Samsung and Google have long been teasing the Vulkan API and the added benefits it will bring to your mobile gaming experience, but there have been no game titles to actually take advantage of the open standard until now.
So, to get you excited to play games with the newly announced Galaxy Note 7’s Vulkan abilities, Samsung and Google are offering the Galaxy Game Pack. This bundle includes $400 worth of titles and in-app-purchases in the Google Play Store, including four Vulkan API-ready games. The full list includes:
- Need for Speed No Limits
- Hit
- Vainglory
- Olympus Rising
- Nonstop Knight
- Empire: Four Kingdoms
- Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
- MARVEL Contest of Champions
- Asphalt 8: Airborne
- Hungry Shark World
- Angry Birds Pop Bubble Shooter
- Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes
- Sims City Free Play
- Clash of Kings
Only the first four games on this list, Need for Speed No Limits, Hit, Vainglory, and Olympus Rising, will be able to take advantage of Vulkan, which was previously referred to as the “next generation OpenGL initiative.”
Why this matters: Samsung’s been touting its handset's compatibility with the Vulkan API since the launch of the Galaxy S7, but there have been so few game titles to actually show its prowess. Samsung’s ready to put its money where its mouth is, so to speak, and the first order of business is getting its users to actively experience the Vulkan API’s capabilities so that there’s weight behind all that active marketing.
The game pack will be officially available to Galaxy Note 7 users beginning August 20 through January 31, 2017.
