Epic Games has stated that it does not plan on releasing Infinity Blade, or any other Epic game, on Android phones any time soon, citing a lack of consistency and Google not being "evil" enough.
"When a consumer gets the phone and they wanna play a game that uses our technology, it's got to be a consistent experience, and we can't guarantee that," explained Epic overlord Mark Rein. "That's what held us off of Android."
"If you took the underlying NGP hardware and shipped Android on it, you'd find far far less performance on Android," added Tim Sweeney. "Let's say you took an NGP phone and made four versions of it. Each one would give you a different amount of memory and performance based on the crap [networks] put on their phone. Google needs to be a little more evil. They need to be far more controlling."
Several Unreal Engine 3 games are on the Android marketplace, but such games often exceed the Android OS' file size cap of 50MB. In order to put something like Infinity Blade, for example, on Android, one would have to pay extra fees for the 850MB download.
I'm sure many would disagree that Google needs to control the Android market more, but I definitely get what Mark is saying. The Android market is a messy wild west right now, and it does put game developers off. There's a reason why so many developers favor iOS over the more popular Android OS, and it's because of that controlled, consistent environment.
Epic: No Infinity Blade on Android for now [GI.biz]
Contest:
9:00 AM on 04.06.2011
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I think the problem with android is that there are so many phones, that developers cant see the standard at what spec they should put there game at.
Nice to know Epic plans to never make PC games.
But as an Android owner, I use my phone as a phone, and as an avid gamer i have PSP's, DS's and macbooks to play games on anyway. - Gaming is almost the last thing i think about when I go to buy a phone, only a little more important than "street cred".
So it's really no biggie.
By all means, try to push the iOS platform towards "proper gaming platform" i wish you all the best with that, but i really don't mind missing out on your game, not at all. I'm good with my actual portable gaming platforms anyway.
"Did not"? You mean "did note", right? I sound like an asshole there but I really hate reading misspellings.
Android is no more fragmented than the PC is, if you buy a pc game on launch day, you can expect to download a patch, then a hotfix, then trawl through forums of disgruntled gamers trying to find a .ini hack to get the game to even run, epic are just being lazy, stick to consoles, son.
All I gotta say is that I can't run certain games on my gen 2 Ipod Touch. "Consistent Experience" my ass.
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Oh the Apple way, never rears it's head until you're a couple of generations in.
What he means is "consistent experience for those who replace their device every year"
you mean "consistent experience for those who replace their device every year, when the great and mighty Sir Steve of Jobs tells you to"
At least if you buy an iPhone every year your certain to be able to use all apps.
What if every 3 months there was a new gameboy ske. It feels like that's happening with Android while iPhone is staying consistent longer. My 3GS still plays Unreal and a two year upgrade path is normal on mobile phones. It really shouldn't be something to gawk at.
I think they're too afraid to set a standard.
Pro-tip to Epic, think of Android as a PC.
If you buy a top of the line Android every year the same would be true. You think developers are writing code based on hypothetical devices or some such? Not to say that I think buying a new phone every year is a grand idea...just saying.
Although, i get a new phone every year on my contract anyway, I just go for the best Android I can lay my hands on.
The big difference is top of the range Android phone on a £25 a month contract, or an Iphone of lower spec, just like the one every other fucker has got, for £40 a month? - No brainer.
Iphone's were actually kinda cool before every fucker and their dog had them, and before Android phones overtook them in all ways but "high profile apps".
I'm perfectly happy as I am, I may not have access to every single app ever even conceived, but my phone does everything i want it to and way more.
exactly... it's not a consistent experience between 3G, 3GS, and iPhone4... this particular game won't even run on 3G right? And performance suffers on 3GS.
Rod Sterling just rolled in his grave.
Not that I even care. I don't game much on my Galaxy S smartphone, I prefer puzzle games with the touchscreen and there are plenty of them around. I really want Peggle though... that is the only game I miss from my old iPhone. Seriously, what is taking so long for that one? I have a friend who has Peggle on his damn flip phone that looks like shit... and they can't get it on Android? Everytime I hear developers complain about the Android market I look at Angry Birds, Dungeon Defenders, Asphalt 5 HD, Baseball Star, Xenonia, etc. and wonder what the hell kind of trouble they are having because other developers are making it happen just fine.
Noticed you both said "top of the range" (or something similar). I think the most important thing to remember here is that people like us (who can pick out what is the best android phone) are a minority. And so companies get people buying whatever phone they like regardless of specs which causes fragmentation issues thanks to how widespread Android is. Since big companies like Epic need to appeal to as many people as possible fragmentation is a real issue.
They manage it for PCs...
Other than limiting the market, I don't see what the problem is. Release a game that requires x handset and x firmware and it'll appear in the market for those people only.
@Chongomaster - While that is very true, those who do not know how to pick out the best phone are often more than happy to let a phone salesman do it for them, with the top end phones being the most expensive that's ALWAYS where the salesman goes first!
Although, a farmer buddy of mine called his provider, asked for "the best phone i can have" and got sent an iphone4, within 3 months he's broken the unbreakable helicopter glass screen and it's pretty much useless except for answering calls.
I told him he should have got the Motorola Android that Mrs SC has, it's not the most powerful, or the prettiest, but shock proof, waterproof, baby proof etc.
Foolish.
Actually, fuck it, I have Game Dev Story, I don't need anything else.
I've always loved Epic and in this case they're just as right as they always have been. The Android brand is tainted by Verizon et al making money by having Skype and MySpace running constantly in the background so you can't use your entire phone for whatever you want.
And for people who say they can't afford to update to a top-of-the-line Android phone (presumably settling for one with lower specs), all you have to do is search online deal sites and be patient.
I got my Samsung Captivate for FREE with free activation (for a contract renewal) around Thanksgiving. I watched as the deals went from $100 to $50 to $25 (almost bit on that one) in a single month, and then it was impossible to pass up when I saw it for free.
You've got an unlimited source of knowledge at you fingertips. That extra month I had to wait for my phone was meaningless compared to the $250 I saved by not buying it at MSRP.
Fuck epic.
Looking forward to the beta.
Unless that's a recent development or a gingerbread feature, I don't think the android market does that. There's been plenty of apps in the marketplace that my old droid can't run properly.
Oh, wait.
i agree with SC. my phone is a phone first, then a camera(incredible 8mp woo! w/flash!) . then a messaging device(txt,facebook etc) then a flashlight, then internet, then police scanner, then possibly gaming.
Ghe Giam Doc
Yen Sao