Mediatonic, the social gaming specialist based in London, England, has helped win a challenge transmitted on FIVE’s The Gadget Show last Monday. Working closely with presenter Suzi Perry, the Mediatonic team designed and produced Biker Blast-Off!, a small, free-to-download iPhone game, as part of a presenter challenge between Suzi and co-host Jason Bradbury.

The challenge pitted game against application, and homebrew developers against a professional team. Mediatonic’s production, Biker Blast-Off!, launched via the App Store on 1st September and quickly established a clear lead over Social Beacon, Jason’s self-developed application for generating social network status updates without typing. With final figures at the time of filming totalling 1,214,764 downloads for Biker Blast-Off! and 4,074 for Social Beacon, Suzi emerged triumphant, thanks in no small part to the input of Mediatonic, which brought a full project team and decades of experience in Flash and social gaming to the fore.

Paul Croft, creative director, Mediatonic comments: “This challenge was a fantastic experience for the team and we’re absolutely overjoyed that Biker Blast-Off! has won.” He continues, “What this actually proves is that not only will a free game always get more attention than a free utility, but also that production values are critical to any application’s success. When it comes to small games, a keen sense of what makes a compelling, quick-fire play experience is absolutely key.”

Biker Blast-Off! has remained popular on the App Store, growing to 1.4 million downloads over the month of October. With number one placement in the overall charts for UK, France and Germany as well as a top-ten position in the US charts, Biker Blast-Off! has been a resounding success for Mediatonic. Electronic Theatre will keep you updated with all the latest from the growing developer.

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