Epic: No New Retail Unreal Tournament For "Several Years"

[DoctorFinger]

Epic CEO Tim Sweeney has what may be considered bad news for fans of the Unreal Tournament series. You won't be seeing a new retail version of the game for quite some time.
"Unreal Tournament is certainly a major long-term priority but we're planning not to release a major retail game in the series for several years," Sweeney said. He commented that this move was to aid the company in focusing on "a few other initiatives."The key word in that statement is "retail." As we've seen the market no longer locked into the retail space. Epic could go the browser-based route, a la Battlefield: Heroes and Quake Live. They could go the mini game route, like Battlefield 1943. They could even do something completely different. But considering how popular UT3 is as a mod platform, we can be sure there will be a steady stream of content for it until the inevitable Unreal Tournament 4 arrives.

Source - Joystiq (http://www.joystiq.com/2009/07/24/epic-no-more-retail-unreal-tournament-releases-for-several-years/)

[Spectre-7]

Edit: Fixed. These aren't the droids we're looking for. You can go about your business. Move along.

[Hemalin]

So...Assault mode?

[CappinCanuck]

Good. They should have scrapped UT2k4 altogether and just brought out UT3 2 years earlier. No year by year (or LFD) BS.

[digitalErich]

Given the last release, it was pretty clear they didn't have enough new ideas to add to the franchise, anyway. Let it sit until you can come back with something strong.

[Widgetcraft]

Did anyone actually buy the last UT? I don't know anyone who did. Frankly, I think a break from the franchise is a good thing, as those games were really built on the playerbase's creative efforts, which were only stifled by the constant new releases.

[Telefrog]

Did anyone actually buy the last UT? I don't know anyone who did. Frankly, I think a break from the franchise is a good thing, as those games were really built on the playerbase's creative efforts, which were only stifled by the constant new releases.

Yes. I bought it. I like it, despite it's flaws.

[Panthera]

I bought it. When it was $5 on Steam. It's quite good, though the graphics don't scale very well. If you have less than the highest settings with AA, it looks like crap.

[RandoM51]

UT is like Madden, just instead of roster updates we need tech refreshes. I'd be happy with that, tech-refreshed UT every 2-3 years.

Fatman instagib LMS on Facing Worlds is still some of the most fun you'll find anywhere online.

[Xerxes]

I like how they patched in a campaign.

[CES]

Did anyone actually buy the last UT? I don't know anyone who did. Frankly, I think a break from the franchise is a good thing, as those games were really built on the playerbase's creative efforts, which were only stifled by the constant new releases.

UT3 is actually one of the better entries in the series and for me, the best since UT 99. Didn't hurt that it wasn't very expensive.

[Deadend]

Good. They should have scrapped UT2k4 altogether and just brought out UT3 2 years earlier. No year by year (or LFD) BS.

Yeah, but no.

2k3 and 2k4 was based under the idea that UT could become a yearly game like Madden and 2k4 was more like a content pack that added new gameplay modes.

UT3 was more of a tech update.

I am with Random on the UT sequels being more about upgrading tech and throwing in a new idea or two.

But I also thought UT2k4 was awesome and Onslaught was a great mode, as it was BF1942 + UT.

[jeffbax]

Good. They should have scrapped UT2k4 altogether and just brought out UT3 2 years earlier. No year by year (or LFD) BS.

2k4 was by far the best UT, and was the first that I thought had mechanics that could compete with Quake.

[Lint of Death]

I, too, feel that UT2004 is the best one in the series. Extraordinarily creative multiplayer missions, characters, vehicles, and great graphics and music. I would say UT3 has the coolest vehicles of any game I can think of, though.

[Xerxes]

I griped to know end about UT3, but in the end I really liked it. My friend grew tired of me detailing why the game should be more like Shadowrun. How much better teleporting is and such.

[H.Bogard]

Apparently even jumping boat to consoles can't save an outdated franchise sometimes.

[Xerxes]

Apparently even jumping boat to consoles can't save an outdated franchise sometimes.

That was the problem. I think I liked where the Unreal Championship series was heading actually. UT3 on consoles was like step back.

[Doogie2K]

I think the stuff they added with Black has finally made it a full-featured UT release, because out of the box, I was certainly disappointed that lots of stuff had been pulled with nothing added. As it stands now, I prefer it over the UT2 releases: I hated a lot of the future sport crap they did, plus I was terrible with the assault rifle and lightning gun, which they've since pulled in favour of the old weapons. And yeah, the campaign's kind of dumb -- Did UT need a story? Really? -- but it works well enough to teach people not familiar with the game or the new features of this year's model what's up. (I'd forgotten about the hoverboards on vehicle maps, which is actually a stroke of genius more MP shooters could learn from.)

That said, I do think stepping back might be a good thing. Get a sense of where MP shooters are going and try to get ahead of the game, instead of continuing to do what you do. I like UT3 just fine, but I understand that the world has moved on.

[JayK47]

I'm glad they are taking a step back from UT for a while. My favorite UT is still the original and none since have come close. Because I liked UT so much, I picked up UT2003. Wow, was that a mistake. Because of how crappy UT2003 was, I didn't pick up 2004 until it was $5. By then, people had moved on. And I picked up UT3 for $5 as well. I have hardly touched it. But it at least feels more like a UT game. I think with the success of Gears, they will no doubt stick to that until it has run its course, if that ever happens.