The team behind titles such as Onmyoji: The Card Game and Identity V just launched their newest game Astracraft this week. With a wide range of titles already underneath NetEase Games’ belt, sci-fi sandbox Astracraft fits snugly into their lineup. It’s hard to imagine a failure from a team that has developed some of the most popular international games to ever come out of China. What’s more, their partnership with Blizzard no doubt contributes to player’s high expectations. For this title, though, NetEase partnered up with Payload Studios, an independent game studio out of England.
According to NetEase, Astracraft is the first sandbox rover craft and combat game to launch on mobile. What that purportedly entails is a world of science fiction right at your fingertips. What NetEase and Payload Studios promise is a unique melding of battling against other players and a creation mode. Players will have access to a variety of gaming modes. They can either fight against other players or create rich worlds, or even host king-of-the-hill type rallies. From building your own maps and battleships to no-holds-barred fighting arenas, Astracraft claims that the only limit is your imagination.
Something to keep your eye on is the fact that NetEase is going to run a program where the thirty most popular and the thirty most hardworking creators will win in-game prizes every week. Sixty different people will win prizes every week. They hope to showcase and encourage creativity, to see what creations and stories the players of Astracraft can come up with. There’s also another gift from NetEase. To celebrate having over two million players pre-registered, all of the preregistration players will receive awards. There’s no promise for how long those rewards will last though. In short, Astracraft looks promising. Stay tuned for a Hardcore Droid review.
