EA announces The Simpsons: Tapped Out

By Fred Dutton Published 21 February, 2012

Free-to-play iOS title a "top tier development priority".

Free-to-play EA smartphone effort The Simpsons: Tapped Out arrives on the App Store some time in the next few weeks, according to a CNET report.

The game apparently tasks you with rebuilding Springfield after Homer triggers a nuclear explosion. The show's voice cast all feature, and its writers have contributed to the script.

The universal app will be free to download, but you can buy virtual currency to speed up your progress. An Android version will follow a few months after the iOS release.

"We want this to be one of the biggest titles this year," commented EA exec Bernard Kim. "We've invested a lot. It's absolutely a top-tier development priority for us."

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About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (11) Latest comment 3 months ago

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  • DrStrangelove #1 3 months ago

    An Android version will follow a few months after the iOS release.
    Why you little...

  • DurzoBlint #2 3 months ago

    It's quite ingenious of these big publishers to use franchises kids are heavily invested in for their micro-transaction games. Unethical, sure, but that's nothing new.

  • el_pollo_diablo #3 3 months ago

    @DrStrangelove

    HaHa!

    /nelson

  • Ironic_War_Criminal #4 3 months ago

    Awwwwww, Free to play? I wanted a peanut!

  • carrotcake #5 3 months ago

    Looking forward to this. EA's treatment of the Simpsons brand has actually been pretty good so far. Actually EA's output for smartphones in general has been superb, they have arguably the most impressive catalog of iOS games among all publishers, especially if you include Popcap and Firemint which are studios they now own. Of all the gaming heavyweights, EA is making the best investment into mobile apps and social networks. I play Sims Social on Facebook too :).

  • Yuroko #6 3 months ago

    I'm really sick of these in app purchases. I don't mind them selling aesthetic things like costumes or whatever, clothes for avatars. Let the idiots buy them, but selling items that make the game better just stinks of piss. My girlfriend plays a lot of shit games on her iPad and often puts it down cause she has ran out of turns or has to wait for something, but could carry on playing if she spends some money.

    Sure, they are free at first but I could see some of them ending up like an MMO where you effectively have a subscription to the game paying for "virtual currency to speed up your progress".

  • mortal_wombat #7 3 months ago

    @Yuroko or you could just not buy them.

  • Chris_Smack #8 3 months ago

    What an apt name for something from The Simpsons franchise

  • Yuroko #9 3 months ago

    @mortal_wombat That's always an option, one I usually take. Though some of these games do have potential and would be worth buying (once) but are hampered by greedy design decisions.

  • waddlemagic #10 3 months ago

    As with all things Simpsons-related these days, I'm sure this will be excellent!

    In case you couldn't tell, I was being sarcastic.
    Edited by waddlemagic at 22/02/12 @ 08:39

  • Chuxfm #11 3 months ago

    anyone else notice how we often end up seeing the Simpsons IP jumping on the 'current top genre' bandwagon on each device.
    PS1 we had the simpsons wrestling game coming off the back of smackdown.
    PS2 we had hit and run coming off the back of GTA
    The old arcade scrolling brawlers.
    And now a micro transaciton based build over time on iOS.

    A major exception being the platformer on current gen consoles.

    It makes for cookie cutter games usually poorly endorsed with minimal input from the writers and cast.