Epic Games, the publisher of the popular Infinity Blade games for iOS, announced today that the series has brought in over $30 million in profits in the past year. According to Epic Games" press release, $5 million of those profits came from Infinity Blade II, which has only been out for a little over a month.
The ChAIR developed series has been subject to quite a bit of critical acclaim for pushing the boundaries of mobile graphics, so the profits aren"t all that shocking. They do, however, prove that there is a healthy market for "hardcore" games on mobile devices.
The numbers don"t refer exclusively to the franchises two flagship products, the two main games available on iOS devices, but also take sales of a digital novel and soundtrack into account, as well as the arcade port of the original game, Infinity Blade FX. Still, we"re betting that the vast majority of those profits are coming from sales on Apple devices. Seriously, who buys the soundtrack of a mobile game?
Speaking of Apple, they should be getting a pretty penny out of this, too. Their customary 30% cut would add up to about $9 million itself. Not too bad for a company who"s products were once completely discounted as a viable platform for gaming.
So far, the games are only available on iOS, and despite the proliferation of Android smartphones (so far, Google"s OS hasn"t been able to make much headway in tablets), Epic Games hasn"t been dropping any hints that the series will be coming to more platforms anytime soon. Actually, the statement from corporate President Dr. Michael Capps was all about Apple:
“The success of the Infinity Blade franchise is testament to our talented team who is devoted to making games we want to play, all while using Unreal Engine technology to redefine what is expected from games on iOS devices,” Epic Games President Dr. Michael Capps said. “We have so much more in store for players, and will continue to make great content for Apple’s evolving platforms.”
With Windows 8 promising to bring its brand power and a unified marketplace to rival Apple"s App Store to the table sometime later this year, maybe we"ll be seeing Infinity Blade coming to more platforms soon. The question is, has iOS already become too established as the go-to platform for mobile gaming to be touched?
Image courtesy of Epic Games