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With all that messy legal business finally resolved, Edge developer Mobigame has submitted its next game to Apple for review.
Cross Fingers is a tangram-like puzzler in which players must match a series of puzzle pieces to a silhouetted background shape. 120 levels are included in the main puzzle mode, and the game also features an endless arcade mode.
Pending Apple’s approval, Cross Fingers should show up in the App Store soon. A gameplay trailer is below.
Despite its innocent isometric looks, Mobigame’s Edge ($4.99) has been one of the most controversial iPhone games to be released this year. Now, after a long, bewildering battle of copyright issues and multiple removals from the App Store, Edge is once again available for purchase in all regions.
Our story so far:
1) Mobigames releases Edge. I give it five out of five stars. Apple likes it too.
2) Edge is voluntarily removed from the App Store over what is later discovered to be a trademark dispute. The short version: Edge Games CEO and International Game Developers Association (IGDA) board member Tim Langdell claimed to own the worldwide trademark for the word “Edge” and related phrases, and requested that Mobigame either license the name or remove the app.
3) Edge returns to the App Store amid further controversy.
4) Langdell contacts Apple to have Edge removed from the App Store again. Apple informs Mobigame that the game will not be restored until all trademark disputes have been settled.
Though Edge has not been available for purchase since July, Tim Langdell has been the subject of much discussion in the months since.
Responding to claims that Langdell used his trademark to bully small-time developers, his peers at the IGDA planned a meeting to discuss his removal from the organization’s board of directors. Before a vote could be called, Langdell resigned.
Langdell was dealt another blow last month when EA DICE, developer of the console title Mirror’s Edge, filed a complaint to have Langdell’s “Edge” trademark nullified in all regions.
Though no action has been taken in EA DICE’s suit, Langdell’s dispute with Mobigame appears to have been settled, and Apple has restored the game to the App Store under the new title Edge by Mobigame. A free Lite version is also available.
Just when it seemed that Edge’s long-running legal battle had finally cooled, developer Mobigame has been dealt yet another critical blow. Its acclaimed puzzler Edge has again been removed from the App Store.
This time, however, Mobigame notes that the removal was not voluntary, and is not only limited to the United States and the UK App Stores. The action is worldwide, and possibly permanent. Edge has also disappeared from iTunes’ App Store Turns 1 feature, after being recently honored as one of Apple’s “favorite games” in the App Store’s first year of operation.
It’s assumed, but not yet confirmed, that “Edge” worldwide copyright owner Tim Langdell has requested the game’s removal. An attorney representing Langdell served Mobigame with a draft complaint last week.
In a strange turn of events, Edge’s most recent trouble occurred hours before Apple’s approval and release of Edge Lite, a free demo version that contains a handful of levels from the full game.
Odds are that it’s going to be a few hours or days before any action is taken against Edge Lite, so if you’ve ever wanted to give the game a shot, you’d be advised to load up iTunes immediately and commence downloading. If aggressive legal proceedings continue, this might be the very last chance anyone gets to play Edge in its current form.
[Edit: According to a forum post at TIGSource, Edge has been restored and is available for purchase in all regions except for the United States, the UK, and Germany. Apple has told Mobigame that Langdell's claims need to be resolved before Edge can be purchased worldwide.]
The uncertainty surrounding IGF Mobile darling and Apple favorite Edge continues. Developer Mobigame’s trademark woes thought to be behind them, the game was rereleased on the App Store with additional content on June 18th.
However, following a seemingly playful Twitter post late last week, FingerGaming has learned that Mobigame has been served with a draft complaint from an attorney representing IGDA board member Tim Langdell and Edge Games.
“[It] says, again, that he has the trademark ‘Edge’ in the United States,” Mobigame’s David Papazian told us. “And that we copied his game Bobby Bearing — a Marble Madness clone — and that we admitted that. Unbelievable. I did not know Tim or Bobby Bearing before, of course.”
This comes on the heels of what appears to have been a very busy spring for Langdell, having filed the trademarks Mirror’s Spore, Soulspore and Edge of Twilight in the United Kingdom.
The Edge of Twilight filing is particularly curious as it shares the name of Australian developer Fuzzyeyes’ steampunk action-adventure, revealed in August of 2007, with SouthPeak having announced their intentions to publish the game last March. SouthPeak was unavailable for comment.
On July 8th, FingerGaming was contacted by a second indie iPhone developer after having been served with a cease and desist by Langdell.
Originally looking for counsel, the developer has elected to remain anonymous and will not open a dialog with Langdell or Edge Games at the behest of the unlikeliest of allies — mega-publisher Electronic Arts, who we’re told has been approached by Langdell about the similarities between Mirror’s Edge and Edge Games’ Mirrors, the presentation of which you can find on Edge Games’ homepage.
Papazian has also been in contact with EA, along with Edge Magazine publisher Future, whom Langdell is said to have licensed the use of the “brand” Edge to. Both Edge and the aforementioned mystery game remain available in the App Store at the time of this writing.
After being pulled from the App Store following a legal kerfluffle with “Edge” worldwide trademark owner Tim Langdell, Mobigame’s action-puzzler Edge is now once again available for purchase.
FingerGaming’s Jonathan Glover originally uncovered the controversial reasoning behind Edge’s removal last month, leading to weeks of discussion among the indie games community. The Independent Gaming Source provides a solid recap of the events that followed Edge’s disappearance.
Neither Mobigame nor Langdell has issued a public statement regarding the resolution of the Edge trademark dispute. Mobigame reports that a new version of Edge featuring three new levels has entered Apple’s review process, and should be available soon.
Unceremoniously yanked from the US and UK App Stores a few weeks ago, award-winning puzzler Edge has yet to resurface. Wondering just what had happened to the FingerGaming favorite, we decided to contact developer Mobigame.
“We have legal issues with a man named Tim Langdell,†says Mobigame’s David Papazian. “If you already asked why Soul Edge (the Namco game) was called Soul Blade and later Soulcalibur in the US, you have your answer.â€
Langdell, CEO of EDGE Games, GDC 2009 speaker and Lead Game Faculty at National University, contacted Mobigame and Apple in April asking that the game be pulled. Langdell claims his company owns the worldwide “trademark†EDGE. Despite this, the game remains up in other territories.
“We have the trademark EDGE in Europe (where the game is still available),†Papazian tells FingerGaming. “And we are trying to register it in the US.â€
Currently in negotiations with Langdell, Papazian couldn’t comment on specifics, but assured us him and his partner at Mobigame are in talks with Langdell. The pair will continue to deliver updates on the game’s status via the developer’s Twitter and Facebook.
“We are doing our best to [...] put Edge on the store again without any risk,†Papazian promises.
Mobigame’s International Mobile Gaming Award-winning Edge is no longer available for purchase from the iTunes App Store in the U.S. and the UK. The reasons behind the removal are unknown at this time, though Mobigame promises that any future updates will be made available at its Twitter.
This news came as a bit of a surprise to me last night when I was recommending iPhone games to a friend, only to find out that Edge wasn’t showing up in an App Store search. Further searching revealed that web links to both the Lite and full versions turned up an error message explaining that “The item you’ve requested is not currently available in the US store.”
It’s certainly unusual for such a high-profile (and excellent!) title to suddenly go missing from the App Store for no readily apparent reason and with no explanation. Reports indicate that the title is still available for download in France, though other regions are out of luck for the time being. Here’s hoping that whatever resulted in Edge’s regional removal is resolved soon.
Half the battle in creating a puzzle title for the iPhone, it seems, lies in creating an original concept that stands out from the crowd. With Edge, developer Mobigame has not only created an entirely unique experience, but it’s executed it brilliantly on multiple fronts.
Edge gives you control over a cube, which you must successfully navigate through a series of isometric environments. You’re able to move in four different directions, and you can climb walls of up to one cube length, with certain physical restrictions. On the way to each level’s goal, you’ll need to solve small puzzles and overcome obstacles placed in your path.
It’s a familiar premise that fits many of the action-puzzlers previously released in the App Store. What sets Edge apart is a combination of factors, ranging from its striking aesthetic to its smooth controls to its challenging gameplay. Every element in Edge has obviously been given very careful attention to detail, and the result is a product that feels altogether complete and satisfying.
David Papazian of Mobigame announced that the company’s debut iPhone title, Edge, will be available for download from the iTunes App Store next week.
In Edge, players tilt a cube through a variety of geometric environments while solving puzzles and avoiding cube-hating hazards. Edge uses the iPhone and iPod Touch’s accelerometer to great effect — of particular note is a neat-looking mechanic that allows the cube to hang over the edges of platforms through careful tilting and balancing.
Edge is entered in the inaugural Independent Game Festival Mobile competition, and is nominated for the Excellence in Gameplay award at the International Mobile Gaming Awards. A video trailer of the iPhone version of Edge can be seen below.
If you enjoy reading FingerGaming.com, you might also want to check out these Think Services sites:
Gamasutra (the 'art and business of games'.)
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GamerBytes (for the latest console digital download news.)
Worlds In Motion (discussing the business of online worlds.)
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