Joystiq

Sony, Microsoft going 'heavily' on free-to-play next-gen, says Epic VP Rein

Sinan Kubba — Thu, 09 May 2013 10:30:00 EST

Sony and Microsoft are telling developers they're "going heavily" on free-to-play and in-app purchasing models with their next-gen consoles, according to Epic Games VP Mark Rein. Speaking in a roundtable discussion at the UK's Game Horizon conference, Rein said both companies will take on the kinds of financial models seen on mobile devices.

"The next-gen consoles are going to be fully embracing the free-to-play and these IAP-type business models," Rein told the audience, "So in case you don't know that I'm putting that out there. Sony and Microsoft are both going heavily in that area."

Roundtable chair Matt Martin of GamesIndustry International said that's what both platform holders are saying, but that "we still need to see some kind of evidence."

Rein replied, "Well, I'm telling you. I'm telling you what they're telling developers."

Continue reading Sony, Microsoft going 'heavily' on free-to-play next-gen, says Epic VP Rein

Sony, Microsoft going 'heavily' on free-to-play next-gen, says Epic VP Rein originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 09 May 2013 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Unreal Engine 4 not designed to work on Wii U [Update]

JC Fletcher — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 05:00:00 EST

Epic Games' Unreal Engine 4 won't support the Wii U, Epic VP Mark Rein said during GDC. During a theater presentation of the Infiltrator demo, Rein laughed and said "no" when asked if UE4 would run on Wii U.

"Our goal for Unreal Engine 4 console-wise is next-gen consoles," he explained to Kotaku. "That's really what our energies are focused on. If you want to make a Wii U game, we have Unreal Engine 3, and it's powering some of the best games on the Wii U already."

Battlefield series executive producer Patrick Bach told Eurogamer this week that not only is Battlefield 4 not coming to Wii U, the new Frostbite 3 engine on which it runs is also not designed for Wii U. "We right now don't have support for the Wii U in the Frostbite engine," he said. "The reason for that is it takes development time."

Update: Rein spoke with Engadget and clarified his comment from the presentation, noting that it's totally possible to run Unreal Engine 4 games on Wii U. "You heard the stupid gaffe yesterday about the Wii U," he said. "If someone wants to take Unreal Engine 4 and ship a game on Wii U, they can! If they wanna ship an Unreal Engine 4 game on Xbox 360, they could make it happen."

Unreal Engine 4 not designed to work on Wii U [Update] originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 30 Mar 2013 05:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Unreal Engine 3 Citadel app runs on Linux now

David Hinkle — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 21:30:00 EST

Rejoice, Linux users. You can now run the Epic Citadel app using Google's Chrome browser - specifically, the Chrome 21 release with built-in support for Stage 3D hardware acceleration can. Up until now it's been impossible to run Unreal Engine 3 on Linux because Adobe had stopped supporting its Adobe Flash Player 11, a supported Unreal Engine 3 platform and the only other viable solution for Linux users.

Google has continued to support Flash in its Chrome browser, however, bringing us to today. It's not the most ideal solution, but at least now it's a possibility. Just don't expect Epic Games to start officially supporting Linux anytime soon, even though Unreal Engine 3 ships with Linux code for developers.

"While Linux is not an officially supported Unreal Engine 3 platform, Epic provides Linux code to licensees via our own games that have utilized dedicated servers, and our licensees can ship UE3 games on Linux," Rein says. "We can confirm that users can run the UE3-powered Epic Citadel app, available at www.unrealengine.com/flash, on Linux machines, as Flash as a web solution works seamlessly across platforms. Epic continues to license Unreal Engine 3 for nine officially supported platforms, including Flash and Mac, and we have no additional plans for Linux to confirm at this time."

Unreal Engine 3 Citadel app runs on Linux now originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 27 Aug 2012 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Epic Games now wholly owns Gears of War: Judgment dev People Can Fly

Ben Gilbert — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 07:43:00 EST

When Epic Games subsidiary People Can Fly lost three senior employees this past week, Epic Games apparently purchased the rest of the Poland-based development studio. "One of the things that got missed with that story was that we bought the rest of People Can Fly that we didn't own. We didn't announce that, so that was also part of it," Epic Games VP Mark Rein told us this afternoon at GDC Europe.

"But now we own it all. We had a controlling stake, but the owner still owned a fairly large piece of it," he said. As it turns out, those owners were the folks who left to do something different - despite being in the middle of developing the next Gears of War game, Judgment. "They left, they're gonna do their own thing. They have something cool they're gonna do, and we'll be very supportive of it," Rein added.

It's unknown how much Epic Games paid for the rest of its stake in People Can Fly.

Epic Games now wholly owns Gears of War: Judgment dev People Can Fly originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 13 Aug 2012 07:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Epic's Mark Rein on UE4, Epic Baltimore and Gears of War: Judgment

Ludwig Kietzmann — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 12:30:00 EST

Given the engine's dynamic illumination features, it's only appropriate for Epic Vice President Mark Rein to start lighting up when he starts talking about Unreal Engine 4. We spoke to Rein on the last day of E3 about the engine's possibilities, and how its robust developer toolset addresses the dangerous costs of game development.

Rein also comments on the multinational efforts behind Gears of War: Judgment (with special mention of People Can Fly's Creative Director, Adrian Chmielarz) and the recent addition of Epic Baltimore to the family.

Epic's Mark Rein on UE4, Epic Baltimore and Gears of War: Judgment originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 11 Jun 2012 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Epic's Rein on Epic Baltimore and saving 'awesome guys' from 38 Studios' Big Huge Games

Alexander Sliwinski — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 17:40:00 EST

Epic Baltimore, the new studio formed by Epic Games from the senior staff of 38 Studios' Big Huge Games, was a surprise announcement this past Sunday. Well, it's not like there was much warning for anyone, really, as Epic's VP and co-founder Mark Rein explained to us today at E3, giving much of the credit regarding the studio's creation to Epic president Mike Capps.

"Mike is the total hero there. They called him on Wednesday, interested in using one of our IPs. He flew them up the next day and they met with a whole bunch of people, and the board of directors of Epic. We made the call right there: 'These guys are awesome, we need to work with them.'"

"We don't have a final headcount yet. It's a decent number," Rein replied when asked about how many of the approximately 100 employees of Big Huge Games were going to be employed by Epic Baltimore. He told us they already had 40 resumes from BHG employees before the deal even went through. "Many of the people there had already gone on to places. This was just the core group of really experience guys who already had savings saved up that they tried to build a team and find a deal."

Rein also emphasized that they "wanted to work with one of Epic's IPs" and "it was a very good, natural fit."

With Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning 2 already in pre-production, we asked if Rein had any interest in buying Amalur from Rhode Island?

"We don't buy IP, we make IP."

Epic's Rein on Epic Baltimore and saving 'awesome guys' from 38 Studios' Big Huge Games originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 07 Jun 2012 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Epic: Consoles must be 'bleeding edge' in next generation

Richard Mitchell — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 15:45:00 EST

Epic believes that the next round of home consoles will have to be "bleeding edge" if the likes of Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo want to stay relevant in the video game market. Speaking to CVG, Epic VP Mark Rein noted that the publisher is "pushing" console makers to use the best possible hardware. "Because if they don't," said Rein, "Apple will go right past them."

He added that console gaming is about console makers "delivering something that's way out past the bleeding edge" and making their investment back with software royalties. If console makers don't opt for the latest and greatest tech, he said, there's a chance that consumers "won't want to take the leap" to future consoles.

In Rein's view, it's Epic's job to push console makers with advanced technology demos like the "Samaritan" video shown at GDC 2011 (above). Incidentally, Rein isn't worried that console makers will under-deliver with the next generation, believing that they will instead "blow us all away." With Unreal Engine 4 aimed at next generation consoles, and assuming UE4 is even more impressive than the UE3-powered Samaritan demo, we certainly hope he's right.

Epic: Consoles must be 'bleeding edge' in next generation originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 12 Mar 2012 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Unreal Engine 4 to be seen 'later this year,' says Mark Rein

Mike Schramm — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 17:30:00 EST

Epic's Mark Rein did some hit-and-run teasing at DICE last week, telling G4 that "people are going to be shocked later this year when they see Unreal Engine 4 and how much more profound an effect it will have." We've heard before that Epic is working hard on Unreal Engine 4, and while Epic doesn't expect to see games running on the engine until 2014, it makes a lot of sense that Rein would want to show it off, especially if we also see some next-gen console reveals later on this year.

As for what it'll look like, we can only say (and sorry for all of the technical jargon on this one) that it will probably look "very good." How do we know? Because 4 is higher than 3, silly. You probably wouldn't understand.

Unreal Engine 4 to be seen 'later this year,' says Mark Rein originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 11 Feb 2012 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Epic's Tim Sweeney being inducted into AIAS Hall of Fame

Griffin McElroy — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:25:00 EST

The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences has announced the 16th inductee to its Hall of Fame, a catalog which already contains literal game-changers like Peter Molyneux, Sid Meier and Will Wright. To be added to that list during the Interactive Achievement Awards at the 2012 D.I.C.E. Summit in February: Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney. You've almost certainly heard of him -- if not, you've definitely heard of the Unreal Engine, which he helped create. If you haven't heard of that, what is wrong with you?

The Interactive Achievement Awards, which will be presented February 9, will see Epic VP Mark Rein bestowing the honor upon Sweeney. We anticipate that his speech will include humorous jabs at one or more of Sweeney's lesser-known idiosyncrasies, as well as a heart-touching stanza about how he's not just a good boss, but a great friend. We're getting a little choked up just thinking about it.

Epic's Tim Sweeney being inducted into AIAS Hall of Fame originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It's not just you: Epic aware of Infinity Blade 2 issues on iPod Touch, iPad 1

Ben Gilbert — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 14:30:00 EST

Hey, did you know that Infinity Blade 2 launched on the iOS App Store yesterday? If you didn't, hey, we hear it's pretty good, but if you did and you bought it, you may already be aware of some "issues" the game encounters when played on an iPad 1 or various iPad Touch devices, such as unbearably choppy framerates and outright crashing. Its publisher, Epic Games, is also aware of said issues, and wants you to know that it's working extra hard to get things fixed "ASAP."

VP and co-founder Mark Rein took to the company's forums after initially tweeting out news of the hitches, where he explained that some users on the aforementioned devices are running out of system memory. Apparently the issues weren't discovered in testing because the device must have a "large number of apps installed," which test units weren't equipped with. Regardless, Rein said the company should have a fix coming quickly, so, uh, maybe play some more Infinity Blade 1 for a few days?

It's not just you: Epic aware of Infinity Blade 2 issues on iPod Touch, iPad 1 originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 02 Dec 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Epic wants Unreal Engine 4 ready for the next-gen console launch

Justin McElroy — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 09:45:00 EST

Like an inattentive uncle, Unreal Engine 3 didn't visit this current generation of consoles until it was around a year old. But if Epic's Mark Rein has his way, Unreal Engine 4 will be right there in the birthing room to catch the Xbox 720 and PS4 from their ... electronic womb.

"I want Unreal Engine 4 to be ready far earlier than UE3 was; not a year after the consoles are released," he told Develop. "I think a year from a console's launch is perfectly fine for releasing a game, but not for releasing new tech. We need to be there day one or very early. That's my primary focus."

When asked what he wants from that next gen, Rein focused on giving developers and publishers more pricing freedom rather than pure horsepower. He wants a beefy GPU as well, but it's telling to see the acknowledgement that the next wave of consoles will be as much about how games are delivered as what they look like.

Epic wants Unreal Engine 4 ready for the next-gen console launch originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 09:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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'Water, meet fish': Epic Games' Mark Rein on Wii U, PS Vita, and E3 2011

Ben Gilbert — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 11:15:00 EST

Despite our wishy washy feelings about this year's big show, the E Triple, Epic Games VP and co-founder Mark Rein was quite positive on last week's proceedings. In an interview yesterday with Joystiq, Rein beamed about this year's show, saying, "I thought E3 was really good -- I thought the industry looked good. The quality of games on display was extremely high." He even had positive things to say about the growing divide between "triple-A" and "indie" development, explaining that, even though "it's definitely a boom or bust mentality now" with regards to the big publishing houses, "there was definitely more boom than bust" in his eyes.

But for him, the big news of the show was the same as everyone else: Nintendo's new console, the Wii U, and Sony's PlayStation Vita reveal. "The Vita blew me away," Rein told us. "I was shocked at how badly I wanted to take one of those home with me." He was similarly thrilled by Nintendo's Wii successor, though he wouldn't speak to any specifics regarding Unreal Engine 3 on the new console.

"I can tell you that I got to see it at E3 and it was what I expected of course. We were very excited to play some of their demos, see how good the feel of the hardware was -- it's a very impressive system and I think it's gonna do quite well," he told us. When asked about the possibility of UE3 on Wii U, as indicated by two UE3-based games in Nintendo's own sizzle reel, Rein referred us to our conversation at GDC.

He summarized it by saying, "'If Nintendo made a system that could run our engine, we'd be on it like water on fish.' And so when someone asked me what I thought about the Wii U, I said, 'Water, meet fish.'" Seems pretty direct if you ask us!

Continue reading 'Water, meet fish': Epic Games' Mark Rein on Wii U, PS Vita, and E3 2011

'Water, meet fish': Epic Games' Mark Rein on Wii U, PS Vita, and E3 2011 originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 14 Jun 2011 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LucasArts licenses Unreal Engine 3 for long-term, multi-project use

James Ransom-Wiley — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 18:43:00 EST

LucasArts has entered into a multi-year licensing agreement with Epic Games to develop with Unreal Engine 3, the studios announced today. The deal will encompass "multiple projects" and looks to provide a shortcut for LucasArts "between inspiration and execution on a wide variety of gaming platforms," according to Zak Phelps, the company's director of technology.

Epic VP Mark Rein echoed that sentiment when he trumpeted "Unreal Engine 3's ability to scale across platforms, from mobile, through PC and console all the way up to the next generation of games." Epic's recent tech demo of the latest UE3 updates certainly looked incredible, but we didn't notice any new features promising to render a deeper Star Wars experience. Then again, we'd probably pay a buck just to see the Force unleashed on our iPhone, inspired or not.

Previously, LucasArts licensed Unreal Engine 2 for 2005's Star Wars: Republic Commando (pictured).

LucasArts licenses Unreal Engine 3 for long-term, multi-project use originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 18:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mark Rein: Unreal Development Kit 'eventually' coming to Android

David Hinkle — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 02:30:00 EST

Budding Android developers looking to utilize Epic's free Unreal Development Kit know it's still in the works for the platform. Of course, that's not to say the Unreal Engine itself isn't being used on Android -- Dungeon Defenders is perhaps the most visible Unreal Engine 3-powered game on the mobile OS, though a recent deal between Epic and Gameloft ensures that won't be the case for long. Companies can currently license UE3 code to develop Android games, though Epic VP Mark Rein told Gamasutra that "UDK is a totally different story."

"It'd be difficult for anybody right now to make a game with UDK and ship it on Android, because Unreal is for making high-end, high-quality-content games," Rein said, adding, "most of them are pretty large, because you can make a large game with it." Thus, Google's current 50mb limit for apps is kind of a problem, though it's one Epic and Google are looking to resolve.

"UDK will come eventually to Android, and Google is going to solve that problem," Rein assured. "We know they're working on it, but we don't know the release date and we don't know when it will get into the hands of all the different vendors with all the different phones."

Mark Rein: Unreal Development Kit 'eventually' coming to Android originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 08 Apr 2011 02:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mark Rein: Unreal's 'focus is all devices'

Mike Schramm — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 00:10:00 EST

Mark Rein's like an old-school tonic salesman with his Unreal Engine lately. You want it running on iOS devices including the new iPad 2? You've got it, friend! You want it on Android devices, including the Xperia Play and the Motorola Xoom? Say no more, chum! And you want it on next-gen devices that haven't even been announced yet? Yes, Mr. Rein's Unreal Engine elixir is just the thing to cure those ills that ail you. Try it today!

OK well, Rein doesn't get quite that archaic in his recent interview with Develop, but he's bombastic about the rendering technology, promising that it will run great on any device you can throw at it, far into the future. Rein says Epic does want to "raise the bar on mobiles" as it did with Infinity Blade, but that the recent DirectX 11 demo is targeted squarely at would-be new console developers. Rein wants the demo to be "the big leap that we think justifies that new piece of hardware you're going to build," whether that be the Xbox 720, the PlayStation 4, or whatever else hardware manufacturers dream up.

Also, that nasty back pain you've been dealing with? Rein doesn't actually say the Unreal Engine will get rid of it, but it's worth a try, right friend?

Mark Rein: Unreal's 'focus is all devices' originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 02 Apr 2011 00:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mark Rein: If 3DS could 'deliver' Unreal Engine 3, we'd be on it

David Hinkle — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 21:05:00 EST

Mark Rein is getting a little tired of "the 3DS question" but, alas, my journalistic instincts demanded I ask him once again. With the launch of Nintendo's handheld right around the corner, it seemed like a prudent inquiry.

"Why do people keep asking about the platforms we don't love?" he asked me in an interview room at the back of Epic's booth on the GDC show floor. "Nothing's changed," he added, "There's only so much time in the day; our engine requires a certain level of hardware capabilities to make our pipeline, our tools work -- and we work on the ones that do. The second Nintendo releases a piece of hardware that can run our engine well, we'll be on it like water on fish."

For Rein, it's not a beef with Nintendo -- he's actually fond of The House Mario Built and has multiple handhelds and Wiis in his home. "There's nothing against Nintendo. I hate that people somehow think that's the case," he said. "If we felt it could run [Unreal Engine] and deliver the kind of experience people license our technology to build, we'd be on [the 3DS]." Well then, guess we won't ask Santa for that 3D version of Infinity Blade we've been dreaming of.

Mark Rein: If 3DS could 'deliver' Unreal Engine 3, we'd be on it originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 02 Mar 2011 21:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Unreal Engine 3 running on Mac OS X (and images of DirectX 11 features on PC, cigarettes)

David Hinkle — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 19:30:00 EST

We just got out of a GDC demo of some Unreal Engine 3 improvements already available to licensees but, perhaps more interestingly, Mark Rein promised that UE3 on Mac OS X is still coming. While towing a laptop sporting the UDK test game (it's pretty much Unreal Tournament) running on Mac OS X, Rein has confirmed that Unreal Engine has finally made its way to Mac OS ... only four years after announcing Gears of War for the platform. We've got an interview with Rein soon, so keep an eye on the site for that later.

In the meantime, feel free to peruse our gallery below full of shots documenting the new features of Unreal Engine 3, including Direct X11 functionality. It would appear the engine has managed to do what Melanie Griffith hasn't: age gracefully.

Gallery: Unreal Engine 3 (GDC 2011)

Unreal Engine 3 running on Mac OS X (and images of DirectX 11 features on PC, cigarettes) originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 02 Mar 2011 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bulletstorm PC demo coming after game's release

Griffin McElroy — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 14:00:00 EST

If the anticipation for the PC version of People Can Fly's over-the-top shooter Bulletstorm is absolutely killing you, then ... well, we're sorry to hear that. We wish we could assuage the tension by telling you that you'll get a chance to play the game before its release this Tuesday but, unfortunately, Epic Games' Mark Rein recently explained over Twitter that the game's PC demo "won't make it in time for ship date but should be available shortly after."

We'd like to suggest an activity you can indulge in while you wait for the game to arrive, but what could potentially serve as a substitute for kicking, shooting, grenading and whipping? Shuffleboard, perhaps?

Bulletstorm PC demo coming after game's release originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 20 Feb 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Epic's Mark Rein goes in-depth with Unreal Engine 3's TriOviz 3D

JC Fletcher — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 20:00:00 EST

Epic Games and Darkworks might have just captured the 3D gaming market. With the addition of TriOviz 3D technology to the Unreal Engine 3 and its development kit, a massively popular game engine now has built-in 3D integration, for use with either 3D televisions or green/magenta glasses. It stands to increase the number of games implementing 3D dramatically, creating a de facto standard for 3D in the process. Incidentally, it adds an attractive new bullet point to Unreal's feature set.

Epic Games itself, however, somehow has yet to fully jump onto the bandwagon it is now driving. "That's not part of the announcement," Epic VP Mark Rein told Joystiq when asked if this partnership would mean Epic games in TriOviz 3D. "Don't know." The implementation of 3D is certainly not the reason Gears of War 3 was delayed into holiday 2011. For one thing, the companies claim it only takes a week to integrate 3D into a UE3 game. For another, "That was Microsoft's business decision."

Continue reading Epic's Mark Rein goes in-depth with Unreal Engine 3's TriOviz 3D

Epic's Mark Rein goes in-depth with Unreal Engine 3's TriOviz 3D originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 11 Oct 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rein: 3DS likely below minimum specifications for Unreal Engine

JC Fletcher — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 17:35:00 EST

During a GDC Online interview with Epic Games VP Mark Rein, the conversation moved from 3D games to handhelds (specifically, the very impressive Epic Citadel iOS demo). Naturally, I then took the opportunity to ask about a current hot topic that combines both subjects: the Nintendo 3DS. Is Epic working on 3DS software?

"No," Rein said. "It's below our [minimum specifications], from what we can tell. We don't have a 3DS, so there's no way for us to verify that," he added, "but everything we've been led to believe is that it's below our min-spec. You couldn't do a game that looks like [Epic Citadel] on it, for example."

He clarified that this means no plans for Epic games, as well as no plans for a version of Unreal Engine for other devs to use. "Like I said, we really don't know enough about it to make a formal comment, but I think if they considered that our engine would be good on it, they would have probably talked to us about it."

As Rein himself noted, the situation could change when Epic gets its own 3DS to experiment with -- but at least for now, upon first impression, the developer apparently considers the new device less capable than last year's iPhone 3GS, since that can run Epic Citadel just fine.

Rein: 3DS likely below minimum specifications for Unreal Engine originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 06 Oct 2010 17:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rumor: Ex-Realtime Worlds head Dave Jones joining Epic [update: Jones not joining Epic]

Richard Mitchell — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 18:00:00 EST

Update: Dave Jones has informed Develop that he is not joining Epic and has no plans to leave Scotland at this time.

The fallout from the closure of APB and developer Realtime Worlds continues this week, with the Herald Scotland reporting that creative director Dave Jones may be joining Epic Games. The report notes that Jones is "linked with a senior post" at Epic and adds that he is "known to be a close friend" of Mark Rein. If true, the report lends credence to recent rumors that Epic is interested in acquiring the rights to APB. (We've contacted Epic for comment and will update this story with any new information.)

Meanwhile, former Realtime artist Tahir Rashid tells the Herald Scotland that 70 percent of the Realtime staff has yet to receive redundancy payments.

Rumor: Ex-Realtime Worlds head Dave Jones joining Epic [update: Jones not joining Epic] originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 04 Oct 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Final Realtime Worlds employees let go, US branch also shutting down

Griffin McElroy — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

Though reports last week seemed to indicate that a buyer would swoop in at the last second and save the faltering APB developer Realtime Worlds, the studio has revealed that its remaining 50 employees have been terminated. Sixteen temporary positions are still active to finish shutting down the Dundee studio. The company's US branch, based out of Boulder, Colo., is facing a similar fate, letting go of 33 of its staff, leaving behind a skeleton crew to bring the branch to a close. A Realtime spokesperson told Develop that the studio is "now likely to apply for Chapter 7 Protection."

Begbies Traynor, the firm responsible for the company's administration, is also under fire from a handful of sources both internal and otherwise. Develop reports that a number of ex-Realtime employees claim they've been denied their redundancy pay -- a claim which a Begbies Traynor spokesperson responded to by saying, "redundancy payment will be made in accordance with current UK legislation."

Continue reading Final Realtime Worlds employees let go, US branch also shutting down

Final Realtime Worlds employees let go, US branch also shutting down originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 17 Sep 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mark Rein: Epic is committed to PC, also making a game 'for mobile and tablet'

Mike Schramm — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 22:00:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

Epic vice president Mark Rein talked to Rock, Paper, Shotgun recently and, when confronted with the allegation that the company has abandoned its PC roots, came out shooting. Rein says that a little console success with Gears of War doesn't mean that Epic has moved on from the platform that spawned Unreal and Unreal Tournament. "Don't confuse Gears of War with everything we do," 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."

Of course, Rein admits that the PC isn't all -- in the rest of the interview, he maintains that mobile platforms like Apple's iOS and Android are going to be very important for gaming in the future, and that getting the Unreal engine running on those is a big priority with Epic. While PC is still the foundation, Epic is "going to make a game for mobile and tablet," Rein says. "We haven't announced anything yet, but it's due."

Mark Rein: Epic is committed to PC, also making a game 'for mobile and tablet' originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 06 Jul 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Finding a new dimension for gaming at the 3D Gaming Summit

Mike Schramm — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 15:00:00 EST

A small crowd of movie and game producers met this week at Universal City in Los Angeles for the first-ever 3D Gaming Summit, to sit down and discuss the trend of 3D imaging in gaming and film. Much of the talk at the summit was speculative -- with almost no actual consumer devices on the market and nearly none within price range of the average consumer anyway, gaming in 3D isn't much more than an idea at this point. Most of the technology companies in attendance are still working to get content producers to use their systems to create games and films rather than selling hardware directly to consumers.

Still, the panels and discussions at the summit offered an interesting look at what many believe to be the eventual future of the industry. From a lunchtime interview with Mortal Kombat and Resident Evil director Paul W.S. Anderson to a Playstation Move demo (and a panel moderated by a Joystiq editor), the 3D Gaming Summit showed off a lot of guesswork, a few interesting demos, and a few big holes that will need to be filled if 3D gaming is going to ever take off.

Continue reading Finding a new dimension for gaming at the 3D Gaming Summit

Finding a new dimension for gaming at the 3D Gaming Summit originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 24 Apr 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Epic giving Unreal Engine 3 devs free Steam SDK update

Ben Gilbert — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:58:00 EST

Carrying on in the longstanding Epic Games tradition of offering up free upgrades to existing products, the developer, publisher and game engine creator announced this morning that it will be adding Steamworks support to Unreal Engine 3. "With Valve offering these services free of charge, the idea of providing the Steamworks SDK [software development kit] to all Unreal Engine licensees was a no-brainer," Epic VP Mark Rein notes in the announcement.

As it turns out, Valve offered up the development tools to UE3 developers (via Epic) without charging a single penny. That said, this isn't just a philanthropic gesture on Epic's part, but rather a strategy aimed at targeting the large stable of games powered by Unreal Engine. "Epic's technology is one of the most widely used engines in the industry and has powered many of the best games created in the past 10 years, on multiple platforms," Valve prez Gabe Newell proclaims.

That's really the crux of it -- bring in the Unreal Engine 3 users and they might stick around to purchase some other games on Steam. It's a bit of a sneaky trap (and a smart business move to boot), but it's one we wouldn't exactly be upset about falling for.

Epic giving Unreal Engine 3 devs free Steam SDK update originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Epic's Mark Rein 'very excited' about the iPad's possibilities

Ben Gilbert — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST

Sure, it might resemble a large iPod Touch to some of us, but to the folks who get paid the big bucks to make games -- such as Epic Games VP Mark Rein -- the iPad looks like opportunity. Speaking to Gamasutra at this week's big unveiling event, Rein said "I really like the device and I think it's going to be great for gaming." And considering his company's Unreal Engine 3 is popping textures in and out of view on the iPhone already, it's no surprise that he said it's a "pretty safe assumption" to bet that the engine will make its way to the iPad.

Like the iPhone game developers we spoke with yesterday (and our own wishes for what we'd like to see on the device), Rein hopes that devs will "take advantage of the differentiated form factor of the device." And hey, with all that extra screen space, we have to imagine that at least a quarter of Marcus Fenix's enormous husk is now able to fit into view! It's called innovation, folks, ya dig?

Epic's Mark Rein 'very excited' about the iPad's possibilities originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mark Rein: future Epic games will have 'some' Natal support

David Hinkle — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:40:00 EST

Epic and Microsoft have long been cozy bedfellows, comfortably sharing the covers with each other for years. Now that partnership has extended to Microsoft's proposed game changer, Project Natal. Speaking to Epic's marketing maestro, Mark Rein, OXM asked what Natal's use of the Unreal engine implied for the futures of both companies.

"I think any future Xbox games we make will have some Natal support," Rein commented. "We always want to have something that exploits the unique capabilities of a platform." While Rein had no idea what type of game Epic would make with Natal, he did have some ideas on how Natal could improve the hardcore experience -- namely, simplifying the controls.

An example he used was taking one's hand off the controller to mimic throwing a grenade, or using a hand gesture to signal your squad move to a certain location. On paper it sounds great, but we have to question how much such controls could improve on what is arguably one of the easiest things one could ever do: pushing a button.

Mark Rein: future Epic games will have 'some' Natal support originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Impressions: APB

Griffin McElroy — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 21:30:00 EST

It's been a long time coming, but the first gameplay of Realtime Worlds' pseudo-MMO APB has been shown to the public. PAX attendees who stopped by EA's booth were allowed to view a 15-minute long in-game video demo of the title -- just for kicks, the player/commentator for the demo was none other than Epic's Mark Rein, creator of the Unreal Engine 3 upon which the title is built. Rein, who was playing as an Enforcer, was joined by Realtime's Chris Collins, who effectively played the Crockett to Rein's Tubbs.

What we saw looked less like an MMO, and more like a persistent online multiplayer cops-and-robbers game. Action isn't slow and meditated, it's fast-paced and twitchy. If you were expecting skill-filled hotbars, you're going to be disappointed -- APB is a third-person shooter, through and through.

Continue reading Impressions: APB

Impressions: APB originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 07 Sep 2009 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Epic's Mark Rein: We're not ready for PlayStation 4 or Xbox Whatever

Ludwig Kietzmann — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:15:00 EST

As the Vice President of Epic Games -- purveyor of cutting-edge graphics technology and self-anointed "conglomerate of badassery" -- Mark Rein must have a fairly good grasp of where the future of gaming is headed. How long until games are beamed directly into our eyes? It's a question posed in a hilarious and cheeky Eurogamer interview, to which Rein responded: "Over half the users who played Gears of War 2 so far do not have HDTVs."

Well, that's a bit of a bummer. "My point is, of the systems that are out there now, the majority of them aren't plugged into HDTVs. So there's no way we're ready for the PlayStation 4 or the Xbox Whatever," Rein said. The PlayStation 3 still combats the issue of cost, he added, with Sony likely looking to amortize launch and development across that often touted ten-year lifespan.

There are benefits to be reaped with developers growing more comfortable and experienced with the hardware, but for now, we're not ready for another PlayStation. And a next Xbox? "Yeah, it's called Natal," says Rein. "That is the next Xbox." Though new consoles like the Xbox Whatever may arrive later than expected, we're confident Epic will be right on time in delivering Things of War.

Epic's Mark Rein: We're not ready for PlayStation 4 or Xbox Whatever originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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E3 Natal demos created with Unreal Engine 3

Jem Alexander — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 22:30:00 EST

Microsoft's E3 demo for Project Natal include two game demos -- Paint Party and Ricochet. We assumed that these minigames were developed from scratch, specially for the E3 demonstration, but Epic's Mark Rein has stated in an interview with OXM that they were made using the Unreal Engine 3.

That makes UE3 the first middleware to support the new motion control system, meaning developers who utilize it shouldn't have much difficulty adding Natal functionality to their titles. UE3 isn't quite as commonly used as it was in 2007, but this does mean there's no excuse for Gears of War 3 not to support Natal. We suspect a great many of you would enjoy a bit of motion-controlled chainsawdomizing.

E3 Natal demos created with Unreal Engine 3 originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 21 Jul 2009 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mark Rein: No 'ten-year plan' for Gears of War

Xav de Matos — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 13:00:00 EST

Mark Rein has denied claims made by writer Josh Ortega that Epic Games has masterminded a ten-year plan for the Gears of War franchise, according to VG247. While Rein says the studio "appreciates the enthusiasm" Ortega has for the Gears franchise, Epic isn't keen on planning games "very far in advance."

"It's a ten-year plan. Gears is long-term," Ortega told Gear-heads at a panel during the 2009 New York Comic-Con. While, in response, Rein promised Epic's focus is directed toward "supporting the Gears of War 2 game and community," he says the company will ultimately make decisions on a "game-by-game basis" and by gauging fan support.

Rein's hesitation to throw all of Epic's eggs in the Gears basket may have something to do with its previous cash cow, Unreal Tournament. In 1999, Epic Games spun gold with the Unreal Tournament franchise but saw mediocre returns from 2007's Unreal Tournament 3 -- a franchise shelf life of less than a decade. Then again, Gears of War has all but eclipsed the popularity of Unreal Tournament with a movie already on the horizon.

Mark Rein: No 'ten-year plan' for Gears of War originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 11 Feb 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The rise and fall of @cliffy_b

Alexander Sliwinski — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 01:00:00 EST

At some point during the short life of Twitter's @cliffy_b, a mockumentary version of Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski, the joke became a little too real for some people and it had to be shut down. Matthew Downham, who we've actually featured before in spoofs where he fails hard at games, along with his friend, Austin Brown, were the men behind the false Bleszinski. Today he posted the full explanation of the birth and death of @cliffy_b.

Downham explains the duo never intended any malice with @cliffy_b, that the character, a clear goof on the extroverted designer, was meant to be an over-the-top version of a gaming personality they admired. The joke was going along fine, until one particular tweet was taken a bit too seriously. Although Downham avoids what the post was, it was probably the tweet heard round the Gears community: "After much testing, it looks like matchmaking is permanently broken ... There are new maps though, only 800 Microsoft Points!" That's when the Epic lawyers had Twitter kill the fake Mr. Bleszinski. The story stands as a good metric on how some lines -- especially involving money and multi-million dollar franchises -- are dangerous to cross.

The rise and fall of @cliffy_b originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 11 Feb 2009 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gears 2 update to address several issues, planned for January

Alexander Sliwinski — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 08:30:00 EST

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

Epic VP Mark Rein has posted on the Gears of War 2 forum, indicating that a major title update for the best-selling sequel is due to arrive in January. Some of the improvements planned: adding Achievements for the DLC content; fixing bugs; and addressing exploits.

Some of the online exploits the patch aims to fix involve players wielding an invisible shield, gaining infinite Lancer ammo and equipping a shield with a two-handed weapon. Epic also plans to include a harsher penalty for quitting matches early, spawn point protection and the ability to see the Submission flag using Tac/Com.

Most importantly (to shotgun whores), the new patch will fix "client side hit detection," so even in "laggy" matches the gun will be more reliable. That's great, because those shotgun folks really make the multiplayer an inviting experience.

Gears 2 update to address several issues, planned for January originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 06 Jan 2009 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sam's Club auctions: Signed Gears 2, potentially cheaper Locust head

Alexander Sliwinski — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 14:20:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Microsoft Xbox 360, Business

Sam's Club currently has two auctions going that might be of interest to Gears of War 2 fans. First is a copy of the game's limited edition box signed by Epic's Mark Rein and Cliff Bleszinski. The other is a bust of a Locust drone, which we'd previously reported on as retailing for $~~550~~ $650 -- the current bid is under $50. Both auctions are up for the next seven days.

The only catch with the Locust bust is that it will not be sent out until early 2009, so don't expect it to be a holiday gift for any COG you know. Really, though, nothing says, "Welcome to our happy home," like the severed head of a Locust drone in the foyer.

Auction - Signed copy of the game.
Auction - Locust bust.

Sam's Club auctions: Signed Gears 2, potentially cheaper Locust head originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 24 Nov 2008 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Unreal Tournament III to get expansion

Andrew Yoon — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:25:00 EST

Filed under: News

While nowhere as successful as Gears of War, Epic Games is working on an expansion to their multiplayer shooter, Unreal Tournament III. "We're working together on a major expansion that we expect will excite and grow our UT3 customer base," Epic Games' VP Mark Reins told Gamespot.

No other specifics were provided, such as release date or format (DLC? Expansion pack disc?). Considering the game debuted on the PS3, we're going to keep our eyes peeled for any more info.

[Via Joystiq]

Unreal Tournament III to get expansion originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Suda 51's new horror game to use Unreal Engine 3

David Hinkle — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 11:48:00 EST

Filed under: News

Remember back when Mark Rein let loose somebody was working on Unreal Engine 3 for Wii? Well, we finally know what game will be using it, we guess. Kind of. We don't really know much about the exact game, per se. What game? The one that EA is publishing from Q Entertainment, Resident Evil co-creator Shinji Mikami and the man responsible for one of our most favorite Wii games, Suda51.

Suda says Unreal Engine 3 is a "powerful, easy-to-implement game engine" that is aiding his company to "quickly bring our vision to life." He also added that the "tools and technology" allow him to "create games faster, easier and with less risk." So are we excited? Well, maybe. It's not like the Wii version is mentioned and we would think it should be, considering no title up until now has utilized Unreal Engine 3 technology. But, hey, we'll try to be as optimistic as we can, because we feel confident in the abilities of all involved, to tell the truth.

Now if only we could some information on what this game is ...

Suda 51's new horror game to use Unreal Engine 3 originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 07 Oct 2008 11:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mark Rein: Epic seriously doesn't want to make Wii games

David Hinkle — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:45:00 EST

Filed under: News

People should probably stop asking them about it. Seriously. We think that's what Mark Rein wants.

But, people still keep doing it, the latest being an interview with GamesIndustry.biz. When asked about Wii development, Rein busted out his Fragalator 5000 and shot the possibility down into a heaping mess of blood and guts. "That's like asking a sculptor when he's going to start painting," he said. "That's just not our medium. That's not our area of expertise - our area of expertise is the more high-end consoles and things that push technology higher. That's what we do - there's a lot more water in that well for us, when that runs dry then maybe we'd have to think of doing something else but I don't think that well is going to run dry anytime soon."

Oh well, not like Unreal Tournament would be the same with Miis anyway ...

Mark Rein: Epic seriously doesn't want to make Wii games originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Study finds that Red beats Blue in online games

Richard Mitchell — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: News

According to a study recently published in the journal Cyberpsychology & Behavior, the eternal battle of Red vs Blue just got a little more interesting. According to the study, which analyzed matches of Unreal Tournament 2004, the red team is more likely to win than the blue team in online games. In fact, the red team won 55% of the time in the 1347 matches that were studied. We'd like to think it's because the Red team has Sarge leading them to victory, but according to Mihai Moldovan, a neuroscientist who worked on the study, the real reason is "most likely that the color red may act as a psychological distractor for men, possibly because men flush and turn red when they're angry."

When reached for comment, Epic VP Mark Rein stated that red and blue are an entrenched part of the Unreal Tournament series saying, "We don't anticipate any immediate changes to team colors."

[Thanks, Bowie. Via 7th Columnist]

Study finds that Red beats Blue in online games originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 12 Jun 2008 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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UT3 360 will have mods in some form

Terrence Stasse — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 14:15:00 EST

Filed under: News

Well, well, well, what do we have here? Mark Rein dropping more details of Unreal Tournament 3? First was the Gears 2 content tease, now the assumption that the 360 version wouldn't see mods whatsoever seems to be a thing of the past. In the same interview with OXM UK, Mark Rein said "We know some of these great mods are going to play a role on Xbox 360, even if we have to get some people and bring them over ourselves." "We'll figure it out."

Now while this is good news in that any form of mod on 360 now is good news, but it's nothing to get too excited about just yet. See, Mark Rein notes that the game will probably not ship with any sort of ability to exchange user created mods, but that Epic would have a solution at some point in the game's future. From the sound of things, and taking into account Microsoft's digital distribution system, UT3 360 will probably have some free (we would hope) DLC at some point in it's life that adds the best of the community-created content.

UT3 360 will have mods in some form originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 19 Apr 2008 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Split-screen unlikely to come to PS3 Unreal Tournament

Andrew Yoon — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 09:30:00 EST

Filed under: News

The tardy Xbox 360 version of Unreal Tournament III comes with a few features missing from the PS3 original. The most notable new feature is split-screen multiplayer. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like this will come as a downloadable patch any time soon. Epic's Mark Rein told videogamer.com "I don't think so, because this is what's in this (the Xbox 360 version) game. I think it would be a big job to go back and retrofit that game for split-screen. I just don't think we have the resources to do that unfortunately."

"We heard from the PS3 guys they really wanted split-screen. Maybe if we'd spent eight more months on the game like we have here," he added. Of course, the PS3 version of UT3 will still sport a key feature the Xbox 360 version will never see: unrestricted access to fan-created mods.

Split-screen unlikely to come to PS3 Unreal Tournament originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 19 Apr 2008 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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