Epic's Infinity Blade turns over $1.6m in 5 days
Unreal engine game is fastest-grossing App ever
Infinity Blade, the Unreal engine-powered iOS game, has sold at least 274,000 copies in its first five days on sale, according to recent player counts on Apple's Game Center.
At $5.99 per copy, the sword-fighting app will thus have mustered over $1.64 million in sales for publisher Epic, whose studio Chair Entertainment created what is widely-hailed as one of the most technically impressive iOS titles to date.
This trumps the previous record for fastest-grossing App, held by the Chillingo-published title Cut The Rope, which turned over $1 million in its first ten days. However, the $0.99 title also boasted one million downloads over the same period.
I have a feeling that the average person didn't even know about this game or why it was "one of the most technically impressive iOS titles to date". The 274,000 copies is largely a result of Apple advertising it. That said, there really is nothing wrong with that. I just wonder how well a technically inferior game would have sold under the same conditions and in the same price bracket.
Apple promotes games that they believe are elite. Elite games sell better because they are elite. This rule spans across the video game platforms. Of course it became Apples Game of the Week, the main reason behind that was that it is Apples game of the week and probably across all platforms including DSi, PSP, Android etc. I would actually go a step father and say that this game will win game of the year across the board.
It really is a special game and I think Chair/Epic raised the bar to the extent that the other publishers will now be expected to compete technically. A reviewer friend of mine literally said on Saturday that IB makes Hero's of Sparta look like Donkey Kong.
For disclosure, yes I work in the video game industry and no I have zero affiliation to Epic.
The 274K copies is actually wrong because only 35% of the user base actually enables game center.
Though I'd been following the development of IB myself, it didn't take long for plenty of other people to independently recommend it or downright press it in my face, as I did for others simply because I found it to be exceptional.
Considering what Epic may end up pulling in with this title, I wonder if IB might spur higher-end development on phones, forcing them into even greater competition with DS, PSP, etc. It's fun to think of what a AAA category for iPhone/Android devices might look like but certainly, it would allow me to room to pitch more expensive/immersive projects.
p.s
1.6m ins't that much if you consider the number of iphones/ipods that are sold worldwide.
Edited 1 times. Last edit by Kevin Clark-Patterson on 14th December 2010 2:34pm