Zoo World 2 grazes into Turkey, the Middle East and North Africa

Well, zoos are an international pastime. RockYou, creator of hit zookeeping Facebook game Zoo World (and its sequel) has announced that it will provide Turkish, Middle Eastern and North African fans localized version of Zoo World 2. With the help of Peak Games, the leading social gaming company in the MENA region, these newly localized versions of the game will enjoy local marketing, user acquisition, customer support, and community management.

"We realize that the best global approach is made up of a series of local approaches," RockYou SVP and GM of Studio Partners Josh Grant said in a statement. "So we've chosen the strongest partner for these regions in Peak Games: experts who can ensure that our games cater to their culture and audience through proper localization."

The Middle Eastern developer based in Istanbul will translate the game into both Modern Arabic and Turkish, as well as incorporate culturally appropriate enhancements to the games. The move marks RockYou's goal to become one of the top social games publishers around, and expanding to one of the most active Facebook communities today is a brilliant start.

Gallery: Zoo World 2 on Facebook

Just as the company expands into new territory, it also looks to new sources of hit games. Recently, the company opened an indie games partnerships firm called Studio Partners to provide indie social games with publishing support. Perhaps we'll see more RockYou games come from this region than not, thanks to Studio Partners. Now that would be an interesting way to expand.

Do you think RockYou might be looking to beat other countries like Zynga and EA to the punch by localizing in these territories? Could RockYou soon compete directly with Facebook, using this strategy?

RockYou seeking skilled recruits ... to play Galactic Allies [Video]

Look, RockYou knows that you're not an architect by trade, and you're certainly no cook. So, why not stop pretending to do things real people do and pretend to be something completely fictional, like a galactic fleet commander? With developer 3 Blokes, the Facebook game publisher recently released Galactic Allies to Facebook, the studio's second strategy game.

The game enlists players as commanders of their very own fleet of star ships in a battle to protect their end of the galaxy from alien enemies. In a more casual approach to the growing sub genre of hardcore strategy games on Facebook, Galactic Allies lets players directly control their space-faring units to avoid enemy fire in real-time combat. (Of course, battles are exchanged between players asynchronously.)

While it's not marketed as such, the game looks a lot like the spiritual successor to 3 Blokes's first game on Facebook, Galactic Trader. But this time around, the developer has resources from a major publisher, which can only mean one thing: a goofy trailer displaying almost everything the game has to offer in a 60-second nutshell.
Gallery: Galactic Allies on Facebook
Also, the game wasn't exactly live when we first revealed it to you, so check out the fun trailer down there. And when you're done with that, click on the link below to hop into Galactic Allies. That is, if you think you can answer the call--come on, even the narrator wants in.


Click here to play Galactic Allies on Facebook Now >

Have you tried Galactic Allies on Facebook yet? What do you think of where hardcore strategy games on Facebook are at right now? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment