Raging Bulls
- Brand
- PBR
- Year
- 2014
- Objective
- Engagement
- Industry
- Entertainment
- Mechanic
- Racing & Sports
- Platform
- App
- Agency
- RED Interactive Agency
Objective
PBR wanted to reach bull riding fans on the device they were already glued to, not just the arena or the broadcast. CEO Jim Hauorth framed it as a chance to meet fans "where they live" — their phones — and use that reach to pull in kids and casual sports fans who'd never bought a ticket.
Solution
You start as a rookie on a mechanical bull, with intro clips from PBR announcer Flint Rasmussen walking you through the basics. Once you're in the chute, it's two moves: hold on through each jump, then spur the bull in between — every bull telegraphs its next move differently, so you're reading its cues in real time to last the full eight seconds. Ride well and you earn in-game cash to gear up your cowboy and unlock new bulls and events, climbing from Touring Pro Division stops toward the PBR World Finals in Las Vegas. A later update, Bulls on the Beach, adds a beach arena, three new bulls, and daily rewards to chase.
Results
The Android release drew 3.3 million downloads and holds a 4.33-star average across roughly 32,000 Google Play ratings; the App Store version sits at 4.4 stars from 673 US ratings and ranked among the top 10 free sports games on the App Store.
- 1
The player installs the free app and enters career mode, starting not in the arena but on a mechanical bull as a rookie.
- 2
Tutorial video segments hosted by PBR announcer Flint Rasmussen teach the controls and technique for staying seated.
- 3
Progress moves along a career map of events leading from the Touring Pro Division up to the PBR World Finals in Las Vegas; each ride costs energy from a pool of 20 units that must recharge between sessions.
- 4
Each ride is an eight-second timed challenge in which the player reads a bull's visual cues (glowing eyes, leg position) to anticipate its moves, holds a grip button through dangerous jumps, taps a spur button between jumps to restore stamina and score points, and presses a separate kick button for bonus points; each of the 13 bulls follows its own repeating pattern the player learns to react to.
- 5
A ride runs three rounds, so stamina has to be rationed across the whole distance; running out of stamina or missing a grip cue throws the rider, played out as a cartoon ragdoll fall.
- 6
Completing a ride earns virtual currency, spent in a shop on cowboy gear that raises stamina and grip strength and on unlocking further events and bulls; when a bull proves too tough, players can replay earlier events to grind more currency before trying again.
- 7
The roster totals 13 bulls, mixing real PBR stars such as Asteroid, Smackdown, Mississippi Hippy and Bushwacker with fictional ones like Bullzebub and Sir Smackdown, each with a distinct behavior pattern.
- 8
Scores from each ride feed into leaderboards where players compare results.
- 9
Career mode culminates at the PBR World Finals in Las Vegas, reserved for players who clear the tour's hardest rides; a later update added the Bulls on the Beach event with its own arena, three new bulls, and daily login rewards.
