Mobile games publisher flaregames has announced the signing of a publishing deal with prominent mobile game development studio Limbic for the next installment in Limbic’s popular Zombie Gunship franchise. Limbic and flaregames aim to recreate this success when the new title, tentatively named Zombie Gunship, Inc., launches globally in 2016.

San Francisco-based Limbic has over 36 million players. Among its hits, Zombie Gunship, launched in 2011, maintained the #1 Top Grossing chart position for several weeks after its launch.

“ We’ve decided to move towards a free-to-play approach with the new game, and are confident that, teamed up with flaregames, we can bring immersive, compelling and beautiful player experiences to larger audiences,” said Limbic’s Co-Founder and CEO, Arash Keshmirian.

Zombie Gunship, Inc. has been in development since January. Limbic is focusing on continuing to bring the immersive, console-style gameplay of the original to fans, and using Limbic’s proprietary 3D engine to provide next-generation visuals far ahead of current mobile games on the market.

I’m really excited to be working with CEO Klaas Kersting and his incredible team in Karlsruhe. They have a wealth of knowledge in building large-scale server-based online mobile free-to-play games, and have the organizational strength to help us succeed on such an ambitious project,” Limbic’s Keshmirian said. “Above all, I’ve really enjoyed the positive attitude at all of flaregames, and it starts with Klaas, a driven-but-humble founder, with the distinguishing quality of actually being a serious gamer.”

Klaas Kersting, CEO and founder of flaregames, added “I truly am a fan of the first Zombie Gunship game and am greatly honored to be able to help create the sequel I (and millions of gamers) have been waiting for. Co-developing Zombie Gunship, Inc. with the talented and focused teams of Limbic is a personal dream come true – and adds another gem to our already shining line-up!”

Limbic is growing its team as it ramps up development, including the hiring of veteran visual effects developer Eric Froemling, well known for award-winning work at Pixar, and as the creator of the hit Android title BombSquad.

“I couldn’t think of a better person to head up the visual effects for Zombie Gunship, Inc,” said Keshmirian. Also joining the team are veteran artists Erling Saevarsson and Jeff Miller, both formerly of CCP Games. Limbic is still looking to add more engineering talent to its roster.

For flaregames, this new agreement is part of a larger initiative to build an impressive publishing portfolio of top-tier mobile games. Recently the company announced partnerships with high-profile game developers such as Subatomic Studios, Superweapon and Remedy.