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Infinity Blade Devs Have Made $10 Million+

Tuesday June 7, 2011 11:25 am PDT by Jordan Golson

Some iOS developers are making bank. One of the more visible iOS games over the past year has been Epic Games' Infinity Blade. In a press release today, Epic announced that its revenue from the game had exceeded $10 million in just six months of release.

Mark Rein, co-founder of Epic Games:

Infinity Blade’s success proves that triple-A gaming experiences can be hugely successful on iOS and that there is a valuable, pent up demand for premium content like this.

Donald Mustard, creative director of ChAIR Entertainment, the development studio behind Blade noted that "Apple has created an exciting, developer-friendly environment for iOS that has opened up many new doors for us."

I'm sure it helped that Apple gave Epic prime seating at iOS presentations and millions in television ad exposure. Can't get much more "developer friendly" than that! Still, with all the talk yesterday about how Apple was incorporating features that originally came from third-party apps, developing for iOS and the Mac is a win-win proposition for just about everyone -- and, if your app is good enough, Apple might just give it some sweet, sweet lovin'.

Incidentally, if Epic has made more than $10 million, that means Apple has cleared a sweet $4 million off its 30% cut.
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TheUndertow
Posted: 13 months ago

I heard if it's a boxed software in physical stores it's around 70% (so only 30% goes to developers). Steam online store takes 30% cut, like App store.

And people complain about the cut, I wonder...


Everyone is going to complain about a cut given to "someone else" other than the dev.

What they fail to realize is as you stated...you got to pay the distributor.

Maybe 30% is less of an issue @ $60 msrp but you'd think they also spend more developing a console game.
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designedbyapple
Posted: 13 months ago
I have to agree with swb1192, artofwarfare and others - I don't like jordan's style of writing. I don't want to just slam them for it either but it is not the sort of writing that I come to macrumors for. I don't want to make them write in a style that doesn't suit who they are but I'm afraid that if they do continue to write in this style I'll just avoid reading their pieces.
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Zero!sOne
Posted: 13 months ago

Has this writer ever read the writing style of MR? (he also wrote this post - http://www.macrumors.com/2011/06/06/verizon-iphone-owners-left-out-of-icloud-fun-for-now/) I don't visit Gizmodo because I don't like their writing style, but this is about the same.


I agree. The stories on MacRumors have always been factual (as much as a rumors site can be, that is) and to the point. I avoid a lot of news sites because the vast majority seem to think that sensationalizing every story is the way to go.

Keep in mind, though, the top of this page does have the word "blog" in it, so there is certainly some room for personal thoughts/statements. If it's up for discussion, however, my vote goes to keeping with the standard writing style that MacRumors has always embraced on the Front Page.
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swb1192
Posted: 13 months ago
Has this writer ever read the writing style of MR? (he also wrote this post - http://www.macrumors.com/2011/06/06/verizon-iphone-owners-left-out-of-icloud-fun-for-now/) I don't visit Gizmodo because I don't like their writing style, but this is about the same.
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jlgolson
Posted: 13 months ago

30% of $10M is $3M. $4M can only be implied if Epic said they made over $12M.

Ah, but it goes the other way around.

If Epic made $10 million, that means they got 70% of $14 million.
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Zero!sOne
Posted: 13 months ago

30% of $10M is $3M. $4M can only be implied if Epic said they made over $12M.


Not quite. If Epic earned $10m cash, then overall the app made $14.29m, which means Apple's 30% cut ends up around $4.29m.

EDIT: jlgolson beat me to it
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Jcoz
Posted: 13 months ago
Does anyone know how much Nintendo, MSFT, and Sony have collected %-wise for software traditionally?
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Consultant
Posted: 13 months ago

Ah, but it goes the other way around.

If Epic made $10 million, that means they got 70% of $14 million.


Yup.

10 million divided by 0.7 is actually over 14.2 million.
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staypuffinpc
Posted: 13 months ago
It certainly doesn't hurt that Infinity Blade was Apple's poster-child for the possibility of graphic intensive gaming on the iPad. Kudos to them for being the first to market.

However, I wonder how much the reasonable price point has enabled them to make this much $$? If they were charging $15-$20 for this game, I don't think they'd have seen so much $$ so quickly. It goes to show that, when there is competition, and prices are reasonable, everybody wins.

I'm not much of a gamer, but when I saw infinity blade on sale for $3 two weeks ago (half of its normally reasonable $6), I thought, "how can I not get such a sophisticated game for such a reasonable price?" Had to buy and I don't regret it.
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Nobita
Posted: 13 months ago

Does anyone know how much Nintendo, MSFT, and Sony have collected %-wise for software traditionally?


I heard if it's a boxed software in physical stores it's around 70% (so only 30% goes to developers). Steam online store takes 30% cut, like App store.

And people complain about the cut, I wonder...
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