A “Mr. Robot” mobile messaging game has hacked its way into the No. 10 spot on Apple’s App Store chart for paid apps.
The $2.99 game, “Mr. Robot:1.51exfiltrati0n.apk” for iOS, has jumped into the top rankings on the App Store just two days after its release — a testament to the popularity of USA Network’s dystopian hacker thriller, currently in the midst of its second-season run on TV.
In the game, set in the time period of “Mr. Robot” season 1, players join the fsociety hacker collective dedicated to bringing down the evil E-Corp conglomerate. The app is styled as E-Corp’s messaging app, and users text with characters from the show including Elliot and Darlene to drive the narrative forward. (The setup is that you’ve happened upon Darlene’s smartphone outside the Anonymous-inspired group’s Coney Island enclave at the Fun Society Arcade.)
The game was developed by Night School Studio and published by Telltale Games, which is backed by Lionsgate. “Fans of the show will be engrossed all through the night as they race to help fsociety pull off the unthinkable,” Telltale Games senior VP of publishing Steve Allison said in announcing the game.
The “Mr. Robot” game doesn’t include in-app purchases, and does not carry any advertising (except, of course, it’s one giant ad for the show itself). It has a 5-star rating on Apple’s App Store, and a 3.2-star rating (out of 5) on Google Play, where the game is appropriately called “Mr. Robot:1.51exfiltrati0n.apk” with the Android .apk extension.
The app is rated “mature,” intended only for users 17 and older. Apple’s App Store cites the game’s “frequent/intense profanity or crude humor,” as well as alcohol and drug references, mild sexual content and nudity, and suggestive themes.
Watch a video of the making of the game: