ChAIR and the Power of Infinity Blade
[PUBLISHED TO FNP.COM ON / ABOUT 11/07/13]
Each generation of gaming has produced games that will always be remembered as definitive for their respective consoles. For the Atari 2600 there was Pac-Man and Pole Position, for the Nintendo (NES) there was Super Mario Brothers and The Legend of Zelda, for PlayStation there was Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy VII and for Xbox there was Halo: Combat Evolved and Grand Theft Auto III. It’s rare to find anyone that’s been in the industry or that is a fan of gaming that doesn’t know these titles because of how they have helped to shape the industry into what it is today.
All of these titles, regardless of what platform they debuted on, have something in common. No, it’s not the fact that their graphics fail in comparison to today’s high definition games or that they all have sequels (excluding Pole Position) that have been published on the current generation of consoles; i.e., Wii, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
What links all of these titles together is that they were all stored and published on either a disc or a cartridge. Hence, they were not digitally distributed like the downloadable games and apps that we have all come to know and play on our smartphones, tablets, consoles and computers.
In June, 2007, the world of interactive entertainment changed forever. An event took place in San Francisco, California that unveiled a device to the world that replaced how we make phone calls, browse the web and take pictures. That device, of course, was Apple’s iPhone running iOS (version) 3 - “the most advanced mobile operating system” to date.
A few years later in 2010, Apple had been hard at work advancing the iPhone to it’s next iteration - the iPhone 4. It would run iOS 4, but as Apple had come to be known for showcasing developers that made unique apps (short for applications) during it’s presentations, they knew that they had to feature a developer that pushed the boundaries of what the iPhone 4 and iOS 4 could do.
>>Making ChAIR
Two years before the original iPhone was released, a small, independent (indie) developer called ChAIR Entertainment Group was created by brothers Donald and Geremy Mustard in Provo, Utah.
“We had always been gamers - having grown up with Atari, Nintendo, Super Nintendo and the like. Throughout our exposure to videogames, we saw the power of games and recognized ‘that’ power as an entertainment medium. So realizing it’s potential, we wanted to do something really cool that could shape how people were entertained.” - Donald Mustard (DM).
Though only eight people strong, ChAIR was a dedicated group of designers and developers that loved to make games. But unlike other indie developers that were starting to make their way in the industry, ChAIR focused on one medium that was beginning to take hold thanks to gaming services like Microsoft’s Xbox LIVE Arcade.
They focused on making “downloadable games” that were only distributed digitally to consumers:
“ChAIR became a company right around the time when games could be digital as opposed disc-based. Thanks to this, we knew that there could be a market without having to go to the store to buy them.” - DM
Their first game for Xbox LIVE Arcade was Undertow - an underwater, multi-player game where players unite to fight against aliens that are trying to take over earth after melting the polar ice caps. The game went on to win 2007 Xbox LIVE Arcade “Game of the Year” - an impressive start for such a small company.
Realizing just how successfully they could be with a digital-only title, the company continued to make games for this medium.
The next game, entitled Shadow Complex, enabled the company to pay homage to their gaming roots by making a 2D side-scroller - which was made famous by games like Super Mario Brothers and Metroid:
“Shadow Complex was our take on a Metroid-genre from the late 1980s. It showed a lot of people how sidescrollers can be.” - DM
Once again, ChAIR saw success in distributing their digital-only title to the masses; which did not go unnoticed by larger, triple-A developers that were still making disc-based games. One company that not only noticed ChAIR’s success, but that also acquired the company in the Spring of 2008 was EPIC Games - best known for the Gears of War series on Xbox 360.
>>An Unreal Alliance
When ChAIR became a part of the “EPIC family”, which has offices throughout the world, something unique happened.
By this time, the iPhone 3GS was out, iOS 3 was on it’s way to becoming iOS 4, ChAIR was made up of around ten people and they were eager to create a new game. Like any other development company, regardless of their size, various concepts were thrown around. What helped ChAIR decide on their next title was thanks to a few factors:
“Before Infinity Blade, we were looking at the motion-based systems, like Wii and Xbox Kinect, and we wondered what we could do for iOS that was along these lines. One of the ideas that we had was that there had never been a touch-based game that is centered around ‘sword-fighting’. Seeing if you can dodge and parry your opponent to open them up for your own attack - we knew that there was some potential for this game type on iOS using the Unreal Engine. It just seemed to fit.” - DM
The Unreal Game Engine, an original, highly powerful and scalable game development suite, enabled ChAIR to take the next step in their evolution as a company. Development on the first Infinity Blade, then codenamed “Project Sword”, began.
>>ChAIR and Apple
A few years later when Apple was preparing for their September 2010 Special Event to be held in San Francisco, Apple got to see how iOS and Unreal work together seamlessly to push the limits of iOS:
“When we showed Steve (Jobs) how iOS and Unreal Engine can work together to enable us to create Infinity Blade, he was blown away by what we had been able to accomplish.” - DM
After the event concluded and “Project Sword” was shown to the masses by Mike Capps - President of EPIC Games and Donald Mustard - Co-Founder of ChAIR, millions of people around the world waited eagerly in anticipation for the release of Project Sword.
Then on November 2, 2010, the world was finally introduced to Infinity Blade.
“Taking handheld gaming to new heights, the graphically intense ‘Infinity Blade’ features adrenaline-fueled sword battles and epic boss fights set in the realm of a fully 3D castle. The game’s robust single-player mode features an intuitive combat interface and simple touch controls which enable hardcore and casual gamers alike to engage in fun, furious battles.” - From the Original Infinity Blade Press Release (2010-11-02)
Like the games that have defined previous generations of consoles, the Infinity Blade trilogy has served as an experience that is definitive of the power behind iOS and the Unreal Engine. Donald Mustard, who was interviewed for this article, has taken the stage three times (twice with Mike Capps and once with his brother, Geremy) at key, Apple events in 2010, 2011 and 2013 in order to unveil the Infinity Blade series and to show just how powerful mobile gaming has evolved.
Although the release of Infinity Blade 3 earlier this year brought the trilogy to a close, ChAIR has always listened to the community that has supported it since Day One. All updates to each game have been free, including the newly released Soul Hunter DLC, and the remaining DLC (downloadable content) which will continue to be free:
“With the updates that we do, we continually interact with the community through Facebook (ChAIR / Infinity Blade), Twitter (ChAIR / Infinity Blade) and our direct Community section of our website. We also monitor the analytics from the game. This let’s us know what sections of the game people are playing the most, the least and so forth. Having all of this information enables us to make updates to the game that reflect our community of devoted gamers around the world.”
So as we wait for the next title to come out from ChAIR, if you haven’t yet experienced any of the Infinity Blade titles yet, they can be downloaded on your iOS device or through the Infinity Blade website.
Thanks for reading.