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[Zombie James]

Lock if old.

http://kotaku.com/5541266/epic-blames-pirates-for-console+first-development

If you were wondering why Epic made that switch, you only need to look to company president Mike Capps, who tells Edge magazine, "If you walked into [Epic's Offices] six years ago, Epic was a PC company. We did one PS2 launch title, and everything else was PC. And now, people are saying ‘Why do you hate the PC? You're a console-only company.'"

"And guess what?" says Capps, "It's because the money's on console."

"We still do PC, we still love the PC, but we already saw the impact of piracy: it killed a lot of great independent developers and completely changed our business model."

"So, maybe Facebook will save PC gaming, but it's not going to look like Gears of War."

Interesting words, given the fact EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Capcom, Lucasarts, Take-Two and THQ all publish quality, AAA games on the PC.

Guess you can't blame them, though I never recall hearing about an Epic PC game doing poorly because of piracy.

 

[Kobun Heat]

Whether they're right or not about piracy being the problem... the money is on console.

 

[Firestorm]

I thought the last game they made before Gears of War was super-successful.
I also thought that UT3 sold like shit on consoles and PC because it was a shit game.

I'm not going to deny that money is on consoles right now for the types of games they make, but piracy wasn't the problem with UT3 sales.

 

[Big One]

Yeah, I remember the days when the money was on the PC instead of the consol- oh...

 

[The Faceless Master]

so... Epic's PC games sold well, but they moved to Console because they saw small devs fail?

wait... what?

and :lol :lol :lol @ the shot at Facebook games.

 

[I NEED SCISSORS]

How about they change their business model to digital only. If they don't at least try it, they have no right to speak as far as i'm concerned. Plenty of other developers who have embraced platforms such as Steam are still finding success.

 

[markot]

Name one dev that was killed because of piracy.

Go on do it!

 

[Danthrax]

Except console games (PS3 excluded) get pirated, too, so..........

 

[Dead Man Typing]

They don't say that Unreal Tournament 3 didn't succeed due to piracy, or that any of their games suffered in a big way.

They're just saying that they could see the way the wind was blowing and made the smart move to follow the money on consoles. Which makes a lot of sense and has proven to be a wise decision for them.

I'm sure Gears 2 not being on PC is because Microsoft doesn't want it there, not because Epic is worried about pirates.

 

[dLMN8R]

They release Gears of War late, and Unreal Tournament 3 is a disappointment. Fuck them if they don't have the slightest bit of self criticality when it comes to how their games sell.


Console games obviously sell better, that's without question, but it's also without question that the quality of their own games and the dates on which they choose to release them are far more to blame.

 

[Grayman]

Don't take shots at "piracy" because the money is elsewhere.

The 360 has piracy too.

 

[Massa]

so... Epic's PC games sold well, but they moved to Console because they saw small devs fail?

wait... what?

and :lol :lol :lol @ the shot at Facebook games.

Yeah, I just hope no one tells him how much money Facebook games are making. If they do then Gears of War might look like a Facebook game after all!

 

[sevenchaos]

They release Gears of War late, and Unreal Tournament 3 is a disappointment. Fuck them if they don't have the slightest bit of self criticality when it comes to how their games sell.


Console games obviously sell better, that's without question, but it's also without question that the quality of their own games and the dates on which they choose to release them are far more to blame.

Hit the nail on the head right here.

 

[whitehawk]

Totally understandable, piracy is more prevalent than you may think. I remember there were some middle schoolers coming to my highschool for open-house. I overheard 2 of them talking about Modern Warfare 2. One of them just said he got it from isohunt.com or something, and suggested to his friend that he go there. I also have a few friends that pirate PC games. Of course, they all own their 360 games.

 

[Firestorm]

Totally understandable, piracy is more prevalent than you may think. I remember there were some middle schoolers coming to my highschool for open-house. I overheard 2 of them talking about Modern Warfare 2. One of them just said he got it from isohunt.com or something, and suggested to his friend that he go there. I also have a few friends that pirate PC games. Of course, they all own their 360 games.

Piracy is widespread but it's no more prevalent now than it was when they made their blockbuster PC titles.

 

[Mario]

How about they change their business model to digital only. If they don't at least try it, they have no right to speak as far as i'm concerned. Plenty of other developers who have embraced platforms such as Steam are still finding success.

Steam games get pirated too.

 

[Haly]

Didn't Bioware create Mass Effect 2 with a similar idea in mind?

Bleh! I don't want to be tired down to a console in the future

 

[firex]

I blame their games never standing out much at all on PC. They put themselves in a smaller pond (at the time) and got fat before other people jumped in.

 

[I NEED SCISSORS]

Steam games get pirated too.

Not nearly as much as conventional discs. Steam games are much more successful than games not releasing on Steam - i've seen the data.

 

[LiveFromKyoto]

Will there ever be a thread on this site that references piracy without the chorus chiming in saying piracy doesn't matter and there's a hidden agenda behind any criticism of it?

I'm going to say no.

 

[firehawk12]

You can't deny that they just make more money on consoles.

Which is fine, really. If there's a schism between PC and consoles like there was back when it was DOS/Windows vs NES/SNES/N64, all that means is that the PC will get games that are tailored to that platform. That means stuff like Starcraft 2 and Civ 5 and flight sims and indie games and whatnot.

Certainly for a company like Epic which makes manly jock-laden shooters, their audience is on the 360.

 

[Aaron]

Piracy is widespread but it's no more prevalent now than it was when they made their blockbuster PC titles.

I admit to pirating Doom when it was originally released, but I bought Doom II to make up for this sin. It was on an actual CD!

Yeah, this is bullshit. I'm sure a lot of people pirated UT3, played it once for five minutes, and never again. No one bought the game because it was shit, Epic.

 

[dLMN8R]

Totally understandable, piracy is more prevalent than you may think. I remember there were some middle schoolers coming to my highschool for open-house. I overheard 2 of them talking about Modern Warfare 2. One of them just said he got it from isohunt.com or something, and suggested to his friend that he go there. I also have a few friends that pirate PC games. Of course, they all own their 360 games.

ITT people think anecdotes mean more than endless examples of PC games with both simultaneous release dates to console games and quality PC versions selling well, without publishers bitching about piracy.


Tell me this - can you point out a single example, from the last decade, where a publisher bitched about piracy causing poor PC sales after releasing a quality PC version of a multi-platform game simultaneously with the console release?

-Oblivion
-Fallout 3
-Mass Effect
-Mass Effect 2
-Dragon Age
-Batman Arkham Asylum
-Every Valve game ever

The list goes on and on and on.


Release a quality PC game at the exact same time as the console game, and guess what - no more reason to bitch about piracy causing poor sales.

 

[dallow_bg]

Not nearly as much as conventional discs. Steam games are much more successful than games not releasing on Steam - i've seen the data.

And he's released games on Steam.

 

[a Master Ninja]

For some reason I'm more accepting of not releasing a PC version if the alternative is anti-piracy measures like the bullshit Ubisoft is doing. And now that I've read what I've just typed I feel like a crazy person.

 

[neorej]

So is Epic stealthly announcing PS3-exclusive development here?

 

[luka]

Piracy is widespread but it's no more prevalent now than it was when they made their blockbuster PC titles.

Don't copy that floppy!

 

[dLMN8R]

And he's released games on Steam.

Epic has one game on Steam that was released after they started console development.

That game was very disappointing compared to its predecessor. It was behind the times in terms of multiplayer design. It didn't bring anything new to the table that people actually wanted. Even the interface for the menu, server browser, and more was a huge step backwards from Unreal Tournament 2004.


Oh, and Unreal Tournament 3 didn't even come to Steam until more than a year after its original release.

 

[koji]

Oh man, please not this again.

1 copy pirated doesn't equal -1 sale...

Pretty interesting take on piracy (on the PC) from those guys who offered that humble bundle, if you're interested;

http://blog.wolfire.com/2010/05/Saving-a-penny----pirating-the-Humble-Indie-Bundle

http://blog.wolfire.com/2010/05/Another-view-of-game-piracy

 

[The Faceless Master]

For some reason I'm more accepting of not releasing a PC version if the alternative is anti-piracy measures like the bullshit Ubisoft is doing. And now that I've read what I've just typed I feel like a crazy person.

especially when it gets cracked anyway, and pirates now have the better version of the game.

 

[a Master Ninja]

especially when it gets cracked anyway, and pirates now have the better version of the game.

The very concept makes my blood boil.

 

[arstal]

Name one dev that was killed because of piracy.

Go on do it!

SNK.

That's said, they're pretty much the only one I can think of, and a unique case.

Epic can do what they want. As long as there is money to be made on the PC, someone will make money on the PC. It doesn't have to be Epic.

I just don't want the PC consolized.

 

[neorej]

especially when it gets cracked anyway, and pirates now have the better version of the game.

and the eventual Digital Download-version uses the very crack the pirates released :lol

 

[dallow_bg]

Epic has one game on Steam that was released after they started console development.

That game was very disappointing compared to its predecessor. It was behind the times in terms of multiplayer design. It didn't bring anything new to the table that people actually wanted. Even the interface for the menu, server browser, and more was a huge step backwards from Unreal Tournament 2004.


Oh, and Unreal Tournament 3 didn't even come to Steam until more than a year after its original release.

I'm talking about Mario and his company, the person they were replying to. Not Epic.

 

[Discotheque]

I'm sure I'll do fine without.

 

[Mush]

If devs are using this policy then why aren't all games exclusive to the PS3?

 

[I AM JOHN!]

I also thought that UT3 sold like shit on consoles and PC because it was a shit game.

Exactly what I was thinking.

 

[The Faceless Master]

and the eventual Digital Download-version uses the very crack the pirates released :lol

:lol :lol :lol

btw, isn't it copyright infringement if a publisher uses a crack coded by someone else?

 

[HK-47]

Piracy is overblown and a scapegoat for devs and pubs who dont want to address bigger problems that their games had. Internalize success (I got an A+) and externalize failure (My teacher gave me an F)

 

[The Faceless Master]

If devs are using this policy then why aren't all games exclusive to the PS3?

because people can pirate PS3 games?

 

[Mael]

Gotta love how they blame piracy for their shift in business model when it was actually money that made them shift :lol

I swear the more devs talk the more they sound like politicians now :lol

Spoiler

that's NOT a praise

 

[Zombie James]

because people can pirate PS3 games?

You can find and download PS3 game images, yes, but there's no way to play them.

 

[bhlaab]

I also have a few friends that pirate PC games. Of course, they all own their 360 games.

How many of them did they buy used?

Epic has one game on Steam that was released after they started console development.

That game was very disappointing compared to its predecessor. It was behind the times in terms of multiplayer design. It didn't bring anything new to the table that people actually wanted. Even the interface for the menu, server browser, and more was a huge step backwards from Unreal Tournament 2004.


Oh, and Unreal Tournament 3 didn't even come to Steam until more than a year after its original release.

And, if you recall, Valve put a sale on that actually managed to push UT3 better than Epic ever managed to. Thanks to Steam, UT3 actually made the charts about a year and a half after it was released.

 

[shintoki]

If you want to say the potential market is greater on Console. Sure, More so from Epic's recent offering, Gears. Which I do not mind at all. Actually, I quite like it how they made a franchise ground up for consoles. Similar to Unreal Championship 2. Then trying to shove Unreal on consoles ala Championship 1 or Unreal 3

But Epic also fucked up big with Unreal 3. They lost both the 99 and 2K series fanbase, and decided it was more important to get involved with system wars then actually putting out the damn game. So don't blame piracy for failing your own fanbase.

 

[wormstrangler]

and the eventual Digital Download-version uses the very crack the pirates released :lol

Did it really? Are we talking AC2?

 

[Fredescu]

Whether they're right or not about piracy being the problem... the money is on console.

Pretty much. Simplistic action games are always going to sell better on console.

 

[ElectricBlue187]

I know right remember UT2004? THat game sold like SHIT

oh wait

maybe if you made GOOD pc games...

 

[dLMN8R]

So, to summarize, Epic has released two games on PC since they started console development.


Gears of War was released a full year later on PC after the 360 version. Anyone who wanted to play it, had already played it.

Unreal Tournament 3 was a huge disappointment for die-hard fans of the series. It was by far my most reviled purchase of 2007. It sold like crap on both consoles and PC



So, what the hell legitimate evidence does Epic have about their own games that piracy is killing their PC sales?

 

[Sciz]

So they think the future of the PC game is Facebook now? Ugh.

As much as I still want a Jazz 3, I don't trust the company they've become to make it properly. It's understandable that they want to chase the biggest profits, sure, but the way they're so nonchalant about trashing the platform and people who made them in the first place makes my skin crawl.

 

[subversus]

I know right remember UT2004? THat game sold like SHIT

oh wait

maybe if you made GOOD pc games...

it's because torrents weren't in full rage until 2007.