In the month since we launched the new, free-to-play Zombies, Run!, we’ve welcomed almost half a million new Runners Five to Abel Township. We’re really pleased to have so many new players helping save the world and getting fit in the process!
Just as importantly, we’ve been working hard on fixing bugs and improving the stability of the apps. It’s been a rocky process, which we apologise for, but even two weeks after launch, stability had improved significantly. On iOS, the app is now more crash-free than it’s ever been:
The Android graph looks great as well, but we don’t have enough data for it to look interesting!
We’re also pleased that new features like auto-play next mission, recap and teaser clips, improved external music player support, and adjustable chase difficulty have been received so well, along with iOS features like Apple Health support, and Android features like the live mission progress tracker.
And just this week we released updates for both iOS and Android:
iOS 4.0.2
- Mission Progress icons shown on mission list
- Game Volume control relative to music
- Skip Track button (also on lock screen and Control Center)
- Improved run sharing screenshot and details, including Facebook
- FIX: Incorrect material/supply cost for upgrading buildings and expanding the base
- FIX: Game voice now defaults to English
Android 4.0.8
- Mission Progress icons
- Mission Length setting
- Adjustable Zombie Chases
- FIX: Distance units (km/miles) respected across the app
- FIX: Missions with decisions work properly
- FIX: Various Statistics screen crashes
- FIX: Scripted zombie chases now triggering properly
We know there are features that you dearly miss, like the Codex on Android. Starting from today, we’ll be regularly updating you on the changes and improvements we’re planning with Zombies, Run!
Next on Zombies, Run!
It’s hard to give precise dates for new features because the development process (and Apple review) is unpredictable. With that in mind, here’s what’s coming in the next two months, in rough order:
iOS
- Edit and delete run logs
- Autosharing run logs on Twitter and Facebook
- FIX: Incorrect base display and syncing, e.g. buildings incorrectly showing as Level 1
- Improved music and clip spacing to prevent game audio from interrupting music tracks
- Split time graph in run logs
- VoiceOver fixes and improvements
- Zombie chase fixes and improvements
- GPS accuracy improvements
Android
- Edit and delete run logs
- Share run logs
- Split time graph in run logs
- Zombie chases fixes and improvements
- Mission clip timing fixes and improvements
- FIX: Clips and missions not ‘completing’ properly
- Improved Statistics screen
- Airdrop missions
- Codex
ZombieLink
- FIX: ZR3 to ZR4 user migration
- Run maps
- Edit and delete run logs (with two-way syncing to apps)
- Auto-sharing on Twitter, Facebook, and more
- Statistics
- Codex
Throughout all of this we’ll continue to release two new Season 4 missions every week, with a brief mid-season hiatus in July.
A Brief Word
Thanks so much to the thousands of you who’ve already bought memberships in the new app – your support allows us to maintain and improve Zombies, Run! for years to come. Here’s what it means to us:
Our apps — Zombies, Run!, ZR 5k Training, The Walk, Superhero Workout, Step Buy Step, and Dungeon Runner — are made by a core team of under 15 people. In comparison, both Runkeeper and MapMyRun employ over 50 people, and Runtastic employs over 100 people. So we’re small, but we punch above our weight — especially given that we have over 1.5 million players. We couldn’t do that without your encouragement and enthusiasm for what we make.
We work hard to make our games the best they can be, and we know you have high expectations. We wouldn’t want it any other way: we want Zombies, Run! to be the best running game in the world.
But it takes a lot of time and effort to do this, because while Zombies, Run! includes great ‘content’, it’s not just content. It’s not just a collection of MP3 files; it’s a way of turning recorded audio into an interactive, real world experience.
Sometimes this is more linear, with our thrilling story missions that mix chases and item pickups and radio audio with your music; or sometimes this is more dynamic, with our race or airdrop or interval training missions where you can customise your experience.
Zombies, Run! also relies on ZombieLink to deliver and sync content. This allows us to make improvements over time, like our recap and teaser clips, not to mention our run logs and backup service.
Zombies, Run! is unlike any other app, book, audio drama, game or film. It’s a living, breathing system that thrives because of you. And your support and feedback helps us to reimagine how running can become a real-life adventure story, through both artistic and technological means.
Like Zombies, Run!, iOS and Android are evolving, living systems. New features and devices are introduced and old ones are removed, giving us plenty of work to keep up. Then there are the ‘basic’ new features that we feel are essential for any modern running app, like Apple Health integration and streaming music support, let alone bigger innovations like heart rate monitors, the Pebble, Android Wear, Google Fit, and Apple Watch.
This year’s update is unusual, even for us. We’re working through a lot of technical debt; that’s why some features are temporarily missing or delayed. But this is in service of making the game faster and more stable than it has even been.
Like the inhabitants of Abel, we’re not zombies. We’re human. We love making Zombies, Run! and we’re so proud of how many lives our game has changed. We appreciate all your feedback, and we take it all on board as we work hard to give you the best running experience out there.
We’re really excited about the future of Zombies, Run! in the coming months and years. We have exciting plans for new features for the apps and website, along with brand new experiences for wearables and new places to extend the Zombies, Run! universe.
The best running game in the world is going to get even better, and we hope you’ll keep running by our side for years to come.
Zombies, Run! 