If there's any lingering uncertainty as to the mainstream viability of augmented reality, a list of the top mobile apps and games of 2019 serves to dispell those doubts.
At least one hurdle to China-based augmented reality startup Nreal going mainstream in the United States may be about to be knocked down, thanks to behind the scenes legal movements Next Reality has uncovered.
Castlevania ranks up there with Super Mario as one of the most memorable video games ever, and a new iteration of the side-scrolling action RPG has been soft-launched in Canada ahead of a worldwide release. If you want to try out the game on your iPhone before everyone else, there's a simple hack to try.
Move over, Star Wars. You're not the only Disney property that can play in the Lenovo Mirage AR headset anymore.
If the name Leroy Jenkins elicits a reaction from you, then you are old enough to remember the iconic title World of Warcraft from its heydey (whether or not you actually played the massively multiplayer online role-playing game).
Already among the first game makers to add augmented reality content to an existing game upon the launch of ARKit, Zynga is breaking new ground with mobile AR once again.
When it comes to platform games on mobile, endless runners are some of the hardest to play since they can go on seemingly forever. There's always room for improvement since your goal is to beat your previous score (or someone else's high score). But which endless running games are worth your time?
Smartphone hardware surpassed the most popular portable game devices long ago in all but one category — control. Your iPhone is more than capable of running impressive, fully-realized games, but touch controls only go so far. That's why it's so exciting that Apple has added support for PS4 and Xbox controllers with iOS 13.
Augmented reality jigsaw puzzle game PuzzlAR: World Tour, formerly only available on mobile devices, has been given a major upgrade via a new version for the Magic Leap One.
The long tease that is the release of Minecraft Earth continues, this time with an opportunity to start playing what might be one of the hottest augmented reality games ever, before the general public.
Can lightning strike twice? Niantic is betting that it can with its latest augmented reality game based on the best-selling multimedia franchise Harry Potter.
It turns out that the video Magic Leap released earlier today was indeed a teaser for the public release of the Game of Thrones experience for meant for all Magic Leap One users.
The Game of Thrones premiere is fast approaching, and along with it, Magic Leap has begun to unveil some of the fan-centric swag associated with its immersive experience based on the hit TV series.
While Magic Leap turned heads at the Game Developers Conference with AR experiences at the Unity and Unreal Engine booths, news broke that the company was the winning bidder for ODG's patents.
Visitors to the Unity booth at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco will get a special augmented reality treat courtesy of Magic Leap and Weta Workshop.
Any real Star Wars fan knows that fear is a path to the dark side, as it leads to anger, and then suffering. For players of Star Wars Jedi Challenges, though, access to the antagonistic side of the Force is now available through their mobile apps.
One of the funniest scenes from the teaser trailer for the Wreck-It Ralph sequel is the basis for the new pre-show augmented reality experience via the Noovie ARCade app.
While these days it is better known for the cross-platform gaming sensation Fortnite, Epic Games also makes Unreal Engine, one of the top development environments for 3D content and, in turn, augmented reality and virtual reality experiences.
Niantic's most successful app, Pokémon GO, has become the first app to integrate the company's Real World Platform, the developer's AR cloud technology that enables multiplayer AR, persistent content, and occlusion with physical objects.
Massive multiplayer shooters like Fortnite have become all the rage, as mobile gamers duke it out in long, protracted battles that can often be as excruciating as they are thrilling. If you're yearning for a more fast-paced shooter on iOS, Nitro Games has you covered, and has soft-launched Heroes of Warland for further tweaking. Of course, you can try the game yourself right now with a tiny hack.
Not content to let NFL's official pizza sponsor corner the market for feeding football fans, 7-Eleven has taken a page out of Pizza Hut's playbook with a promotional augmented reality game.
After parting ways with Papa John's, the National Football League has drafted Pizza Hut as its official pizza purveyor, and the company has hit the field with an augmented reality game to entertain hungry football fans.
Cable TV network Nickelodeon is looking to break new ground with a new series that will be experienced in virtual and augmented reality.
After getting confirmation from Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, we now know Fortnite Battle Royale will not be available on the Play Store when it's finally released for Android. Instead, users will have to download the APK directly from Epic Games' website — and quite frankly, this is a bad idea.
Apparently, it's Google Week for the augmented reality business. Now that ARCore has a firm foothold in the app ecosystem, Google is making a case with educators and marketers that the apps should have a place in schools and campaigns, and the company is also encouraging developers to learn how to build apps using ARCore.
Kings of Soccer recently soft launched in the Netherlands and a few other countries, garnering positive reviews from the mobile gamers who've experienced it. With the 2018 FIFA World Cup now in full swing, we wanted to let you in on a little secret: You can play Kings of Soccer right now ahead of everyone else, regardless of where you live.
The Power Rangers universe is massive, spanning numerous shows and movies that feature different heroes — from the original dinosaur-themed Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, to Power Rangers Samurai, and so on. To tie it all in, Nexon has soft launched Power Rangers: All Stars in select countries ahead of a worldwide release. But you can try the game out right now thanks to a simple hack.
After two dramatic Conference Finals, the dust has settled to reveal ... the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Well, at least the Irving-less Celtics and Rockets (short of Chris Paul for Games 6 and 7) gave it their all. With these teams battling for the fourth straight time, people want to know if the Cavs can even up the score at 2-2.
NBA 2K18 has been out for the iPhone for months, but its $7.99 price tag put it out of reach for many mobile gamers. There's light at the end of the tunnel now, as a free-to-play version is in the works as a soft-launch in New Zealand. If you can't bear the wait, you can play the free NBA 2K Mobile right now in any country.
Despite numerous reports announcing its stateside arrival, "Final Fantasy Awakening" has yet to show up in the iOS App Store, much to the chagrin of millions of fans in the U.S. Unfortunately, the game seems to be stuck in soft-launch limbo, with no word as to when it'll land stateside. With a little hack, however, you can give this immersive game a try right now.
The crime procedural show is the perhaps the most direct path to the average TV viewer's heart. Could the same hold true for augmented reality games?
While having no internet connection is definitely a bad thing when you need it, you can at least bide your time until you're back online with a hidden Easter egg inside of the Google Chrome browser. This gem unlocks a secret side-scrolling game that can keep you busy during your downtime.
With PUBG and Fortnite dominating the gaming scene, other companies are making royale-themed games to get in on the trend. Futureplay is no different, as they've soft launched Battlelands Royale in Finland, Poland and Ukraine to iron out bugs before its worldwide debut. If you don't live in one of those countries, you can try this game right now with a quick workaround.
Ever since JamCity dropped the first trailer for Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, fans have been eager to get their hands on the game. What Harry Potter fanatic wouldn't want to live out their own Hogwarts adventure on their iPhone or Android device? Well, we now know when the game is officially coming, as well as who will step into the shoes of our favorite, iconic Potter characters.
Mobile gamers are well aware of this, but zombie shooters have become pretty stagnant and unimaginative in recent years. Too many entries in this genre feature the same cookie-cutter gameplay, but thankfully, Gameloft aims to change this. The company has soft-launched Dead Rivals in a few countries, and with a little work, you can try the game yourself right now.
The guy who recreated Super Mario Bros. as a first-person obstacle course is back with an augmented reality take on another classic game.
A controversial video from Magic Leap's past has once again surfaced, but this time it comes with a lot more credibility and a good bit of excitement around the Magic Leap One headset.
Now that we finally have vertical plane recognition in ARKit (at least on a developer level until the spring iOS 11.3 release), the real promise of mobile augmented reality is beginning to come into focus on iOS. But a new report indicates that a major near future advancement of ARKit that could change everything has been put on hold by Apple.
An AR/VR developer has managed to use the iPhone X to transport players into an emulation of the classic '90s video game Star Fox as the game's antagonist.
If you're like me, you probably have a wishlist of Android games you'd love to buy, except the high price tags keep you away. A few bucks can feel like a fortune in the Google Play Store — you just can't bring yourself to pay that much. Well, lucky for you, Google Play has some serious discounts this Cyber Monday. There won't be a better time to buy these games, until next year, of course.
