Universal has announced Jurassic World Alive, a new augmented reality (AR) mobile game. It will have gameplay in the vein of breakout Pokemon Go. Jurassic World Alive will allow players to create their own dinosaurs using AR technology. Pokemon Go players will find themselves instantly familiar with the game. It is also a location-based game, albeit one where players will find virtual dinosaurs roaming around the virtual landscape instead of Pokemon.
Players can see dinosaurs in their immediate vicinity on an in-game map and some of them will be tied to specific locations. However, one major difference between Jurassic World Alive and Pokemon Go is that players will not need to actually go outside and walk around to capture the dinosaurs. From the relative safety of their own homes, players can collect nearby dinosaurs’ DNA by deploying an in-game drone. They can then use this DNA to unlock that particular type of dinosaur or create their own hybrid, just like the mad scientists did in the Jurassic World movie. That did not go well for them.
Speaking to Mashable, Universal Executive Vice President of Games Chris Heatherly says that “there’s definitely that element of discovery, but we wanted to make it a little more flexible and also give you something to do at home.” Additionally, players can take their collection of dinosaurs to fight against other players, or even take life-sized dinosaur selfies with them. The game will have over 100 dinosaurs available at launch but developer Ludia says that it will be regularly updated with more species, including special “hybrid” and “super hybrid” animals with presumably better stats and “more advanced capabilities.” Ludia CEO Alex Thabet explains that “there’s a major focus in this game on the hybrids and super hybrids to create this almost infinite matrix of possibilities.”
Jurassic World Alive is developed by Ludia, a games development studio based in Montreal. The developer’s previous works include 2012’s Jurassic Park Builder and 2015’s Jurrasic World: The Game. It is slated to launch in Spring 2018 on Android and iOS. Players can even opt to pre-register now at the official site.
