Epic Games VP Mark Rein confirmed that the Unreal Development Kit, used to create the eye-popping App Store hit Infinity Blade, will be available to iPhone and iPad developers tomorrow, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
UDK for iOS will allow iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad developers to create games using the same tech behind games including Gears of War, Mass Effect and dozens of other Unreal Engine-powered PC and console titles.
"Apple's App Store is the most vibrant market for mobile gaming," said Epic co-founder Mark Rein. "If you’re going to make a game for a mobile device, and you want to make the most money, you’re nuts not to make it for iOS."
Like standard UDK agreements on other platforms, developers can experiment with the engine or make free Unreal Engine-based games without incurring a licensing fee. Developers that want to sell UDK apps for iOS will have to pay a $99 licensing fee and 25 percent royalties after the first $5,000 in sales.
Epic recently released its first iOS game, Infinity Blade, an action-RPG developed by subsidiary studio Chair Entertainment, creators of the Xbox 360 downloadable title Shadow Complex.
Infinity Blade, featured on Apple TV advertisements, went on to top App Store sales charts following its release on December 9. Reports this week said numbers pulled from Apple's Game Center online game community service indicated $1.6 million in sales for the game's first four days. Rein said via his Twitter account actual sales of Infinity Blade -- which sells for $5.99 -- are even higher.
Rein also told The Journal that Google's Android Marketplace has issues such as file size limitations and a hardware base that has numerous versions of phones, but added that he is confident Google is working towards resolving those issues.
This is great news. I find it funny how so many joe schmoe developers get to making apps on iOS, and then the big guys like John Carmack & Epic Games come in and school everyone on how it's done. :P
I think the UDK will be super sweet, but the price (albeit justified) is pretty rough on the income.
If a successful game is created with the UDK and +$5,000 in revenue are generated, the %25 income it a handful of the earnings already being made. Take that and add it to Apple's %30 revenue charge.
So in the end, after $5,000, a developer is left with %55 less revenue. It's tough, but I believe the %25 royalties is fair for such a superb engine.
I guess the best way to look at it is, if you plan to make roughtly about $5,000, then this is the platform for you. :P
Nope. It's 25% of the 70% you receive from Apple so you can't just add those two up. Basically this works out to more money for the developer.
The UDK FAQ couldn't be more clear:
"Q: How is revenue calculated for the purpose of calculating the UDK royalty?
A:Your UDK royalty is only calculated on revenue you receive. If your UDK app generated $100.00 of retail or online sales but you are paid only 70% due to a 30% distribution fee your UDK royalty is calculated on the $70.00 you actually received."
Amazing what you can learn in 5 minutes of Googling / reading the UDK FAQ :)
They took a lot of thought in the pricing structure, game success on the iPhone store has more misses than hits. So having less risk on licensing the UDK helps smaller devs take a chance and make better games.
I wouldn't say the big guys came in and school everyone. A lot of initial launches of games people were still getting used to how its done.
After the "gold rush" now you will see companies dropping out and those that roughed it out now have a more steady revenue stream to make better games.
What Epic and Id did was help show the world this can a gaming device.
Many avoided large file size because 20MB was the 3G download limit, going over 20MB your losing out a lot on the impulse buyers. Now with AT&T giving the Unlimited Data Plan the Middle Finger, Devs like myself are now going way over the limit and allow users to use their wifi to download.
I think the UDK will be super sweet, but the price (albeit justified) is pretty rough on the income.
If a successful game is created with the UDK and +$5,000 in revenue are generated, the %25 income it a handful of the earnings already being made. Take that and add it to Apple's %30 revenue charge.
So in the end, after $5,000, a developer is left with %55 less revenue. It's tough, but I believe the %25 royalties is fair for such a superb engine.
I guess the best way to look at it is, if you plan to make roughtly about $5,000, then this is the platform for you. :P
The UDK FAQ couldn't be more clear:
"Q: How is revenue calculated for the purpose of calculating the UDK royalty?
A:Your UDK royalty is only calculated on revenue you receive. If your UDK app generated $100.00 of retail or online sales but you are paid only 70% due to a 30% distribution fee your UDK royalty is calculated on the $70.00 you actually received."
Amazing what you can learn in 5 minutes of Googling / reading the UDK FAQ :)
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/DevelopmentKitFAQ.html
75% of 70% means you get 52.5%
I wouldn't say the big guys came in and school everyone. A lot of initial launches of games people were still getting used to how its done.
After the "gold rush" now you will see companies dropping out and those that roughed it out now have a more steady revenue stream to make better games.
What Epic and Id did was help show the world this can a gaming device.
Many avoided large file size because 20MB was the 3G download limit, going over 20MB your losing out a lot on the impulse buyers. Now with AT&T giving the Unlimited Data Plan the Middle Finger, Devs like myself are now going way over the limit and allow users to use their wifi to download.