Video Gamer is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Prices subject to change. Learn more
Developers should focus on making more expensive, high-quality iOS games, according to a senior manager at Epic.
As reported by CVG, Epic’s Mike Gamble was speaking yesterday at Unreal University – an event designed to encourage a fresh generation of developers to use the Unreal Development kit.
Gamble, who is Epic’s European territory manager, dismissed the idea that 99 cent iPhone titles have killed off the market for pricier triple-A titles.
“Experience tells us that if you create content with high production values the audience will buy it,” said Gamble, who previously worked for Crytek. “You’re customers, what would you prefer to do: Buy a game like Infinity Blade for $6 with plenty of gameplay, good production values that offers a visceral experience; or pay 99c for something you play once and never ever go back to?
“Our belief, and what we’re telling the professional industry – our Unreal 3 developers – is you need to start building content for the mobile devices using your experience as games developers.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Gamble used Infinity Blade as the main support for his argument.
“The proof for us has been Infinity Blade. It’s a triple-A quality title built and shipped late last year. So far, we’ve earned more than $11 million of revenue from it – that’s after Apple have taken their cut. Okay, it’s not necessarily a strictly comparable case because Apple picked it up and promoted it heavily on TV etc.
“But even if you take those mitigating factors out, there’s an audience out there who want to play good quality games on mobile devices – whether it be pads or smartphones.”
Gamble’s speech was made on the same day that Apple explained recent price increases on the App Store. The 59p iPhone game is now dead, with 69p the minimum you’ll pay for yet another lightweight Angry Birds ripoff… or for something genuinely decent, for that matter.
Infinity Blade currently costs £3.99 on the App Store. Would you regularly pay that much for iOS games if they were of similar quality?
