Ever since Epic Games introduced Infinity Blade as Project Sword at Apple’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference in 2010, ChAIR Entertainment (subsidiary of Epic Games) has received remarkable attention for promising then delivering a gaming experience that pushes Apple’s latest hardware to its limits. After Infinity Blade was officially titled in November, 2010, and released for the masses a month later, the game sold 274,000 copies in the first five days — $1.6 Million in net revenue is impressive even for a highly anticipated gaming title. A year later, Infinity Blade II has hit the market after another impressive tech demo, earning $5 million in revenue since its December 1st launch. The original Infinity Blade took three months to reach the $5 million marker and has earned Epic Games $23 million to date.
Since the original title launched, the Infinity Blade franchise has earned over $30 Million in revenue. While we know and love Infinity Blade for its intense graphics and fluid gameplay on our iOS devices, Infinity Blade spans the media with an official Infinity Blade: Original Soundtrack, a digital novel by the name of Infinity Blade: Awakening, and the coin operated arcade game Infinity Blade FX.
Infinity Blade and Infinity Blade II are available on the App Store for $5.99 and $6.99 respectively.
[via Joystiq]
You can find the Press Release past the break.
EPIC GAMES AND CHAIR ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCE EARNINGS FROM INFINITY BLADE FRANCHISE EXCEED $30 MILLION
Accolades, Strong Sales of Infinity Blade II Further Propel Blockbuster Game Franchise
CARY, N.C. and SALT LAKE CITY (January 5, 2012) – Epic Games, Inc. and its award-winning Salt Lake City-based development studio, ChAIR Entertainment, today announced that earnings from ChAIR’s blockbuster Infinity Blade video game franchise have eclipsed $30 million in just one year since the introduction of the original game. One of the most popular gaming franchises to be launched on the App Store, the award-winning series has also created significant licensing interest in the underlying Unreal Engine 3 technology from developers worldwide.
Further fueling franchise momentum is the recent release of Infinity Blade II, which has seen net earnings in excess of $5 million in just one month since release on Dec. 1, 2011, a mark which took the original title three months to achieve. Infinity Blade II is on pace to exceed the record success of the original Infinity Blade game, which has grossed more than $23 million to date. Additional franchise extensions include Infinity Blade: Awakening, a digital novella from best-selling author Brandon Sanderson, Infinity Blade: Original Soundtrack, which features original music from the games, and Infinity Blade FX, a big screen, coin-op version of Infinity Blade now featured in arcades nationwide.
Infinity Blade II was one of the most critically acclaimed games of 2011 and received dozens of accolades, including several perfect scores and Editors Choice awards. IGN scored the game a “Perfect 10” and named it their 2011 Mobile Game of the Year. USA Today awarded Infinity Blade II another perfect score, calling it “A Masterful Mobile Epic.” Infinity Blade II was crowned Game of the Year by Slide to Play and Touch Gen, and named Mobile Game of the Year by GameSpot and G4TV, among others. Infinity Blade II was also named among E! Online’s ‘Top 10 Games of 2011,’ one of the ‘Best Apps of 2011’ by Entertainment Weekly, and was cited by Mashable in its ‘5 Major Trends that Changed Digital Entertainment in 2011’ feature.
“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.”
Infinity Blade II is available for download from the App Store (www.itunes.com/appstore) for $6.99 and is a universal app. The game is compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPad, iPad 2, iPod touch 3 (16GB+) and iPod touch 4.
To learn more about the Infinity Blade games and novella, follow @InfinityBlade on Twitter, ‘Like’ “Infinity Blade” on Facebook at www.facebook.com/InfinityBladeGame or visit the official website at www.InfinityBladeGame.com.
About Infinity Blade
In December 2010, Epic Games’ award-winning studio ChAIR Entertainment forever changed the landscape of mobile gaming with the introduction of “Infinity Blade” for iOS. Powered by Unreal Engine 3, “Infinity Blade” brought handheld gaming to new heights with gorgeous visuals, adrenaline-fueled battles and advanced character progression in a fully 3D castle realm. With millions of players worldwide, “Infinity Blade” is one of the most popular games ever launched on the App Store, receiving numerous Editor’s Choice and Game of the Year accolades, as well as the “Excellence in Design” Award at the 2011 International Mobile Game Awards and the prestigious 2011 Apple Design Award. The award-winning sequel, Infinity Blade II, was successfully launched in Dec. 2011 and remains one of the most-popular, best-reviewed games on the App Store.
About ChAIR Entertainment
Founded in 2005, Salt Lake City-based ChAIR Entertainment is a subsidiary of Epic Games, Inc. Most recently, ChAIR introduced the award-winning sword fighting adventure, “Infinity Blade II” for iOS, in December 2011. Following in the footsteps of the original Infinity Blade, the critically acclaimed sequel continued on to win numerous Game of the Year and Editor’s Choice accolades and became one of the most popular games of 2011. In 2009, ChAIR released the modern and masterful, side-scrolling shooter “Shadow Complex,” published by Microsoft Game Studios exclusively for Xbox LIVE Arcade. The critically acclaimed “Shadow Complex” received numerous E3 and Editor’s Choice Awards and was named Game of the Year by more than 40 media outlets. Before that, ChAIR released the award-winning underwater action-shooter, “Undertow” for Xbox LIVE Arcade. In 2011, ChAIR was named #4 among Pocket Gamer’s list of the Top 50 Developers and ranked #29 among Develop’s Top 100 Game Development Studios in the World. Follow @ChAIRGAMES on Twitter and “Like” ChAIR Entertainment Group on Facebook.
About Unreal Engine 3
Developed by Epic Games, the award-winning Unreal Engine is known for its cutting-edge graphics, best-of-breed tools and scalability across multiple platforms. Unreal Engine 3’s highly mature toolset and content pipeline consistently evolve along with its advanced mobile features, multi-core processor support, optimizations for numerous platforms and massive world support. Unreal Engine 3 is designed to accelerate developers’ productivity for computer and video games, mobile games and applications, training simulations, 3D visualizations, digital films and animated entertainment. Integrated with two dozen leading middleware technologies, Unreal Engine 3 holds more than 20 technology awards, including seven Game Developer Front Line Awards and four Develop Industry Excellence Awards. Additional information on Unreal Engine 3 can be obtained at www.unrealengine.com.
About Epic Games
Epic Games, Inc., based in Cary, NC and established in 1991, develops cutting-edge games and cross-platform game engine technology. The company has created multiple million-selling, award-winning titles in its “Unreal” series, including “Unreal Tournament 3” for PC, PlayStation®3 and Xbox 360®. The first two games in Epic’s “Gears of War” franchise have sold more than 13 million copies and won more than 50 game of the year awards. The third installment, “Gears of War 3,” sold more than 3 million copies within its first week of release, catapulting the franchise beyond $1 billion in lifetime sales. Epic’s Unreal Engine 3 holds more than 20 industry technology awards and powers many bestselling games. Additional information about Epic can be obtained at www.epicgames.com.
Epic, Epic Games, ChAIR Entertainment, Gears of War, Gears of War 3, Shadow Complex, Undertow, Infinity Blade, Unreal, Unreal Development Kit, UDK, Unreal Engine, UE3, and Unreal Tournament are trademarks or registered trademarks of Epic Games, Inc. in the United States of America and elsewhere. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners
