha ...

. Another commercial, which aired during

Super Bowl LI Super Bowl LI was an American football game played at NRG Stadium in Houston, Houston, Texas, on February 5, 2017, to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2016 NFL season, 2016 season. The American Football Confer ...

, depicted Schwarzenegger saying memorable lines from his movie career, such as " I'm back", " Get to the chopper", and "

Hasta la vista, baby "Hasta la vista, baby" is a catchphrase associated with Arnold Schwarzenegger's title character from the 1991 science fiction action film '' Terminator 2: Judgment Day''. Origin and use The term "Hasta la vista", literally "Until the view", ...

". In April 2017, one controversial advertisement featured plus sized women in

bikini A bikini is a two-piece swimsuit primarily worn by women that features two triangles of fabric on top that cover the breasts, and two triangles of fabric on the bottom: the front covering the pelvis but exposing the navel, and the back coveri ...

s, playing the game on sun loungers. The advertisement was later banned in the United Kingdom by the Advertising Standards Authority.

Reception

As of November 2016, the app was the second highest-grossing game on Apple's

App Store An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the co ...

. However, the game itself was not well received by reviewers. Andrew Hayward of ''

Macworld ''Macworld'' is a website dedicated to products and software of Apple Inc., published by Foundry, a subsidiary of IDG Inc. It started life as a print magazine in 1984 and had the largest audited circulation (both total and newsstand) of Macint ...

'' criticized the game for the overabundance of

microtransaction Microtransactions, often abbreviated as mtx, are a business model where users can purchase virtual goods with micropayments. Microtransactions are often used in free-to-play games to provide a revenue source for the developers. While microtransact ...

s. Hayward also criticized the game's advertising for emphasizing mechanics that are "greatly misrepresented for promotional purposes". Hayward concluded that the game is "surely not worth the hassle or payment needed to get to that point" and that, like its predecessor '' Game of War: Fire Age'', "is a busywork simulator above all". Jennifer Allen of '' Gamezebo'' also criticized the game for being "busywork" and found the game's unlockables to be "soulless".

References

2015 video games Android (operating system) games IOS games Massively multiplayer online real-time strategy games Free-to-play video games Video games developed in the United States Machine Zone games {{strategy-videogame-stub