While most gamers know Hello Games from its award-winning game No Man’s Sky, it was their daredevil-inspired game from 2010 that put them on the board initially. Joe Danger is a side-scrolling racing and platform game where you get to ride a motorcycle as you perform stunts to make even the most daring devils jealous. The game was initially released on consoles, but it has had a few mobile entries as well over the years. Joe Danger Infinity is a mobile version of the game that was released in 2014, and with recent iOS updates and the team focusing their energies on other games, it became no longer compatible with the updated software. On January 27, Sean Murray, Head of Hello Games, took to Twitter to announce the relaunch of Joe Danger on iOS, and while a game relaunching to keep up with software updates isn’t normally that big of news, it’s the reasoning behind this update makes this story one worth reading and writing.
When iOS updated and Joe Danger became no longer available on current devices, one father wrote to Hello Games with a heartwarming request. This father was writing in for his 8-year-old son Jack who was diagnosed with Autism. Joe Danger is Jack’s favorite game and became a wonderful coping mechanism to help both him and his father deal with the struggles of Autism, or sometimes just provide a much-needed break from them. The game allowed Jack to find ways to connect with friends and family and just be a kid while racing, jumping, and performing stunts as Joe Danger. The game had even become a reward to help Jack get through difficult situations that so many take for granted, such as being in a loud crowd or sitting through classwork. When announcing the relaunch of the game, Sean Murray also tweeted out the full fan letter, which you can read below, alongside a comment from him stating, “This mail broke our hearts and made us want to set things right.” And set things right they did. Joe Danger is fully relaunched on iOS with improved visuals, higher frame rate, ProMotion, and Gamepad support.
A secret shame of ours is that the success of No Man’s Sky left our first game Joe Danger unloved. Sadly since iOS culled older games it no longer worked on latest Apple devices 😭
This mail broke our hearts and made us want to set things right 💔 pic.twitter.com/Oz2yTjMUK5
— Sean Murray (@NoMansSky) January 27, 2022
Sean Murray also stated the following in that Twitter thread:
As game devs it’s so easy to underestimate the impact even your smallest games can have. It blows my mind that something you make can be someone’s first game they played, hit at an important time or even be their favorite thing for a while
Every gamer has some game that they were enamored with at some point in their life, and it’s easy for the developers to not realize how much of a positive impact their games have on people and their lives. Stories like Jack’s help to remind us all of the true power of gaming. People often tend to focus on the negative news around gaming: the rise of NFTs, microtransactions, etc. But it’s nice to take the time to appreciate the good news too.
