Epic not working on a new Unreal game

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 21 September, 2011

Bulletstorm lessons will aid PCF's next.

Gears of War developer Epic may be making five new games right now, but a new Unreal Tournament isn't one of them.

"Unreal and Unreal Tournament continue to have a huge influence on the studio here, even though we're not currently working on an Unreal IP project," boss Mike Capps told Forbes.

Capps' comments are sure to disappoint Unreal fans buoyed by the Epic president's July admission that the developer had neglected the franchise in recent years.

"It's been a long time since we shipped an Unreal game, and it's an awfully loved franchise that we hold pretty dear here," Capps told IndustryGamers two months ago.

"We haven't been giving it the attention it deserves because we've been focusing on Gears of War and we're still a relatively small company.

"At some point you wonder why we don't rename the engine the Gears Engine or something," he joked.

"We've been sort of focused on making new properties, which you've seen with Shadow Complex, Bulletstorm and Infinity Blade, but sometimes I think just as a businessman that maybe we should be spending some more time with our existing franchises."

Capps' latest comments pour cold water on that suggestion. Still, Unreal has helped inform Epic's recent games, including the Gears of War franchise.

"Epic's core game making philosophy of 'when everyone says it's done, keep polishing!' came from our experiences with Unreal Tournament," Capps said. "That's the beginning of our quality-focused studio DNA."

Capps revealed at GDC Europe last month that Epic was developing five games. While these remain unannounced, one appears to be the next game from Bulletstrom developer People Can Fly.

Discussing Bulletstorm, Capps said: "We learned that People Can Fly can make a really fun project, and we learned how to work together well - and that's going to show in what they're doing next."

OTT shooter Bulletstorm failed to turn a profit for Epic, despite glowing reviews.

"The studio has shipped AAA content," Capps said in July. "The next thing we do with People Can Fly will be great."

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (29) Latest comment 8 months ago

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  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #1 8 months ago

    Ill be equally as gutted if we dont see a bullet storm follow up .

  • Negotiator1 #2 8 months ago

    Gears 4 for the next xbox please.

  • Shakey_Jake33 #3 8 months ago

    Eh, just stick the original Unreal Tournament on XBLA/PSN, it's the best one by a significant margin anyway.

  • Nova1977 #4 8 months ago

    I really want to see Unreal 3 before I die as well as a Bulletstorn sequel. This goes to Valve and that other title that's also not materialising, I hope Valve realize that those voice actors ain't gonna live forever either.

  • darkmorgado #5 8 months ago

    A sequel to Shadow Complex please, without any input from the massive prick Orson Scott Card.

  • jellyBelly #6 8 months ago

    If one of them isn't can any if the other four be? I suspect logical flaw created by typing error

  • Nephirion #7 8 months ago

    I have a gut feeling that Rage will blow the unreal engine out of the water on PC, after all you don't really see the true potential of any game engine on a console due to the hardware restrictions that just don't exist on the PC.

  • RoOhDaMite #8 8 months ago

    I believe the reason they stuck with the slower paced Gears rather than the fast paced Unreal, is simply because they chose consoles over the pc as a leading development platform.

  • Eraser #9 8 months ago

    Don't care for a new Unreal Tournament, but a remake of the original Unreal. Yes please!

  • GiarcYekrub #10 8 months ago

    Bulletstorm 2 please it was awesome

  • obscured021 #11 8 months ago

    They should make an unreal 2014 and make its as good as UT2004, one of the best on line shooters ever. Red orchestra 2 is not to far from perfect also!

  • Anciegher #12 8 months ago

    I would love them to try different genres. How about RPGs? Strategy?

  • Kami #13 8 months ago

    Hardly a surprise. Bulletstorm et al are technical demonstrations of their engine - so the games don't make much money. That's not a surprise when they're solid examples of what can be done WITH the engine. We buy the games, of course we do, but the subtle irony in it is that even if we don't/didn't, the game still exists as a demonstration of what their product - a middleware engine - can do. They've no need to revive Unreal, or even Unreal Tournament. It has served its purpose and now they have shiny new products with which to sell their engine.

    Also hardly a surprise when Gears of War has been so massive. I'm expecting to hear of a Gears of War 4 within the next week or two... cynical perhaps, but given the success of the franchise and the loyal fanbase it clearly has, it's unlikely this saga is over yet...

  • Bobbus74 #14 8 months ago

    Those quotes are over 2 months old. How is this a new story?

  • Lord_BeeJee #15 8 months ago

    I love bulletstorm and am looking forward to anything else coming from PCF!
    @Bobbus74 Read the article again :)
    Edited by Lord_BeeJee at 21/09/11 @ 10:41

  • iamtheoneneo #16 8 months ago

    buleltstorm was ok , but its not exactly a game most people are crying out for...a sequel would be a bit stupid from a studios perspective. id much rather see a UT again..as long as it was good!

  • knightmt #17 8 months ago

    These guys make amazing game engines, they could just release a game shell. And just take a small licence on the best modder levels.

  • Laythe_AD #18 8 months ago

    UT4 please. UT and UT2004 were two of the utter highlights of my games playing youth. Much as i've enjoyed Gears, I know which i'd prefer.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #19 8 months ago

    The original Unreal Tournament was fantastic but the UT franchise pretty much died for me when Quake 3 came out. Nevertheless a single player epic like the first Unreal would be fantastic, I'd even take a remake.

  • X-Vector #20 8 months ago

    @Der_tolle_Emil: Quake 3 was released a week after UT, so that's a pretty quick death (but was it painless?).

    Been replaying Unreal this week, still a highly atmospheric game with great audiovisual design and a welcome feeling of adventure.

  • Eraserhead #21 8 months ago

    I'd like to see a dark, gritty reboot of Jazz Jackrabbit. Perhaps his parents have been killed and he's out for revenge, by running around lots of brown corridors toting large weaponry and randomly blurting out one-liners.

    (To Epic: this is a *joke*, before you start reaching for the concept art pad)

  • mcreddie #22 8 months ago

    Did anyone spot the bargain at the top?

    Only £50 for UT3!

  • WAusJackBauer #23 8 months ago

    I remember reading not too long ago that they said they weren't doing a Bulletstorm sequal.

  • Buran #24 8 months ago

    Other than Gears and licensing egines, Epic and his Unreal franchise is pretty much done. No one longer plays arcade shooters as in the Quake/UT days, that place is filled by COD and Halo, with DICE and a few other shooters from Valve taking the remaining share.

  • Bravestinsane #25 8 months ago

    Probably Gears 4/5/6/7/8

    Theres 5 new games

  • TheGuvernor #26 8 months ago

    Bulletstorm is best game of the year so far.
    Hands down.

  • shortyluke2010 #27 8 months ago

    Not another Bulletstorm please..
    If your going to release a sequel, then please actually work on it and don't rush it.
    Bulletstorm was only created and rushed so they could release the Gears 3 beta.

  • cyber_nicco #28 8 months ago

    The original Unreal Tournament was fantastic but the UT franchise pretty much died for me when Quake 3 came out.

    I greatly preferred UT over Quake, frankly.

  • tokenwebster #29 8 months ago

    @mcreddie

    First thing that caught my eye, I couldn't believe it, just bought mine now :D ---------> :|