Apple has partnered with Genshin Impact maker Hoyoverse and US startup Azra to demo the first games running on its new iPhone Duo.
The foldable phone was revealed in yesterday’s keynote. iPhone Duo is launching in October for $2000, and the two games demoed to press and influencers after yesterday’s event were Hoyoverse’s Zenless Zone Zero and Azra Games’ UnGodly.
The former game is live on app stores now, and is the third large-scale open world gacha game to come out of Genshin Impact maker Hoyoverse. UnGodly, meanwhile, is a lavish RPG made by Azra, a VC-backed studio based in Sacramento, California made up of several EA veterans that worked on Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes. Azra had planned to launch UnGodly earlier this year, but the game is still in pre-registration on both iOS and Android stores.
The iPhone Duo represents a very different form factor for developers to work with. Its internal, foldable screen is 7.6 inches wide and can output gameplay at up to 120FPS, says Apple. It is powered by Apple’s A20 Pro chip and a new seven core GPU.
Apple released six developer videos designed to help developers adapt their games and apps to the new device’s form factor. The iPhone maker’s head of gaming partnerships Greg Essig said on LinkedIn that iPhone Duo “is the best gaming experience ever on an iPhone.”
“Games look incredible on it. Bright, fast, and big enough that every detail shows,” he continued. “And it’s a pleasure to hold. If you’ve ever enjoyed gaming on an iPad mini, you know what I’m talking about. Now it folds and goes with you in your pocket”
He added: “I’m so excited to see what developers do with this new form factor and what gamers think of playing on it.”
