Xbox Live Arcade's Shadow Complex, from Epic Games' Chair Entertainment division, was a major success and a fan favorite for many. Epic had in fact been working on a sequel to the title, but when the iOS opportunity emerged, many of the staff were switched over to a project that ultimately became the massively successful Infinity Blade.
"Shadow Complex was a huge success for us on Xbox Live Arcade," Epic President Mike Capps noted at GDC Europe. "It was described as the best title on XBLA and secured record sales and strong reviews across the world. We were some way into creating the sequel and it was already playing exceptionally well. But midway through development we decided to shift the entire team into working alongside our engine guys on an iOS title which went on to release as Infinity Blade."
"Looking back on that decision today it seems like an exceptionally smart one," Capps continued. "But 12 months ago it was a very different story and certainly didn't look like a surefire winning strategy to a lot of people."
Interestingly, developing Gears of War with Microsoft provided some valuable lessons for Epic as they decided to pursue iOS development. "Through Gears we knew that the story of our company was all about finding a platform vendor who is looking for a stand out, triple-A style title and allocate our full resources there. Knowing that [Apple] was that kind of company, we were empowered to make the decision to switch from developing Shadow Complex 2 to taking this 'bet' on an iOS title, while keeping the same values across both," Capps described.
It's not clear if Epic will return to complete Shadow Complex 2, but considering how well received the game was, we sure hope they do return to the title.
