Epic to Leave PC Gaming and Thus Linux

[karth]

I dont think everyone of us who wants to play games can afford a console such as the Xbox 360 or PSX ...Plus I think games for consoles are expensive as compared to the PC. Arent they ?

In France, the prices are globally the same between PC and consoles, around 60 euros (88 dollars) for "big" games (such as ETQW or UT3, or CoD4, Assassin's Creed and so on)

[Vadi]

The last company to be blamed for Linux support is Epic.

Just look at how many games have Linux servers but not clients.

[matthewcraig]

That's a load of crap, they got slammed with legal issues due to middleware, it has nothing to do with not supporting linux. They are currently re-writing the client to fix those issues, it will be done when it is done.

I disagree. You have got to dig down deep in their website to see their software runs on Linux, at all. That support requires special downloads and the Linux support information is not even printed on their in-store box or manual. Most recently, they released Unreal 3 that people purchased expecting it would run on Linux, yet Epic made no press release cautioning their Linux customers of this fact. I believe it was one of their employees that made the announcement in an IRC chat room. Epic might eventually release a Linux client because of the work of one or two ambitious employees, but the organization as a whole has not been hugely enthusiastic about supporting the Linux operating system.

[Tom Mann]

Sounds like I bought my Wii just in time... Roll on No More Heroes!

[compiledkernel]

I disagree. You have got to dig down deep in their website to see their software runs on Linux, at all. That support requires special downloads and the Linux support information is not even printed on their in-store box or manual. Most recently, they released Unreal 3 that people purchased expecting it would run on Linux, yet Epic made no press release cautioning their Linux customers of this fact. I believe it was one of their employees that made the announcement in an IRC chat room. Epic might eventually release a Linux client because of the work of one or two ambitious employees, but the organization as a whole has not been hugely enthusiastic about supporting the Linux operating system.

I have to aggree with MWC on this. Unlike its predecessor (UT2k3 and 2k4) there was no native installer provided on the media bought. Likewise its my understanding that icculus was the one working on the client for Epic, so not even an Epic employee is developing the installer (and im not wholely sure that it was one on the 2k3 and 2k4 releases either). It is also my understanding that Icculus has been very vocal about the releases of the client/server and what it entails. Yes one could say its less timely than say ZW's releases for ID software releases (ETQW comes immediately to mind), but the fact remains pure and simple. I bought a copy of UT3, I expected a native installer, and low and behold I dont have one. That makes me a rather ticked off Epic customer. I would imagine anyone else would feel the same way.

[justin whitaker]

Yes the title is correct Epic the creaters of Unreal and Gears Of War plan to never again make any high budget PC games and focus exclusively on gaming consoles (with perhaps a few Ports now and again going to the Windows OS) on top this shocking news comes the rumor that Microsoft plans to purchase Epic, thus killing any chance of Linux/Mac games from Epic if the rumor is true.
Read More on the news of them getting out of PC gaming here

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=92707

Quote from the link

Sorry for the rough language but those were his actual words.
So another studio/developer leaves the PC arena to embrace the consoles because GoW sold more on console than the PC and i expect UT3 as well although from the reviews i have read UT3 compared to UT2k4 was not so good in terms of Multiplayer , since certain things were removed, but on the console where you never had a game like UT3 esp for the PS3 it must seem like a new and exciting game.
And if microsoft does indeed purchase them well hello Windows Live Vista Gaming only when or if they do a game for the PC.

Microsoft buying Epic is still only a rumor. They are in talks, but that does not mean it is a done deal. There's no compelling reason to buy Epic save they have a game engine that can be leveraged by other Microsoft technologies (DX10, XNA).

[Cresho]

WOW! We can all finaly move to linux and forget about microsoft in one shot. As it is, the only reason why I have a dual boot system is because of my world in conflict game(coming to console), unreal(going to console), and the gothic series(also going to console). No more excuses and we can all dive into linux today and play children's mindless games on consoles which never have meaning and attend to the tens of millions of no skill players playing on console games.

[FranMichaels]

<snip>The end of Windows gaming would be good for Linux.

I've never really thought of it before, but that is an excellent point. Really it would be better for any alternative OS's I think. I stick to consoles for gaming myself, and stayed away from PC gaming when it was all "first person shooter" stuff...
I was more into adventures and action during the golden age of PC gaming, and DOSBox handles them fine.

As for Epic, I never bought any of their newer stuff. I did support the older titles though, when they were known as Epic MegaGames. I registered Jill of the Jungle, Tyrian, and Epic Pinball (all availiable via Compuserve with crappy dial up [in my case] back in the day.)
Tim Sweeny's ZZT is great too, and is freeware. For those Free Software sticklers, this GPL'd software is inspired by it: MegaZeux

[matthewcraig]

.

[cor2y]

The Original UT2K4 shipped with its linux installer, however like the later special/platinum edition of Neverwinter Nights, the later special/goty editions of UT2K4 never did ship with a linux installer even though like NWN the box had a picture of a penguin on it and listed linux.

As for Epic i guess its certain now UT3 for nix was never a priority, it was never officially off the roster but its not something they were pushing the way they pushed UT2K4 as being a game that could be played across all Operating Systems (this was one of the first claims they made on the now defunct Screensavers TV show on TechTv) we just foolishly assumed what was true for UT2K4 would be true for UT3 and it probably was when the game was then UT2K7 before the name change.