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[Topher]

Much loved, and lost, iOS classic Infinity Blade can now be played on your Steam Deck (or PC and Mac) thanks to a new fan-made PC port.

The action RPG, developed by Chair Entertainment and Epic Games (of Fortnite fame), originally debuted roughly 14 years ago back in 2010.


Following its original launch, the fantasy action game quickly garnered plenty of attention — mainly due to it being something of a technical showcase at the time, highlighting just what was now possible on a mobile device. Infinity Blade remains notable, as it was the first iOS game ever to run on the Unreal Engine.

The game reviewed well, and was praised for its technical merit, and this was followed by healthy sales too — it became one of the fastest-grossing apps in the then history of the App Store.

Sadly, the original sword-fighting romp, along with its two sequels, were removed from sale from the App Store in late 2018. Epic Games said at the time that this was due to it becoming "increasingly difficult" for the development team "to support the Infinity Blade series" at a level that met their standards — chiefly, the effort in updating the title for newer iPhone hardware.

As such, the game has been pretty much impossible to officially obtain for over five years now. However, the source code for the first Infinity Blade did reportedly surface online some years ago, and it's that source code that has formed the basis for this new unofficial port.

This new downloadable PC port is the work of an anonymous group — they state that this port is being made available "for the sake of lost media preservation", adding that "credit is given to the rightful authors" and that they "take no credit and gain nothing from doing this". The file is currently available via the Internet Archive — but as with any project like this, its availability may not last.


The port goes beyond just making the original game run on modern hardware too, as it features upgraded textures and graphics, along with various optimisations for PC such as keybinds, audio sliders, and file management. The most notable change being the obvious removal of touch controls (such as swiping your finger to swing your sword), swapping these motions out for controller inputs.

Kevin's Steam Deck running Infinity Blade.
We've tried the game on the Steam Deck, and it works via Proton Experimental. If you want to give it a go and revisit some iOS nostalgia, here's how to get Infinity Blade running on your Steam Deck:

How to play Infinity Blade on Steam Deck​

• First, you'll need to head to the Steam Deck's Desktop Mode.
• Open up a browser and access the following page: https://archive.org/details/infinity-blade-pc
• Download the listed .zip file (1.0 GB).
• Extract the .zip file in your Downloads folder.
• Once unzipped, right click on the .exe file and select Add to Steam.
• Now you quit desktop mode and return to Gaming Mode.
• You should now see the game in your Steam library.
• Before attempting to launch the game, head into the settings for the game (cog menu).
• From here, select Properties, and then Compatibility.
• From here you can select a compatibility tool to get things running, like Proton Experimental.
• Side note: I selected Proton Experimental, and the game started up but crashed when starting a game. Kevin, meanwhile, followed the exact same steps and was able to run the game (see screenshot above) – so your mileage may vary.
• Head back and launch the game!

That's it! You should now be able to revisit this iOS classic on your portable gaming PC. It's still early days for this PC port however, and it seems the community are still figuring things out and discussing bugs, a possible modding scene, various fixes, control schemes etc in the related project Discord — so your milage may vary here. You're probably going to want to tweak controller/input settings too in order to get an experience that works best for you.

How to play Infinity Blade on Steam Deck

Thanks to a community effort, you can now play the critically acclaimed iOS game Infinity Blade on your Steam Deck.

overkill.wtf

 

[Magic Carpet]

It's been forever since I played but I remember this being a one finger game, technically the best way to play a game on a cell phone.

 

[ClanOfNone]

Infinity Blade was great, it was like Punch Out in a fantasy setting with gear. I played it to death on an iPod touch, was bummed when I recently got an iPhone and realized they had removed it from the store.

 

[SmokedMeat]

I used to play the shit out of this. Pretty cool to see it brought back.

 

[MarkMe2525]

This needs to happen more. So many great old IOS games lost to the sands of time

 

[Kikorin]

I remember it, played much on iPhone because at time graphics was insane, but the game was super boring after like 30 mins. I also remember Epic Citadel, that tech demo was incredible for the time on a phone.

 

[GymWolf]

Holy shit the memories...

 

[GymWolf]

This needs to happen more. So many great old IOS games lost to the sands of time

I physically need cartoon wars gunner on android.

the ost was fire

 

[Magic Carpet]

I remember it, played much on iPhone because at time graphics was insane, but the game was super boring after like 30 mins. I also remember Epic Citadel, that tech demo was incredible for the time on a phone.

I remember Epic Citadel as well, I think it was using that Megatexture technique where one big giant texture was streached over the entire level or something.

 

[PIMPBYBLUD]

This needs to happen more. So many great old IOS games lost to the sands of time

This. I remember that Dead Space iOS game was pretty fantastic as well.

 

[MarkMe2525]

I physically need cartoon wars gunner on android.

the ost was fire

This. I remember that Dead Space iOS game was pretty fantastic as well.

I think my all time favorite was the "Army of Darkness" tower defense lite game. I also had an affinity for this fishing game that I can't remember the name of, it had awesome water effects all the back on the iPhone 3gs.

 

[Come On Tars]

This needs to happen more. So many great old IOS games lost to the sands of time

Why is that the case? Did something fundamentally change?

 

[jason10mm]

Why is that the case? Did something fundamentally change?

Race to the bottom with microtranactions, loot boxes, and GAAS nonsense.

Back in the day devs spent real energy making mobile games before they realized no one wanted to pay $30-60 for one upfront but would HAPPILY bleed out $3/week for YEARS.

 

[MarkMe2525]

Why is that the case? Did something fundamentally change?

IOS went to 64 bit, which wiped out a lot. Over time, developers abandoning games that eventually get removed from the app store, due to not meeting the minimum support requirements of newer versions of IOS.

Edit: to add clarity to the second part, I'll give an example. Apple tells devs their apps must support IOS 10's new feautre by a certain date, if those devs don't invest time to get the app up and running with said feature, it gets blacklisted.

 

[Apocryphon]

Metal Gear Solid Touch..Rage HD.. The Dark Knight Rises.. Deus Ex: The Fall.. Doom: Resurrection.. BioShock.. Dead Space.. Monstet Hunter Freedom Unite.. Mass Effect Infiltrator..

Even if they weren’t great they were nice to have at the time.

 

[Kupfer]

Metal Gear Solid Touch..Rage HD.. The Dark Knight Rises.. Deus Ex: The Fall.. Doom: Resurrection.. BioShock.. Dead Space.. Monstet Hunter Freedom Unite.. Mass Effect Infiltrator..

Even if they weren’t great they were nice to have at the time.

Oh, we got Dead Space and Mass Effect Infiltrator ported to the Vita ... and so many more.

 

[Davevil]

there's no way yet to play this masterpiece (1 and 2) ?

 

[TwiztidElf]

IOS went to 64 bit, which wiped out a lot. Over time, developers abandoning games that eventually get removed from the app store, due to not meeting the minimum support requirements of newer versions of IOS.

Edit: to add clarity to the second part, I'll give an example. Apple tells devs their apps must support IOS 10's new feautre by a certain date, if those devs don't invest time to get the app up and running with said feature, it gets blacklisted.

But back then phone game zealots always told me console games should be "forward compatible", just like phone games.

 

[Drew1440]

IOS went to 64 bit, which wiped out a lot. Over time, developers abandoning games that eventually get removed from the app store, due to not meeting the minimum support requirements of newer versions of IOS.

Edit: to add clarity to the second part, I'll give an example. Apple tells devs their apps must support IOS 10's new feautre by a certain date, if those devs don't invest time to get the app up and running with said feature, it gets blacklisted.

That and iOS isn't very good with backwards compatability, many original games eventually stopped working when iOS 7/8 dropped.

 

[CamHostage]

Why is that the case? Did something fundamentally change?

A couple people above have already answered well, but also, licenses have expired (or just pulled from release when games have run out their market viability) or content inside the game requires renewal and the publisher isn't interested in renegotiating the music or other rights issues. Servers for multiplayer or content delivery sometimes cannot keep running/being maintained as well. Sometimes big publishers even just pull one old game in a popular brand in order to focus on the new game they're launching. Also some companies have gone under or been bought by bigger companies.

When games were in boxes back in the console or PC days, the software was out there one way or another, and the publishers already made all the money they're going to make on a product (unless it reprints) so they have no place in the aftermarket system. However, with the move to digital, it gets complicated as far as how readily available a product can be or how much accounting needs to be done on software originally produced for a 1-3 year shelf life, and this can make it strangely more viable to make new games than it is to collect "pure profit" from games still available years later.

 

[ThatOneGrunt]

I always enjoyed this game. Easy to start up and do quick runs when I was really bored and only had my phone around. Great unlocks. Could get really challenging.

 

[Trunx81]

there's no way yet to play this masterpiece (1 and 2) ?

damn, this reminds me that the first Puzzle Quest was once on the iPhone ... Played it for hours, but nowadays you can´t even download it.

 

[Hudo]

Remember when Epic Games actually made games?

 

[Drake]

yeah, I remember this news from around a week ago. Has anyone tried to play it? It sounds like you need to play with a mouse. Not sure how great the experience is when it was designed to be played with a finger.

 

[ClanOfNone]

There was a Castlevania SotN Puzzle Fighter game on iOS way back then too. It was good, but hard as nails.