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by Jeff Mattas, Oct 26, 2011 10:45pm PDTEpic Games' Mike Capps has revealed that Epic is already discussing the Unreal Engine 4 tech with hardware manufacturers, about sixteen so far, including console manufacturers. And while no one knows when the next generation will begin, Epic wants to make sure they're ready from the beginning.
"I want Unreal Engine 4 to be ready far earlier than UE3 was; not a year after the consoles are released," he said.
"I think a year from a console's launch is perfectly fine for releasing a game, but not for releasing new tech. We need to be there day one or very early. That's my primary focus."
Epic's "Samaritan" demo stunned viewers when it unveiled earlier this year. "It was just that no one knew what a next-generation game would look like – so that was our idea, to show people what we can achieve," Capps explained to Develop. "We believe what we've demonstrated is achievable at a reasonable development cost, so it's what gamers should be demanding for next generation."
"I think it's very important that a gamer sees an Xbox Next or PlayStation Next and can clearly see the tech is not possible on current consoles. Otherwise they won't be a success," he noted.
Capps also explained that Unreal Engine must also enable smaller titles and developers. "I would like to have a vertical solution – for our tech to be useful for mobile projects and triple-A projects," he said. Recently, the Unreal Engine has been powering a number of iOS games, notably Epic's own Infinity Blade. "In the past few years I think we've learned a lot about our technology and how it works for indie studios. How our tech works for iPhone games, for high-end triple-A studios and for a couple of guys who make a cool UDK game over the summer."
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Epic Games president Mike Capps talks about the strategies behind developing Unreal Engine 4, and how the company wants to be ready for the next-gen consoles on "day one."
Epic Games president Mike Capps talks about the strategies behind developing Unreal Engine 4, and how the company wants to be ready for the next-gen consoles on "day one." : Shacknews
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This is more of an apology for UE3's tech launch being a bit of a PR disaster:
Silicon Knights sued Epic for negligence in supporting UE3, claiming that Epic had prioritized Gears of War development over licensee engine support:
http://www.shacknews.com/article/48041/silicon-knights-serves-epic-games
http://www.shacknews.com/article/50928/subpoenas-served-to-multiple-unreal
That case is going to jury trial some time in the future: http://www.shacknews.com/article/67980/silicon-knights-vs-epic-games
There's also Midway, who jumped onto Unreal Engine 3 for a ton of its games, and ran into development and engine customization problems: http://weblogs.variety.com/the_cut_scene/2008/11/midway-what-wen.html
...which led to bad reviews and bad sales of many of those games, which led to Midway's bankruptcy.
Chris Remo also posted a blog entry in July 2007 on other developers talking about Unreal Engine 3 (but unfortunately the formatting was corrupted by NuShack): http://www.shacknews.com/article/48086/developers-on-unreal-engine-3
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