Epic Games Most Profitable Title Ever: Infinity Blade for iOS

[Phillip Swanson]

Epic Games reported today that their most profitable game ever is not a Gears of War title, or Unreal Tournament, but rather Infinity Blade for iOS.

Released a little over 18 months ago Infinity blade has amassed more than $30 million in sales, and is Epic's most profitable game ever. Which is quite the feat considering Gears of War is $1 billion franchise.

“The most profitable game we’ve ever made, in terms of man-years invested versus revenue, is actually Infinity Blade. It’s more profitable than Gears of War.” — Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney

While Infinity Blade is by no means a larger grossing game, the fact Epic Games can put in less manpower and resources and increase profits is indicative of the future of gaming in the mobile sphere. No longer are portable handheld consoles the only avenue for developers and customers to produce and consume games. Cell phone, tablets, and other mobile devices are arguably more profitable, and more affordable for the customer.

The gaming experience does become less “traditional” on mobile platforms outside of the Nintendo and Sony handhelds, but with developers like Epic Games shifting more of their focus to the mobile sphere expect more in-depth games to emerge.

“Nowadays, the high end of the game business is in these console games. Activision invests almost $100 million per year in Call of Duty. And who can realistically afford to do that?” — Sweeney

Source: All Things D

[sziklassy]

The only thing that I can think is that the development costs of this game were far lower than anything else they have ever done. I mean, it doesn't exactly add up any other way. Gears is a $1 billion franchise. There are what, 4 Gears titles? That allots about $250 million per game (for the sake of easy math). That's nowhere near $30 million they are speaking of for Infinity Blade.

[Phillip Swanson]

The only thing that I can think is that the development costs of this game were far lower than anything else they have ever done. I mean, it doesn't exactly add up any other way. Gears is a $1 billion franchise. There are what, 4 Gears titles? That allots about $250 million per game (for the sake of easy math). That's nowhere near $30 million they are speaking of for Infinity Blade.

That's what the quote from the CEO Tim Sweeney essentially says. The man years invested versus the revenue made is unlike anything else they've ever done.

[wolverinemarky]

Also have to take into account the amount of advertising and pr they did for gears of war it may be a billion dollar franchise but how much of that is actual profit.

[politicalslug]

Clearly this game can't scale the way their console franchises do. So I suppose if Epic were to sell their offices and fire almost every employee then they would indeed become more "profitable". Of course this is all nonsense. If I made widgets at a cost of $1 and sold one for $100 and 1000 for $10,000 then I'd still be making more money by selling more less widgets at a much lower cost. Of course I would need a huge team to create that many widgets versus just the one, but more profit is realized by selling more, regardless of the profitability of a single item. Sweeney explained this briefly but the article doesn't. I know you have to gain page views but please stop with the intentionally misleading titles.

[Mrteacup]

Haha it's probably cause after you develop it it costs no money to produce you have to pay the developers and that's all. Software has a much smaller expense then physical products. Also it's such a big file nobody wants to use ********** :P

Clearly this game can't scale the way their console franchises do. So I suppose if Epic were to sell their offices and fire almost every employee then they would indeed become more "profitable". Of course this is all nonsense. If I made widgets at a cost of $1 and sold one for $100 and 1000 for $10,000 then I'd still be making more money by selling more less widgets at a much lower cost. Of course I would need a huge team to create that many widgets versus just the one, but more profit is realized by selling more, regardless of the profitability of a single item. Sweeney explained this briefly but the article doesn't. I know you have to gain page views but please stop with the intentionally misleading titles.

Do you mean widgets as in software widgets? If it cost one dollar that would be your total expense you wouldn't have to make any more widgets haha

[bry2k2]

Gears 3 did $180 million in the first 5 days.

[iLoveWindows&iPhone]

Pretty crazy numbers...Activision spends $100 million per year on Call of duty!?! That is insane!! I assumed a lot of cash is pumped into that franchise, just had no idea it was THAT much.

[turdsmoka]

I remember visiting their old offices in Bethesda, MD when they were making 2d scrolling games. They come a long way and moved a long way away from another great Bethesda company, Bethesda Softworks.

[rocky5]

All due to the price tag £5 more people will fling away a fiver without thinking about it but £40 no chance, in my opinion if a game want to do good, it's all about the price, I would have bought Gear3 if it wasn't £40 as I can't justify paying another £40 for the same game. It's the exact same with COD now

[mmaboi21]

One of the things too is the prices in IOS. It's soo inexpensive; compare $59.99(COD) V. $6.99( infinity blade)
Some would argue the different platforms of gaming but it's all relevant IMO. Besides infinity blade is one of(if not the best) games on iOS.

[control635]

Not surprising i can honestly say this is one of the best built games for the iOS... the controls are fluid, the graphics are great, and the story line is pretty satisfying.

[mzkaye729]

Not surprising i can honestly say this is one of the best built games for the iOS... the controls are fluid, the graphics are great, and the story line is pretty satisfying.

Agreed. I was skeptical at first but the game proved me wrong.