Following on from the success of Infinity Blade, Epic Games will release a new version of its Unreal Development Kit (UDK) with support for iPhone and iPad devices tomorrow. As always, the UDK is free to download, with Epic demanding no payment for any free titles developed using the technology. Developers who decide to charge for their UDK-developed games, however, must pay a $99 licence fee. Also, if these future titles pass $5,000 in sales, a 25% of all royalties charge is also incurred.
Sounds steep until the power of the UDK is put into perspective. Within a week of release Infinity Blade generated $1.6 million in sales, making it the fastest grossing app so far. The title has also garnered overwhelmingly positive reviews.
Expect a rash of Unreal powered games to hit the iPhone and iPad in 2011. We’re not complaining one bit.
Source: GamesIndustry.biz
TSBonyman
Even though i’m not into playing those games on an ipod it’s cool to give the UDK free to tinker with.
bunimomike
Holy crap. 25%? Ouch! I understand Apple taking a 30% slice but Epic wanting a 25% mitten-grab too? That seems a little disproportionate. Maybe 10% or so, yes, but not a quarter!
Kovacs
Exactly my first reaction. Then I thought about it more. They’re giving you everything to develop your game for $99. That’s remarkable. It’s a large chunk but, without the UDK, you’d be hard pressed to make a game of similar quality.