Insomniac canning Outernauts on Facebook and Kongregate to focus on iOS

Insominac Games is shutting down Outernauts, its free-to-play Pokémon-like social game, on Facebook and Kongregate in favor of improving the mobile version.

"However, the time has come for us to create a new Outernauts adventure that will be available on iOS," wrote Insomniac today in a blog post. "While we’d love to be able to keep running Outernauts on Facebook, Kongregate, AND iOS, we simply don’t have the resources to do so at our high standards.

"What does that mean? Honestly, it means we wouldn’t be able to create new content for all three platforms and more importantly, properly address player inquiries. We have to pick where we focus, and we’re going to focus on iOS (and eventually Android)."

The Facebook and Kongregate versions will cease on Jan. 31 next year. Insomniac has stopped in-game purchases and tripled any Star Gems bought in the last couple days. The developer plans to unveil a "detailed rewards structure" to dedicated browser players soon in the hope that they might switch to the iOS version.

"We understand this news may come as a surprise to our players," wrote Insomniac.

The developer said it has overhauled the game for a more streamlined experience. "In other words, we’ve evolved Outernauts specifically for iOS. This ain’t no simple port. We’re very excited about it here."

Outernauts debuted last year in July.