Infinity Blade Developers Talk Android – Piracy Concerns Prevent Android Development
One of the most visually stunning games in mobile has to be, without a doubt Infinity Blade for iOS devices. The title has already earned the pair of developers over $20 million in revenue and they’re looking to do it again with Infinity Blade 2. If you’re anything like me, you’ve been wondering exactly what’s been taking the developers so long in porting the title (or it’s upcoming sequel) over to Android. We have the power, we have the hardware — so what’s the hold up?
Well, in an interview with the guys over at Mashable, Chair Entertainment talked a little bit about their decision NOT to bring Infinity Blade or its sequel to Android devices anytime soon. According to a number of online reports, Android is a “wild west” of piracy and the developers surveyed in the study feel Google has been relatively lax in their fight against app piracy which is in turn, sending them packing. This same sentiment is echoed by Chair Entertainment who said,
“We’re confident that will be worked out and it will become a viable place for game developers, but that hasn’t happened yet. So it’s not the tech, it’s the business platform.”
There’s no denying it. Piracy is something I’ve noticed plaguing Android since the G1 days with entire sites dedicated to warez titles. While Google does have some anti-piracy tools developers can take advantage of in their apps, apparently they’re nowhere near as secure as Apple’s method. Let’s hope this is something Google will continue to address because it kills me to think I will never be able to play Infinity Blade on my Galaxy Nexus (whenever I get my hands on one).
What do you guys think? Is Android piracy as bad some of these developers make it out to be? I seem to recall some friends of mine with jailbroken iPhone’s that give them access to a little app store called Cydia, where you can find many paid apps for free. Just remember kids — the next time you’re off cruising around the interwebs late at night and download an illegal copy of Shadowgun, not only does a fairy die… but a developer packs up his apps and takes them on over to the Appstore. How’s that for guilt?
[Via Mashable]