I had a burst of nostalgia the other day. I was playing Dying Light to celebrate the game’s 10th anniversary and my mind flicked back to when the game was fresh on the market. One of my fondest memories of Dying Light is the game’s super helpful companion app, which allowed users to send scouts on virtual missions, which they’d claim rewards for later when they played the base game.
It had a few more features besides that, and it was a neat way to stay connected, still experience Dying Light’s universe on the go, and earn rewards without touching the game itself. It was discontinued a couple of years ago, but playing Dying Light got me thinking about the best companion apps for games that have long since disappeared.
Beyond The Numbers
I’m not just talking about stat trackers, by the way – they’re a dime a dozen. Everything from League of Legends to World of Warcraft, and from EA FC to Destiny has a companion app, most of which is focused on tracking events, managing minor inventory mechanics, accessing account information, and sending messages in-game.
I miss when the best companion apps felt like games themselves – miniature versions of a top-tier title that would allow you to truly stay connected long after you’d logged off.
Dying Light’s companion app was a perfect example of this.
Players could utilise the app to run missions, arrange scouts to travel to the most dangerous parts of the game’s world, and progress through a chain of missions with progressively better rewards. They’d need to make sure they were picking the right runner for the job, and the rewards they scavenged could be collected later in the game.
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag had a similar mechanic.
The companion app for Black Flag was stellar, allowing users to control a full-fledged fleet of ships, sending them around the world on a multitude of missions. It was discontinued in 2015, but while it was online, it offered another angle to experience the pirating adventures found at the heart of this monumental Assassin’s Creed title.
It was inherently linked to the game, too. As you played Black Flag and added ships to your fleet, you could command those ships in real time through the companion app. Then, you could log into the game later on and reap the rewards of those missions.
GTA 5’s ‘iFruit’ app was also quite good. It featured mini-games that the player could use to train Chop, an in-game dog that belonged to Franklin Clinton, one of the game’s protagonists. It was entertaining enough, featuring three basic games and some additional features like car customisation and a stat tracker.
Sadly, it was discontinued in 2022, almost a decade after it surfaced alongside GTA 5. Will GTA 6 have another version, considering it’s very social media-heavy?
Run of the Mill
Most games that have a companion app typically offer a no-frills experience that might feature a codex, an interactive map, or some kind of news feed mechanic. The best example of this is Red Dead Redemption 2, which features just that. The map is nice enough, but it’s the most common thing for companion apps to feature.
How about if Red Dead Online had a companion app through which you could send bandits or buddies on missions while you were offline, allowing them to gather resources and cash for you to use when you next played? I mean, RDO is another microtransaction-packed game, so it’s unlikely that would happen – Rockstar wants you to purchase those gold bars.
Don’t get me wrong, some companion apps without engaging features like this are still plenty helpful. There’s a nice Escape from Tarkov companion app from Overwolf with interactive maps, quest trackers, and guides for weapon presets and information on the latest updates. In a game that’s as complex as Tarkov, that’s a very welcome addition.
But imagine if you could use a companion app to ‘automatically’ run ‘Scav’ raids, having a timer count down at the end of which you’d see the loot secured by a Scav – if they were successful. It’d be a spin-wheel mechanic that would have a different result every time, and I could see Battlestate Games charging for ‘extra Scavs’, but I think it’d be a hit.
Nobody likes running Scavs really, so if you confine them to a companion app, allowing players to run them while in a regular PMC raid, everyone is happy.
I don’t know if I’m being hit with nostalgia or if there’s a genuine demand out there for better, more immersive companion apps.
It’s probably just me…
Let me know if there’s a particular app you enjoy using on the Insider Gaming forum.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that Civilization 7 is getting a VR version
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