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Infinity Blade franchise pulls in $30 million in 2011
Angry Birds isn't the only iOS brand that did well over the holiday season: Chair Entertainment reports that Infinity Blade also raked in the money this past holiday season (and the year previous). The franchise as a whole has picked up a whopping $30 million so far. That includes both the original Infinity Blade game and the great Infinity Blade 2, but it also includes a digital novel based in the game's setting, an original soundtrack release, and even Infinity Blade FX, which is an arcade version of the touchscreen game at places like Dave and Buster's. That's a solid franchise, and a solid chunk of money the company has picked up so far. More important than the total, however, is what all of this money means: That you can build a successful and solid high-definition franchise on iOS. Lots of traditional and mainstream companies (like Chair, and Epic, which owns them) have been looking at iOS as a platform, and many of them have dismissed it as a smaller environment for more casual or low-profile games. That may be true (Infinity Blade could be called more casual than, say, Chair's own Shadow Complex on the Xbox 360), but Chair's also proven here that iOS gamers do want (and are willing to pay for) more in-depth, well-produced titles also. There's no question that we'll see more next-gen studios dipping their production toes in iOS in the future as well, going after exactly this kind of money. Show full PR text 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.
