Epic has blamed piracy for its decision to switch development resource away from PC and onto console.
The studio's first Gears Of War game reached both PC and Xbox 360 back in 2007, but the sequel never came to the format.
The third game in the series - due for release in April next year - will also be an Xbox 360 exclusive.
"Piracy's already had its impact [on the PC market]," Epic boss Mike Capps told this month's Edge.
"If you walked into this place six years ago, Epic was a PC company and always had been. We did one PS2 launch title, which was a port of Unreal Tournament, and everything else was PC. And now, if you read our forums, people are saying: 'Why do you hate the PC? You're a console-only company.' And guess what? It's because the money's on console.
"We still do PC, we 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."
However, Capps added that things may be looking up for the PC market, as consumers play more in bite-sized chunks than marathon sessions.
"There's certainly a light for PC gaming...," he added. "Most publishers I'm speaking to right now think their money's going to be shifting back to PC and away from traditional consoles, just because folks are in that mode of wanting to spend a little bit of time every now and then, and paying money to save time because there's so much media competing for it.
"... So maybe Facebook will save PC gaming - but it's not going to look like Gears Of War."
Read the full interview with Capps in Edge 215, which is in stores now. Buy your copy of Edge online and have it delivered to your door.
Comments
31 comments so far...
runadumb on 18 May '10 said:
I would love to hear the sales figures for some of these big pc games that publishers and developers say are heavily pirated. Im not arguing I would just like to see if the sales are as bad as they let on.
The biggest problem facing PC gaming is all the crap that goes with it. They say "We need this to protect our products from piracy" and we say
"Yeah but you're making the end user experience so much worse so i'm not buying it" then they say
"Our game sold poorly on the PC due to piracy and gamers moving onto consoles" and we say
"NO! We really want your game we're just not buying it with all these restrictions"
The circle just continues
gils on 18 May '10 said:
^+1 for the above poster comments
totally agree with the vicious cirle comment..
Some ppl do pirate nowdays as the devs make a poor console port (MW2) so why would PC gamers want to buy that when they could try before they buy (as it were)
Iam not condoling piracy nor have i ever done it, like i said above vicious circle
Mogs on 18 May '10 said:
The money is on consoles eh?
Tell that to Valve. Still plenty of money to be made on PC if you know what you're doing.
c3dpo on 18 May '10 said:
^^ They make a killing of Console too though dude?
Anyway, I think the biggest thing hurting PC gaming is the continued need to buy this that and the other to get a game looking as it does on the back of the box.
I will pay for HW for the epic titles like Diablo, Rage etc but for your standard game I will buy on Xbox, and prefer the ease of use tbh.
RTS and MMO's will remain king on PC though IMO.
People I know, only pirate games that are not worth their shelf price and have no massive multi player appeal.
kimoak on 18 May '10 said:
Exactly! Valve popped into my head right away reading this article. I am becoming a bigger fan of Steam as time goes by.
Oh... and Q3A > UT
G00N3R on 18 May '10 said:
Well Epic's abandoning of the PC has killed my enthusiasm for their games, so that works out quite nicely tbh.
I was an 8 year veteran of the UT series, but UT3 was crap, GoWPC was crap and you could tell even then that even though they were still releasing stuff for PC, they didn't care about quality anymore. And they certainly don't support games after release in the way Valve do. TF2 is my online FPS of choice now.
And when "The Money" has returned to PC, and Epic come back with their tails between their legs and beg PC gamers for forgiveness ... I'll say "meh" and load up TF2 again.
(btw I also own a 360 so could get GoW2/3 if I cared to)
ChunkyMonkey on 18 May '10 said:
Shame these f**ktards have no idea that there is some exploits what aren't even got to do with End-Users pirating.
Face it, they would do either a s**t job of doing a game for the PC or their porting would be a s**t job, me as a PC Gamer won't support any ported b*****ks since its a cheap and quick buck and hence probably deserves to be pirated.
At the end of the day, I like to test the games which I'm going to invest in, so maybe introduce demos like Eidos did with their Just Cause 2.
And adding some kind of DRM onto games will probably provoke the pirates and give them more of a purpose to actually crack games, some smart ass developer is blacklisting pirates who download from Warez or Torrents and charging them to allow the wankers to remove their names from the series of blacklists on the internet.
Look at Ubisoft's DRM, it held a decent fight it had its advantages and took Skidrow to crack it a few months, so it did well but that team had even more of a purpose of cracking it, its like somebody gunning somebodies parent down that child will seek vengeance or a animal who is protecting its young it will motherf**king bite you if you prevoke it.
masterfragg on 18 May '10 said:
Simply put, piracy has killed PC gaming and it's totally true.
Personally I was a big hardcore anti-console tw@ at one point (Being honest) but when the PC games started to began to slack a bit I purchased a X360. Since then I've been waiting for the PC market to make a come back but with anti-consumer DRM's required to "protect" company profits it scares people off to a certain degree.
Personally, I say to hell with it companies should just drop the current DRM models. After all, they have ALL been defeated in most cases and will continue to be defeated (Except Valve games...And games developed for Steam in general can be tight)
So with that in mind you won't stop pirates you just hurt the honest consumer.
However companies don't see it like that after all it's all numbers and figures. But also another point.
My main example here will be GTAIV, it was a HORRIBLE port on PC and I actually returned the game the same day I purchased it.
I remember the guy at the shop saying to me "Are you sure you can run this mate? Because we won't take a return if your system don't meet the requirements" and I laughed at his remark lol
My system smoked that game yet I was getting very poor performance (Which btw NO reviewers mentioned which goes to show how bad reviewers are nowdays btw as it's an important factor in PC gaming)
With this sort of game. I say pirate the S**T out of it. Poor quality = rip that s**t off...
In otherwords.
Poor Quality deserves being f**ked
Sleepaphobic on 18 May '10 said:
Yup, most of these ports we get are disgraceful. If you don't bother to show a tutorial/prompts with a mouse/keyboard config but with the damn 360 buttons (even if mine is not connected) then what do you expect? I'm not saying Epic has done this but I can't say they have pumped out great stuff lately (unreal is old guys and has been for some time so maybe you should stop being lazy and try smthg new).
Scrap DRM and you'll be on the consumer's good side. There is really no point to it, Ubi's can be cracked by simply placing an .exe in the folder, exactly like any other crack so what's the point?
@c3dpo: Sure if you want to get it like on the box but if you want it to be comparable to a console then you can buy a PC for peanuts. The low-mid requirements hardly ever fluctuate like crazy but why is everyone so scared of PC gaming? Do they look at a 500 quid GPU and assume it's mandatory?
Fidel on 18 May '10 said:
valve, now the mighty pc giant. They seem to be doing well, although you could grant that to the great steam platform. Steam is good for PC Devs.
Munsen on 18 May '10 said:
Piracy is just as proliferant on consoles as it is on PC - only difference being everyone talks about PC piracy a lot more.
Wasn't MW2 pirated first on X360???
I agree with previous posts, Epic's game on PC are crap anyway, GoW and UT3 were shocking - not too bothered if they lean away from PC, thing is with PC gaming making a comeback thanks to Valve amongst others, Epic will will quickly make a U-turn and come back to PC gaming to be in on the action
runadumb on 18 May '10 said:
Interesting you say that because I had GTA4 on ps3 and then traded it in and bought the PC version (I never normally do that) which I thought was WAY better. Now the biggest joke was that I bought it through steam so to play it I had steam, GFWL and Rockstar social club all running. I will come back to that shortly but the game itself rocked on PC. If you had the 360 controller plugged in it would show those buttons but touch the keyboard or mouse and the controls would instantly switch. Perfect. Add in the much improved gfx and I just loved it. Maybe my Q6600 was a big help in getting smooth framerates compared to alot of other people. Quadcore paid off eventually
Anyway so back to the stupid part. How many people where put off knowing they had to run these 3 similar services while playing the game? Why did Rockstar feel the need to add their own goddamn service which runs constantly from when you boot your PC and which NEVER remembers the password. Its was there everytime I booted my PC asking me to log in, msconfig sorted that out but again this goes AGAINST your customers and makes for a worse experience. It's so backward.
Sorry for super long (logical) rant, it could have been much longer though, didn't even touch on Bioshock 2 haha
PS why do consoles get more demo's than PC? surely if any platform needs a demo the most it's the PC so people can see how it runs. Again, against the (potential) customer
gils on 18 May '10 said:
Valve/Steam = win for PC
They seem to be the only devs that care bout us..
Zero_Cool on 18 May '10 said:
Epic are dicks, there are forms of piracy for every medium out there.
Games get pirated on 360/Wii/DS/PSP/PS2/etc, so it definitely isn't only a "PC problem".
Epic should try thinking before opening their trap.
Zero_Cool on 18 May '10 said:
Nonsense, on-lookers have been saying PC gaming is dead for over a decade now.
Guess what? It's still here...
pRM8 on 18 May '10 said:
Epic: "Piracy has killed our enthusiasm for PC"
Well Epic, your buggy, poor excuse for a game you ported over to the PC killed my enthusiasm of spending money on your PC games. I agree with a few of the above posts, they have damaged the market by treating all PC gamers as pirates.
PC gaming is not dead, it has evolved.
If you cant evolve with the market and offer a good service along with it like Valve and some others have done then your not going to sell games too well.
Im not saying piracy isnt a problem but it isnt the problem. The sooner Epic and the others realize this and move with the times the money they will make from PC sales might just get better.
PS3_fannyboy on 18 May '10 said:
Epic reiterate exactly what I was saying in the PC forum only the other day...
Interestingly, I received a very hostile response and was petulantly told that the consoles suffer this problem equally badly (blatantly not the case!)
rivariad on 18 May '10 said:
xbox 360 is the second most pirated thing on the planet i believe, i may feel like buyin on pc for some games, but on xbox? never! cuz you feel like a prostitute who can never find the light again when you're banned from live.
Android8675 on 18 May '10 said:
Maybe if CliffyB released a game worth playing that wasn't full of suck we'd actually buy his games. I spent so much cash on PC gaming last year vs. other consoles, and I know I am not the only one. All Epic has to do is embrace digital sales like Steam and Direct2Drive, and not be such tight asses with their pricing. I'm sorry, but NO ONE likes paying $59.99 for a video game. PC users don't like spending $49.99, but hey, drop it to $39.99 and I guarantee you'll double your sales.
Forget Epic, Gears of War was an awful game, but if they release a PC version of that new one they got working on I might get it. It looks interesting. I just hate shooters on XBox, I save that for Street Fighter and Rock Band.
Android8675 on 18 May '10 said:
I like Valve, now with Mac support! (/waves to the nice Mac Lovers) See, we can all be happy together!
Valve... Discount a PC game to $2 and EVERYONE buys it. Everyone now owns the game legally, devs get their money, everyone is happy.
I picked up the complete Civ 4 pack for $10 last week! 4 games, 2 complete and 2 expansions for $10!!!! I don't play Civilization as much as I used too, but you can be damn sure I'm gonna kill at least one Saturday in the near future trying to nuke Ghandi... or maybe Khan.... KKKHHHAAANNNN!!
Oh, I'd just like to add that Valve is selling all their Sega games for $89.99. 29 games (Some expansions in there) including the Total War series, Virtual Tennis, etc. Normally $409, you save like $316! Talk about a deal.
http://store.steampowered.com/sub/4349/undefined
The_KFD_Case on 18 May '10 said:
@PS3_Fannyboy:
Your source of information on that count doesn't appear to know what it/he/she is talking about, and by virtue of that outcome neither do you. The Xbox 360 suffers from piracy. So does the Wii. Let's not forget the hand helds. In so far as I know it appears that the PS3 is currently the only platform that does not seem to experience heavy piracy. This may change in time if the claims of successful piracy by one fellow on the PS3 turn out to be accurate. Regardless, even if it doesn't the claim that the PC is the only platform with major piracy troubles is blatantly false.
That's okay though, the PC community is used to cry baby companies trying to blame anything and everything on piracy. World famine, ebola, endangered animal species, China's rise to power, auto-tune pop "songs", bad weather, hangovers, foot fungus, low self-esteem,spotty skin, World War III etc. - the usual stuff. If Epic doesn't want to make games for the PC platform that is its choice. It is also my choice to refuse ineffective, overbearing "anti-piracy" malware which does nothing for the legal customers but erode their rights and purchasing power while transferring it to greedy companies. It is my choice to refuse to only support console games and to reject poorly ported games from a console to the PC. In fact, if it gets to the point where I can no longer find any PC games I'm interested in and it's all only console games I think I'll stop purchasing any new games whatsoever even though I do own a console and I could easily purchase all the other current consoles as well if I wanted to. I do not however and I'm prepared to walk away from the gaming hobby scene altogether if companies keep trying to push me around as a customer.
PS3_fannyboy on 18 May '10 said:
Surely that would constitute an extreme example of cutting off your nose to spite your face?
The_KFD_Case on 18 May '10 said:
It might seem that way to some, however I do not consider it such. Why would I willingly settle for an inferior product that does not live up to my expectations and needs and still pay for it? Especially since there are other things I can spend those resources on instead.
The gaming companies may need to be reminded that what they offer is not an essential item. It is a luxury item and one that can quite easily have a line drawn through it as opposed to under it.
ted1138 on 18 May '10 said:
Anyone else here old enough to remember the Amiga? At one time it was the top selling gaming platform here, but over time PCs started to outperform it and began to take away sales from it. Publishers said it was piracy that was killing it, but there was far more pirated PC games changing hands at the time, but those publishers didn't care, they were making a fortune on their PC games and it only mattered on the Amiga because sales were down, and no matter what they tried there was nothing they could come up with to stop it(and they tried lots of very weird DRM type stuff too).
Seems what goes around comes around...
The_KFD_Case on 18 May '10 said:
Except the PC market isn't actually dying despite the shrill calls of various hacks for the past 10+ years. There were consoles and PCs back then. There are consoles and PCs now. All the figures tossed about regularly are practically useless since they do not effectively account for certain types of games and in particular - and this bit is important - games purchased digitally. I'm sure there are some whom would love to see the PC platform collapse; all I have to say to those individuals is that they'd best get used to disappointment.
Jensonjet on 19 May '10 said:
Unless I'm mistaken there isn't any way for a developer to know exactly how many sales they've missed out on due to piracy. I think the decision is pure economics. Even if piracy didn't exist I'm sure it was only a matter of time before a big developer moved over to making only console games. The industry knows how much profit comes from each platform. I'm sure this is just the start and more will follow in future.
It seems to be a good idea for Epic to give up on PC gaming too as so many people seem to hate their games or complain about DRM. DRM is now very much part of PC gaming. The industry's changed, and DRM is part and parcel of PC gaming. Refusing to buy games with it only reduces PC game sales more, ultimately speeding up the reduction of games.
Anyone suggesting Epic games are so bad they deserve to be pirated are only strengthening the argument that Epic are right to pull out.
Years ago when I used to game on the Mac (Bungie was an exclusive Mac game developer and Halo was destined to be a Mac-exclusive) PC gamers didn't understand why I used an overpriced machine that so few people owned (it was out of hatred for PCs plus I used the Mac for work)... one day I'll be asking the same question about PCs.
I wonder what will happen when consoles are capable of running MMORPG. I think PC gaming would shrink further if consoles allowed mouse and keyboards to be connected. It seems a logical progression, allowing people to have extremely cheap games/internet machines that are ideal for all game types or gamers control preferences. The next generation of consoles will probably further the platforms dominance.
ted1138 on 19 May '10 said:
Of course not, that's why video game shops are brimming with new PC titles, there's hardly any room these days to fit any of those silly little console games on the shelves for all the PC exclusive titles everywhere, published by PC exclusive developers.
runadumb on 19 May '10 said:
You fail to realise just how big steam has become. Other Digital Download services exist as well meaning that high street stores are losing out. But hey, why was the last time you bought a console game in a high street store? been a while i'd guess, much cheaper online
JoWoo on 19 May '10 said:
This makes no sense whatsoever. The most pirated game of 2008 was, that's right, Gears of War 2, which as we all know was an x360 exclusive.
All Epic are doing is denying themselves a bigger profit.
ted1138 on 19 May '10 said:
Online retail sales still count as retail sales, it's the online download sales that don't get counted by chart track, and as all good little PC gamers know, for every retail copy sold there are at least 200 download sales too.....
PS3_fannyboy on 20 May '10 said:
I can empathise actually!
No matter how hungry I was I would walk away from a restaurant who were rude or dismissive to me - this ain't all that different.
However, I think that it's a difficult one when you deny yourslef great pleasure through matters of principle. Ultimately, it is you that loses out and the davelopers won't even notice.
However, on the other tack if we all thought that way then revolutions never would happen...