Sacramento, California – Conceived by the London based Kuato Studios, Hakitzu Elite is the first of many planned titles from the studio that focuses on teaching kids STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) skills through gameplay. The learning-while-playing concept is fundamental to Kuato Studios’ philosophy to help kids (and interested adults) develop these important life skills.

The latest version of Hakitzu Elite has been released in time for teachers and students taking part in Code.org’s Computer Science Education Week, and is featured on iTunes’ top educational apps for learning code. The game is perfect for any student wanting to participate in the Hour of Code initiative. “We hear from kids around the world over and over – ‘We want to learn code,'” says Mark Horneff, Studio Head of Kuato. “What we are doing here is taking coding and gaming, and merging them together to engage students of all ages, and for Computer Science Week, we’re opening it up to as many people as possible.”

Code is becoming the essential communication tool of this age. Projections show that by 2020, there will be one million more computer science jobs than computer science students.

With this just-released update featured on iTunes, Hakitzu Elite players can move to the next level in their coding skills with four different styles, from simple code recognition “tap and play”, to inputting the code itself from memory with the custom-built coding keyboard. Players can test their skills in the single player challenges or by battling their friends in the arena. The higher the player moves up the Coding Ranks, the more points they will receive in single player challenges and in the arena. These points can be spent in the Chop Shop where players can make their robots, known as CodeWalkers, into the ultimate fighting machine.

Hakitzu Elite is now free to play for both iOS and Android and features a brand new look and feel. The tutorial system has also been updated and teaches the game while simultaneously guiding users through a coding bootcamp. A refreshed Chop Shop helps players customize their CodeWalkers with the best weapons for combat. Facebook and Gamecenter integration allows players to compete with their friends and the new in-game leaderboards rank you against your friends, taking your rivalry to a new level. Victory is in the code.

Features of Hakitzu Elite Include:
* Free to play
* Learn to program in Javascript
* Hone coding skills with 25 single player challenges and easy to master interactive tutorial and coding bootcamp
* Play through different coding ranks sequentially; beginner, Junior Coder, * Coder and Hacker to become the ultimate Robot Hacker champion
* Earn coding credits for match and challenge completion’
* Compete against your Facebook friends online with a large arsenal of weapons and in four awesome arenas
* A mega marketplace with a large collection of weapons, robot styles and paints to choose from
* Customize robot warriors and share your creations with friends on Facebook

Device Requirements:
* iPhone, iPod touch and iPad
* Requires iOS 6.0 or later
* This app is optimized for iPhone 5
* 98.5 MB

Pricing and Availability:
Hakitzu Elite: Robot Hackers 1.0.7 is Free and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Games category.

Kuato Studios
Hakitzu Elite: Robot Hackers 1.0.7
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Kuato Studios is a development studio focused on creating games with a purpose and an intelligent learning platform. Providing educational products that are both entertaining and engaging. Our London based team consists award-winning experts from the educational field, AI specialists and talent from world-renowned games studios such as EA, Konami and Sony. Hakitzu Elite introduces young people to the fundamentals of JavaScript and we’re developing more products that will encourage deeper, more engaged learning in other STEM subjects. Copyright (C) 2013 Kuato Studios. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPad, iPad mini, iPod touch, and Mac are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other trademarks and registered trademarks may be the property of their respective owners.