Why does Epic hate the Unreal games? Is it because it reminds them
that they once were a quirky little upstart focused on making PC games
who once was interested in creating products people actually wanted?

Epic essentially killed the Unreal franchise last December, when it
unceremoniously shutdown a number of Unreal servers, and pulled all
the Unreal games from digital storefronts. "Unreal Tournament 4", of
course, had been similarly murdered in its sleep a few years earlier.
But then they relented, and there was a momentary bit of relief:
"Unreal Tournament 3", at least, would survive the purge, and in fact
would be made free-to-play (and no MTX either).

An offer which lasted all of six months before Epic decided to kill
the game again. Because it's no longer available, free or otherwise.*

Why does Epic hate Unreal? I get that arena shooters don't quite have
the cachet it once did, but it still has a lot of fans and -
especially with the recent rise of 'boomer shooter' popularity - it
probably could turn a profit. (Especially since Epic wouldn't have to
create a game engine from scratch ;-). Certainly there seems to be a
lot more call for a new Unreal game than there ever was for a new
digital storefront/game-launcher, and yet Epic is happy to lose
billions of dollars subsidizing the latter.

I guess Epic /really/ wants to be the next Valve; a company equally
not interested in making games but instead content with raking in
store-front profits and making hats for their decade-old games...

Me, I just want more Unreal.

----------------
* read more here
https://kotaku.com/unreal-tournament-3x-x-epic-cancelled-gog-pc-ut-steam-1850508737

On Wed, 07 Jun 2023 09:49:29 -0400, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action,
Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

>
>Why does Epic hate the Unreal games? Is it because it reminds them
>that they once were a quirky little upstart focused on making PC games
>who once was interested in creating products people actually wanted?
>
>Epic essentially killed the Unreal franchise last December, when it
>unceremoniously shutdown a number of Unreal servers, and pulled all
>the Unreal games from digital storefronts. "Unreal Tournament 4", of
>course, had been similarly murdered in its sleep a few years earlier.
>But then they relented, and there was a momentary bit of relief:
>"Unreal Tournament 3", at least, would survive the purge, and in fact
>would be made free-to-play (and no MTX either).
>
>An offer which lasted all of six months before Epic decided to kill
>the game again. Because it's no longer available, free or otherwise.*
>
>Why does Epic hate Unreal? I get that arena shooters don't quite have
>the cachet it once did, but it still has a lot of fans and -
>especially with the recent rise of 'boomer shooter' popularity - it
>probably could turn a profit. (Especially since Epic wouldn't have to
>create a game engine from scratch ;-). Certainly there seems to be a
>lot more call for a new Unreal game than there ever was for a new
>digital storefront/game-launcher, and yet Epic is happy to lose
>billions of dollars subsidizing the latter.
>
>I guess Epic /really/ wants to be the next Valve; a company equally
>not interested in making games but instead content with raking in
>store-front profits and making hats for their decade-old games...
>
>Me, I just want more Unreal.
>
More likely it competes with Fortnite. Don't play the old arena shooter,
this is the new arena shooter.

They probably saw their Fortnite subscriptions numbers drop
precipitously.*

--
Zag

No one ever said on their deathbed, 'Gee, I wish I had
spent more time alone with my computer.' ~Dan(i) Bunten

*Not really

On Wed, 07 Jun 2023 09:49:29 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson
<spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

>
>Why does Epic hate the Unreal games? Is it because it reminds them
>that they once were a quirky little upstart focused on making PC games
>who once was interested in creating products people actually wanted?
>
>Epic essentially killed the Unreal franchise last December, when it
>unceremoniously shutdown a number of Unreal servers, and pulled all
>the Unreal games from digital storefronts. "Unreal Tournament 4", of
>course, had been similarly murdered in its sleep a few years earlier.
>But then they relented, and there was a momentary bit of relief:
>"Unreal Tournament 3", at least, would survive the purge, and in fact
>would be made free-to-play (and no MTX either).
>
>An offer which lasted all of six months before Epic decided to kill
>the game again. Because it's no longer available, free or otherwise.*
>
>Why does Epic hate Unreal? I get that arena shooters don't quite have
>the cachet it once did, but it still has a lot of fans and -
>especially with the recent rise of 'boomer shooter' popularity - it
>probably could turn a profit. (Especially since Epic wouldn't have to
>create a game engine from scratch ;-). Certainly there seems to be a
>lot more call for a new Unreal game than there ever was for a new
>digital storefront/game-launcher, and yet Epic is happy to lose
>billions of dollars subsidizing the latter.
>
>I guess Epic /really/ wants to be the next Valve; a company equally
>not interested in making games but instead content with raking in
>store-front profits and making hats for their decade-old games...
>
>Me, I just want more Unreal.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>----------------
>* read more here
>https://kotaku.com/unreal-tournament-3x-x-epic-cancelled-gog-pc-ut-steam-1850508737

*--

UT2004 is my favorite game of all time and I still play it
occasionally with my brother. Still lots of servers, believe it or
not. Mostly bots but still a bunch of humans playing!

-pw

Amen. But this was something that started a boil long long ago even before UT2K3/4.

You hit the nail on the head with any guess of what their mission statement is these days. (Hint: I bet it's just a big plaque on the wall that says Fortnite) What's crazy is their Epic Games launcher has barely puttered by success wise against Valve and Blizzard. But somehow they are a far third in success with that launcher's games offering. I don't think I've opened it in years.

What has always grinded my gears with their treatment with the franchise is how they threw their hands up in the air on single player Unreal. That's something that, if committed and dedicated to, they could have continued regardless of the climate of PC gaming. The first Unreal and even Return to Na Pali were godsend games and, in my opinion, blew Doom and Quake out of the water, even multiplayer. Just a remarkable, captivating experience in audio and visuals. The scale still sends chills. I absolutely loved those games..

You know what else, Unreal 2 wasn't even that bad. It did fall into a lot of generic Sci-fi foxholes in story and pacing, but it did manage to recapture a little bit of the scale, mystique, exploration, and otherworldly presentation the original game had. And it looked really good for its time, as well. I was sort of shocked at the mediocre reception.

But again, you summed it up nicely is that they are playing copycat to Valve's model of monetization through a campy storefront, and doing it badly one might add.

If you visit the UT newsgroup I have a small discussion recently with another poster and a small fan company has a working master server of sorts for UT. Unfortunately every time I check there's maybe 2, 3 actual active player servers. The franchise really is a ghost, anymore.

>You know what else, Unreal 2 wasn't even that bad. It did fall into a lot
>of generic Sci-fi foxholes in story and pacing, but it >did manage to
>recapture a little bit of the scale, mystique, exploration, and
>otherworldly presentation the original game >had. And it looked really good
>for its time, as well. I was sort of shocked at the mediocre reception.

I also enjoyed U2 immensely. Learning each character's backstory, as I
explored the ship and talked to them, added a lot to my connection to them.
The couple of setpiece battles were interesting, and I was truly shocked at
the ending. This is a good game, and I'm still annoyed at not being able to
pick it up before it was wiped from the face of the earth.

rms