Temple Run, and Usain Bolt, the six-time Olympic Gold Medalist and world’s fastest man, today announced one of the greatest video game & athlete cameo cross-overs of all time as Usain Bolt is now a playable character in Temple Run 2. As the first branded character in Temple Run history, Usain Bolt’s worldwide recognition demonstrates the global and cultural reach of the original endless runner game.
“I am a big fan of Temple Run. I travel all over the world and travel time gives me lots of opportunity to play Temple Run at airports or on car journeys,” said Usain Bolt. “It’s exciting to see myself represented within a game I already play.”
The Usain Bolt character is outfitted in his signature yellow and green, and designed with 3D graphics to deliver a life-like representation. Just like Bolt, the character is gifted with special and unique abilities, allowing him to boost ahead at a record-breaking pace while activating the coin magnet at the same time. Watch out and don’t let Bolt get eaten by the Evil Demon Monkeys!
“This seemed like the most obvious and fitting partnership,” explained Keith Shepherd, co-founder of Imangi Studios. “Personally, we are huge Bolt fans and watched him race to gold last year in London. We cannot think of a better personality and role model to represent the game and encourage our players to keep running.”
With over 500 million downloads between Temple Run and Temple Run 2, the series is one of the biggest in mobile gaming. Since the launch of the original game in 2011, the brand has expanded to include apparel with Komar Kids, digital comics with Ape Entertainment, and card and board games with Spin Master, among other licensing partnerships. Imangi has collaborated twice with Disney to launch Temple Run: Brave and Temple Run: Oz. Both games reached the #1 slot on the App Store.
The Usain Bolt character is available now as an in-app purchase in Temple Run 2 for $0.99, for a limited time only.
