Epic Games

Oh noes! Infinity Blade: Dungeons on hold as Epic shutters Impossible Studios

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO1aaC8WCAY

Last March, Epic Games president Mike Capps joined Apple's marketing honcho Phil Schiller to announce Infinity Blade: Dungeons. After he had finished demoing work in progress code, I nearly peed my pants out of excitement. What the team was able to pull off in terms of huge environments, menacing atmosphere and eye-candy visuals was nothing short of phenomenal, leaving me salivating for more. If there ever was such a thing as a Retina iPad system seller, Infinity Blade: Dungeons would have to be it.

Then we heard the game got pushed back until some time in 2013 because implementing all these great ideas required "a little extra time". As if that weren't bad enough, Epic Games CEO has just confirmed that the project is now on hold until the company figures out its future following the closure of Impossible Studios, the team which was working on the game...

Unreal’s Epic Citadel updated for Retina devices, launches on Android

Remember the strikingly remarkable Epic Citadel demo? It knocked our panties off with jaw-dropping graphics! Not sure about you, but I'd never thought such detailed visuals would have been possible on mobile devices that early in the game. You can thank Epic's Unreal Engine 3 for that, actually. Arguably the best game engine, it powers some of the best iOS games, including Epic's own Infinity Blade series.

Today, the team has updated the free Epic Citadel iOS demo with nice Retina graphics on fifth-gen iPhone and iPod touch devices and iPad 4. There's also a brand new benchmarking mode and, for the first time, the demo is now available on Android smartphones and tablets, indicating future cross-platform releases.

Go past the fold for more tidbits, including a nice trailer for an upcoming iOS/Android game built on Epic's engine...

Infinity Blade Dungeons delayed until 2013, Epic Games confirms

Epic Games has been one of the most vocal supporters of gaming on Apple's iOS platform. Nobody can accuse the company of not putting its money where its mouth is: they poured millions of dollars so far into big budget releases for the iPhone and iPad. The Infinity Blade series isn't just an elegiac App Store masterpiece (exclusive to the iOS platform), it's Epic's most-profitable game ever.

More than anything, Infinity Blade games really push the iPhone and iPad hardware to its limits. Apple invited Epic developers to show off their impressive-looking work in progress, Infinity Blade Dungeons, during the unveiling of the third-generation iPad in April of this year. Eight months later, we learn that the game has been delayed and won't see light of the day until 2013.

What a bummer. By the way, the game is being developed by a team called Impossible Studios - how ironical is that?