Duke dev talks down Bulletstorm rivalry
There's room for two OTT shooters.
A cursory glance at EA's forthcoming shooter Bulletstorm and the long-awaited Duke Nukem Forever, both due this Spring, reveals a fair few common themes: outrageous violence, enormous extraterrestrial bugs, giant biceps and enough F-bombs to make even Ray Winstone blush.
However, despite the similarities between the two shooters, Duke developer Gearbox Software has denied there's any rivalry between the two, insisting there's plenty of room on the shelf for both games.
"I don't think it matters to think about things in that way," studio boss Randy Pitchford told Eurogamer. "I think what matters is if a game is entertaining and if people want what it has to offer.
"Certainly there are constraints there where competition is a factor, but if market demand for a game is truly there, results can exceed even bold expectations regardless of how many other games are in the market at the same time."
Pitchford went on to cite Gearbox's first shipped game, Half-Life Opposing Force, as a case in point. Despite launching in 1999 within a month of both Quake 3 Arena and Unreal Tournament it was still a success for the fledgling developer.
"It turned out that all three games were very good and customers showed up for all of them," he explained. "As a result, all three of those games achieved sales that exceeded expectations even though they were launched right on top of one another.
"So I discovered long ago that competition isn't as big of a problem as many make it out to be. I have played Bulletstorm and it's going to be fine - it gets to have a couple of months to itself before Duke shows up and it's a great game."
So, promised Pitchford, is Duke Nukem Forever. "Without question, Duke Nukem Forever is absolutely worth it for every gamer to play it," he pledged, "not just to get that feeling of experiencing videogame history in the making but because the game is simply a LOT of fun."
You can find out for yourself when the game finally launches on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on 3rd May. Bulletstorm, on the other hand, arrives on 22nd February.