Rage due out in September 2011

By Tom Bramwell Published 13 August, 2010

Shown on PC/PS3/360 simultaneously.

id Software has announced that Rage will be released on 13th September 2011 in North America and two days later on 15th September 2011 in Europe.

Prior to the announcement, designer Tim Willits and colleagues from the development team had demonstrated the game on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 simultaneously - one system on each of the three big screens behind the main QuakeCon stage.

"We are going to have the biggest, coolest, most badass launch possible," Willits told the audience, whipping them into frenzy.

Joking that the studio's mantra of "when it's done" was "usually because we really don't know", he said id was prepared to draw a line in the sand this time, for the first time.

"We are committed to not trying to rush this game out," he said, presumably in reference to the slightly distant date - over a year away. "We're going to hit that date."

Willits said the decision to demo the game on all three formats together was a counterpoint to the usual patter during demonstrations about platform parity. "Today you can see for yourself."

The demo took in a new ruined industrial area, followed by the town of Wellspring and a mission fighting Ghost bandits in the depths of the well beneath the town.

It then moved on to Dam Facility, a level dominated by the Wasted bandits with their quirky cor-blimey-guvnor British accents. The session concluded with a pitched battle against mutants among the toppled skyscrapers of Dead City.

As the players fought regular mutants, a much taller and more aggressive one turned up and attacked with ranged explosives. Once everyone was all dealt with the ground began to shake, loosening dust from surrounding ruins, before a colossal adversary rounded a corner and roared.

While the PC version was noticeably better-looking with sharper textures and resolution, all three systems ran at a chirpy 60 frames per second more or less throughout - the only other differences being that the Xbox 360 and PS3 builds took about 20 and 40 seconds longer to load respectively at the outset.

The Xbox 360 version also crashed at one point. "If it was finished, we'd ship it," Willits quipped.

At the end of the presentation Willits also invited every member of the Rage development team to stand up, and said he was "humbled and honoured" to work with them. It was all very sweet.

Look out for more on Rage soon.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (23) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Haloboy #1 2 years ago

    QuakeCon live feed fail. I Raged. :(

  • weejok #2 2 years ago

    This game looks amazing but so will a lot of other stuff in a years time :(

    Too long to wait!
    Edited by 1 at 13/08/10 @ 22:18

  • Negotiator #3 2 years ago

    Another year, FFS this is a bit of a joke if you ask me. How long has this game been in the pipe line, 5 years or more I think. It's just too long to spend making one game, look at the top dev teams, they take about 2 to 3 years max for a game. The muppets at Id take twice as long, no wonder the game looks so good in terms of graphics, but all the gameplay ideas that seemed so fresh and new 6 years ago are a little dated now.

  • Bleemo #4 2 years ago

    I think I recall Carmack saying they had a team of 50 on it which is probably why it has taken forever for them to make it.

  • darkmorgado #5 2 years ago

    The demo took in a new ruined industrial area

    It then moved on to Dam Facility, a level dominated by the Wasted bandits with their quirky cor-blimey-guvnor British accents

    As the players fought regular mutants, a much taller and more aggressive one turned up and attacked with ranged explosives

    +1,000,000 points for originality! ZOMG this is like the best game everz! None can beat dis! Like, look at all the variety and new stuff they are bringin to gaming! ne1 who duz not like dis is obv a total n00b

    /sarcasm

  • clearblue #6 2 years ago

    Whaaaaaa?! Too long id, sort it out.

  • karooo #7 2 years ago

    All 3 system runs at 60? good news for the ps3 then, development is going well

  • VandelayIndustries #8 2 years ago

    "Another year, FFS this is a bit of a joke if you ask me. How long has this game been in the pipe line, 5 years or more I think. It's just too long to spend making one game, look at the top dev teams, they take about 2 to 3 years max for a game. The muppets at Id take twice as long, no wonder the game looks so good in terms of graphics, but all the gameplay ideas that seemed so fresh and new 6 years ago are a little dated now."

    Well it looks like this will show up the work of many "top devs", so I'm sure they feel justified.

  • disappointed #9 2 years ago

    So this is going to be the engine for the next Elder Scrolls and Fallout games presumably? Here's hoping it works better then the current one, while keeping it's modability.

  • TheLittlestHobo #10 2 years ago

    I hate all these teasers, quick looks, previews for games a year away etc. I guess game companies have to build the hype but imo anything over 6 months is pointless. In my ideal world I would love it if game companies STFU and announced games within a month of their release: total media blackout, then bang, here is the game, it'll be out at the end of the month.

    I think the only time I remember something like this nearly happened was when Valve announced Half-Life 2 and then said it would be released in a few months - though a hacking incident soon scuppered those plans and the release fell back to the traditional 6 month + period.

  • TheTingler #11 2 years ago

    For god's sake, that's THREE GAMES I've been excited about in the last week with release dates over a year away (Rage, Bioshock Infinity, Batman Arkham City)!! Did you not think about, I don't know, announcing your game closer to a time when you can actually release it?

  • Lee_Morris #12 2 years ago

    I will buy this to support 60FPS games. Playing the God of War collection at the mo and it makes such a difference.
    Edited by 1 at 14/08/10 @ 08:57

  • spiritsnake #13 2 years ago

    so many shoes available to fill the gap till the game is released.

  • Marshall2008 #14 2 years ago

    Wow, these guys must be looking for jobs with polophony studios.

  • NorUraeus #15 2 years ago

    Carmack mentioned earlier that he might use the capacity of the blu-ray disc on the PS3 to ship higher quality textures for the platform, hopes he comes through on that one.

  • JahB #16 2 years ago

    look at the top dev teams, they take about 2 to 3 years max for a game. The muppets at Id take twice as long

    well, i call bullshit. good games or great sequels can be made in 2-3 years, but true awesomeness takes longer than that. Recent examples include games like Starcracft2 and Red Dead Redemption.

  • Markitron #17 2 years ago

    @JahB

    Look at the quality of Uncharted 2, that came out 22 months after the original. It can be done

  • bdc #18 2 years ago

    Blimey how do they come to the conclusion that it will be exactly on the 13th of September next year?

  • TheApologist #19 2 years ago

    @Negotiator

    So Blizzard and Valve aren't top devs? News to me.

  • Badassbab #20 2 years ago

    "Even better, the PS3 version is to get higher-res textures than the other console version, thanks to it fitting on a single BR. As stated by the devs. "

    But will load 20 seconds slower as was the case in the demo. But they've got time to improve on that. Let's wait till the game ships and the DF comparison.

  • TheGuvernor #21 2 years ago


    Another bloody year?!
    Are you kiding me?

    Greatly disappointed - was hoping for spring 2011.

  • Caimbeul #22 2 years ago

    Wheres the video?

  • thomaspower0 #23 2 years ago

    Gonna buy Rage. It gives me the Borderlands/Metro 2033 feeling.

    Oh and most rushed games (prototype, FUEL, etc.) suck. Valve and Blizzard are perfect examples of extremely good game developers.

    Edited by 1 at 15/08/10 @ 10:51