If you've noticed a trend with most of Gameloft's new releases having Universal support over the past few months, it isn't just a coincidence. Talking with Pocket Gamer during the Gamescon '11 conference in Germany, Gameloft PR Manager Gregory Wintgens stated that from here on out the iOS mega-developer plans to "release everything as Universal" rather than the long standing practice of having separate versions for iPhone/iPod touch and the iPad.

Starting with Order & Chaos Online [$6.99] back in April, Gameloft has been releasing almost all of their games as Universal builds. Now, due to your keen sense of detail, you might be saying "Hey! Not ALL of their recent releases have been Universal, I'm calling shenanigans!", and you would be correct. This is because certain licensing agreements don't allow for Universal builds, thus some new releases will still come with two separate versions. Also, I think there were a couple of releases that had already been planned as separate HD versions, but didn't finally hit until just recently.

Which brings me to another good point about all this: typically, the separate HD iPad version of a Gameloft game has taken weeks or sometimes MONTHS to finally release. This has left iPad gamers out in the cold on more than once occasion while their smaller screen-toting peers gamed their days away with the latest Gameloft releases. With Universal builds, all iOS device owners can partake in the fun day and date with each other (unless you own a 1st or 2nd generation device that isn't supported. Sorry guys).

From a consumer standpoint, I absolutely love Universal games. Not only are you saving money by only having to purchase a game once to have it run on your various devices, but it also cuts way down on app clutter in iTunes. It's no picnic trying to juggle the hundreds of apps on my computer, and it's made even worse by having two separate versions of the same game. I know making a game Universal doesn't fit with every developer's strategy, but I sure do appreciate it when it does happen, and for that I give Gameloft a thumbs up.

[Via Pocket Gamer]