Cricket Through the Ages, a well-known cricket theme game, is now available on Apple Arcade. The game is developed by South Africa based development house Free Lives. It has a unique period based concept that takes players through major milestones in human history via cricket-style gameplay. Apple Arcade is a gaming subscription service for Apple devices which hosts more than 100 games on its platform.
After the listing of “Cricket Through the Ages” on Apple Arcade, Evan Greenwood, Founder of Free Lives, stated that most of the gaming conference, where developers get the opportunity to showcase their work, tap into global networks and can generate funding, are hosted in the US and Europe. It is difficult for local developers to get access to these conferences. “We’ll certainly be encouraging local developers to pitch their work to Apple Arcade in the future, and we hope to see Apple’s continuing support for independent games,” added Greenwood.
The idea of the game came from South Africa’s affection for cricket. According to the gaming firm, most of the game has been developed in a single “game jam,” which is a kind of game development hackathon. The unique feature of the game is the evolution of cricket as a game over some time. In its earlier stage, bowlers are free to use whatever is available at that point in history, be it an apple or stone. Similarly, a batsman must use objects like club, sword, stick, or a bat to hit the ball.
Not to forget that the inclusion of the game on Apple subscription services is a milestone win for Cape Town-based game development community. For local developers, it is a big feat to be experimental and financially successful. However, platforms like Apple Arcade is providing an opportunity for such developers to connect to a bigger audience.
