Amutus Trying To Prove Casual Japanese Games Can Have Global Success With Bike Rider

Japanese indie studio Amutus hit it big on the Nintendo 3DS eShop when releasing its sketch-style bike platformer Bike Rider back in 2006. It was the number one game in the Japanese eShop for a while, accumulating over 25 million downloads to this day. Now, Amutus is trying to replicate that success in the west.

Last year, Bike Rider was re-released for a global audience on iOS and Android, but it didn’t quite take off as much as it did on the 3DS, much to Amutus’s disappointment, presumably. So, to help boost its downloads, Amutus hired Vine stars Marcus and Cody Johns to appear in a trailer for the game directed by Jethro Ames, who is another Vine star made famous for his stop motion shorts. You can watch it above.

While you could perceive Amutus’s persistence as trying to force something that isn’t going to happen, the studio disagrees. “The top of the App Store charts in Japan are filled with big titles, mostly RPG, that are high ARPPU. And these top games have not performed well in the markets outside of Japan (with the exception of a handful, such as Brave Frontier),” Bike Rider director Kiyo Takagi told PocketGamer.biz.

“On the other hand, if you look at the super casual games category, which I believe Bike Rider fits in, there are many titles that have been successful globally, for example Flappy Bird, Temple Run, White Tile, etc. And I believe that a Japanese title from this category could have the same kind of success.”

You can download Bike Rider for free on the App Store and Google Play.