Epic: We Haven't Abandoned the PC

By Kevin Parrish
published

Epic believes that Bulletstorm will show its still a big player in the PC gaming arena.

In a recent interview, Epic Games head honcho Mark Rein squashed an ongoing myth that the company had abandoned PC games.

But let's be honest here: the so-called "myth" is seemingly backed by Epic's non-existence in the PC market. Although the company's first handful of games were DOS-based (Jazz Jackrabbit, Epic Pinball, Unreal, Unreal Tournament to name a few), Epic hasn't really been a PC-exclusive developer for a very, very long time. It's actual jump into the console arena began as early as 1999 with the release of Unreal Tournament for the PlayStation 2.

So when Mark Rein was asked why the company was a little bit more resistant to the PC of late, naturally he disagreed, adding that the Unreal Development Kit gets an update every single month--updates that are tested on the PC.

"But I think that’s a myth that we’ve abandoned the PC, it’s just not true," he said. "I mean, Bulletstorm is coming out on three platforms; we’ve just been in this situation where our biggest franchise has been published by a console-holder, and was a very console designed-IP. I wouldn’t want people to mistake that for our intentions or our interests, because we’re very much into the PC game business."

He goes on to add that consumers shouldn't label Epic games as a "Gears of War" company. "There’s a tendency to think that because we wanna do one thing really, really well and not a hundred things really poorly or just okay that we’re less committed," he said. "Bulletstorm is PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 and you’ll see when it comes out, it will be a full-blown, oh-my-god amazing PC game. I wouldn’t draw the comparisons there."

Mark Rein and Epic seems to believe that Bulletstorm will establish the company as a continuing big player in the PC gaming arena. Guess we'll find out in Q1 2011.

Kevin Parrish
40 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Pyroflea
    Everyone is straying away from PC gaming. Let's face it, most people play on consoles these days. It's unfortunate, but it's the reality.
    Reply
  • tokenz
    I cant wait for bullet storm, It looks wicked.
    Reply
  • fjjb
    the only reason they say they havnt forgotten the pc is because they program their games on pc!! the last game i played from epic on my pc was GoW and it really sucked hard because of the so many bugs!! there you can see they havnt abandoned the pc market... (sarcasm). This is just fault of those outdated consoles :(
    Reply
  • Fusion will save us.
    Reply
  • reichscythe
    S.T.F.U.

    "There is a long life ahead for Unreal Engine 3. Version 4 will exclusively target the next console generation, Microsoft's successor for the Xbox 360, Sony's successor for the Playstation 3 - and if Nintendo ships a machine with similar hardware specs, then that also. PCs will follow after that." - Tim Sweeney, Founder of Epic Games

    "To be honest, and I'm going to cast a small pall on the industry here, I don't think you're going to get much higher until the next generation of consoles... just now we're just barely coming into the sweet spot of the next-gen consoles... We're at the point where it's viable to ship games on these next-gen consoles and it's going to be a gold mine for a couple of years... Publishers are generally putting their money where the highest return is, and in the past that's been on consoles and I think that's still the case." - Mark Rein, vice president of Epic Games


    "I think people would rather make a game that sells 4.5 million copies than a million and 'Gears' is at 4.5 million right now on the 360. I think the PC is just in disarray… what's driving the PC right now is 'Sims'-type games and 'WoW' and a lot of stuff that's in a web-based interface. You just click on it and play it. That's the direction PC is evolving into So for me, the PC is kind of the secondary part of what we're doing. It's important for us, but right now making AAA games on consoles is where we're at." - Cliff "CliffyB" Bleszinski, Design Director, Epic Games


    "...high-end videogames are suffering very much on the PC. Right now, it makes sense for us to focus on Xbox 360 for a number of reasons. Not least PCs with multiple configurations and piracy." - Cliff "CliffyB" Bleszinski, Design Director, Epic Games


    "Consoles will pretty much define what the next five years of games look like on the PC..." - Mark Rein, vice president of Epic Games
    Reply
  • sliem
    PyrofleaEveryone is straying away from PC gaming. Let's face it, most people play on consoles these days. It's unfortunate, but it's the reality.
    Um no. I have all three and I only play games on PC such as Bad Company 2, Oblivion 4 & Left 4 Dead 1+2. Steam is great!
    Reply
  • kyeana
    sliemUm no. I have all three and I only play games on PC such as Bad Company 2, Oblivion 4 & Left 4 Dead 1+2. Steam is great!
    Unfortunatally you would be in the minority of people :(

    Personally, i am right there with you. Ill take PC over console any day of the week (trying to to FPS's without a mouse and keyboard is just torture). But the companies are going to go to where the money is.
    Reply
  • Soul_keeper
    They might not have abandoned the pc, but they've definitely abandoned their Linux promises thus far. I'm disappointed with epic.
    id software has proven to be a much better company in this respect.
    Reply
  • Regulas
    The proof is in the pudding, so to say. I will believe it when I see it, not before.
    Reply
  • Nightsilver
    I stopped giving a **** about Epic when they claimed that Farmville was the future of PC gaming. Intelligent companies don't alienate an entire demographic simply for the sake of being snarky.

    *Post edited by moderator* Cool it on the language.
    Reply