Epic: “No regrets” with Microsoft over Gears exclusivity deal

Of course not. Just Patcher being prat as usual.

Another Patchter rumor debunked. He’s the friggin tabloid press of the gaming industry

I wouldn’t want Gears to hit the PS3. The system would choke on it for being so low on its data and outdated on its software use. Upgrade from Unreal engines please? Oh wait, nvm the DVDs are still using them.

Well there you have it. Case closed.

Pachter appears to have made this incorrect claim based on the assumption that multi-platform games are always going to sell about twice as much as exclusives. Therefore, Epic must be thinking about all those EXTRA millions that they ‘missed out’ on.

That’s not the case, since it’s blatantly not just a case of developing a game and then typing ‘work on PS3‘ on the Blu Ray and ‘work on 360‘ on the DVD.

Epic worked closely with MS on Gears, and apparently even got the 360 hardware changed so that it could look as amazing as they could get it to.

Lets be honest, a large part of the appeal of Gears was how it looked. Would it have looked as good without the MS/Epic exclusivity relationship? I seriously doubt it.

I’m not saying that Epic don’t want to touch the PS3, but they are a games developer, and they are more than capable of releasing other IPs on the PS3. So I don’t think that they would waste their time looking back and wishing that they could release Gears on PS3, when they are more likely to be more interested in coming up with something ‘new and improved’.

Someone should ask Pachter if he thinks that Valve “can’t wait” to go multi platform!

Yet when you three all see GOW3 or Uncharted 2…silence Lol

Patcher is usually wrong in most cases but this one i think hes kinda right but the thing is Epic cant look to M$ one of the biggest companies in the world to sound undeserving. OF COURSE they’d welcome a bigger fan base, and anyone who said otherwise is lying out there teeth. believe me.

With the amount of money lost from the fact it isnt on PS3 is astounding.. specially now.

When i hear 360 users say stuff like that they only do due to fanboyism but dont ever see the bigger picture. The world is bigger then just what console you deside to stick with.

Yet the mind set completely changes when its a game from PS3 stables that goes multiplatform… different story then right?

regrets, I’ve had a few…

no wait, I haven’t actually. I’ve made a fortune. Yay.

Pachter! always wrong.

Pachter = retard.

“Yet the mind set completely changes when its a game from PS3 stables that goes multiplatform… different story then right?”

It totally depends on the context.

Do you think that Media Molecule “regret” LBP being a PS3 exclusive?

Pachter says ‘Microsoft regret not making one big console with Sony.’

It’s coming. I bet ya!

Just to be clear Patcher didnt say Epic probably regretted having Gears 1 & 2 only on 360 but that he thinks they reget having its sequel yet again under contract by MS. He’s pretty much basing this off the fact that the franchise is already known and the 3rd being a multiplat wouldnt only sell a shit load on 360 (like the first 2) but also do some decent PS3 sales at the same time.
By the way Mark Rein worded what he said he either didnt understand this or just confirmed that Gears 3 is indeed already under an exclusive contract to MS.

Well, the ridiculousness of the statement all depends on when the contract was signed.

Before/during Gears, after Gears or after Gears 2.

If it was before/during Gears, which I doubt, then I still can’t see how Epic would regret the deal, since they hadn’t even sold a single copy yet and they can still be grateful for all the millions in marketing and dedicated development help, etc.

If it was after Gears, which is more likely (especially from MS’s point of view), then Epic went into it with their eyes wide open. They could see projections for 360 and PS3 sales and were in a much stronger position to look at their (then) record breaking IP and do what they wanted to do with it.

If it was after Gears 2, then Pachter is obviously taking utter nonsense, because that was such a relatively short time ago, and not all that much has changed in terms of how many extra copies they could sell on the PS3.

“If it was after Gears 2, then Pachter is obviously taking utter nonsense, because that was such a relatively short time ago, and not all that much has changed in terms of how many extra copies they could sell on the PS3.”

Sometime after Gears 2 there was a PS3 price drop and the Slim came out. PS3 sales pretty much exploded worldwide and it overtook the 360 in nearly ever region other then the US (where sales are starting to get pretty close), i wouldnt say ‘not all that much changed’. Even Pachter makes mention of that by pointing out PS3 numbers.

i wonder if pachter will respond in the comments of this thread to flame mark rein?

He’ll probably say at some point that what he said has been taken out of context, which is sort of true based off peoples comments and how they understood his claims.

Anyone with a brain could figure out that there was going to be a PS3 price drop. So this suggestion that no-one, or more specifically Epic, could see it coming is a bit silly to say the least.

Even so, are we now on the assertion that Epic were happy to go exclusive if they were only missing out on 1-2m copies, but now that they’re missing out on 3-4m, they regret it?

No matter what the increase in sales might be since Gears 2 came out, there was the potential for at least 1m in PS3 sales since the PS3 was first released.

So if they turned it down during Gears, after Gears or after Gears 2, they still knew what they would be losing in terms of sales and obviously decided to go exclusive anyway.

I’m sure that Epic don’t regret it. I’m sure that Valve don’t regret not working on PS3, and I’m sure that neither of them would describe themselves as being ‘unable to wait’ to develop for both consoles.

Like I said, there are benefits to the developer of working single platform, and all of them (developers) are different. Some will be happier on two, some on three, some on one, but to make a ‘catch all’ statement and say that no-one wants to go exclusive any more is clearly wide of the mark.

Lets grab our flaming torches folks, we got a wrong doer to chase down

Pachter’s comment sounds logical, but no one (not even the mighty Pachter) can accurately estimate how many copies Gears of War would sell if it was not x360 exclusive.

You see, I firmly believe that part of GoW retail success is *because* it was exclusive. That allowed Epic to concentrate on specific hardware and play to its strengths, improving their Unreal engine along the way.

Also, Microsoft used it as a showcase of what the x360 was capable of and threw all of its marketing weight behind it, which certainly didn’t hurt.

Finally, the game suited the infamous Xbox hardcore demographic, who lapped it up like the original Splinter Cell back in the day.

All the above contributed to establishing GoW as a successful and valuable new IP, which will probably run its course as a x360 exclusive during this generation. As for the next, only time will tell…

Marks best part of Gears 2 was the pay checque at the end, that checque would have been a lot bigger if it was multi plaform. He is lying if he says that dont mean out to him. Gears wont go multi platform as Microsoft cant afford it to as after Halo its thier only ip that does big business.

Wit a 3rd party exclusive you never truely know if it will stay on one console as its proved with Sony etc.

And you really think Epic will admit they regret it?

It wouldn’t be the first time a dev has come out and said something like that.

They won’t say that they regret it until they are not in a relationship with microsoft anymore.

So let me get this straight; of all the places Mark Rein could have responded to Michael Pachter’s comments, Neo Gaf, IGN, Gears of War forums, GameTrailers themselves who reached out for comment etc., he chose the forums of VG247.com?! Right.

Actually from the looks of things he’s been doing the rounds of pretty much every gaming site on the internets.

Wow Goliath, you really did get pwned! LOL!

Yeah. I’ll go post over a Joystiq where there AREN’T attributing anonymous comments in their comments section to the head of develpment studios.

Pretty much what Blerk said.

That said, Mark’s a pretty big fan of VG247 (from what I know anyways).

So dont be too surprised if you see him comment again.

Apparently getting owned only once is not enough…

If JC says that’s Mark Rein, that’s good enough for me.

Yeah, well I’m not as trusting. Google every article attributed to Mark Rein regarding Pachter’s comments and you get VG247 as the sole source for every article. This I do know, Microsoft DID try to nix the chainsaw melee in the orginal Gears of War, that’s a fact.

Source?

How do you know that for a fact? Are you Cliff Bleszinski?

I ask Mr. Cullen to use his journalistic skills to track down one Jeff Bell and ask him because I highly doubt he’ll be commenting in the comments section.

It’s on the special edition ‘Making of’ that came with Gears 1. Wether it was staged or not I don’t know, but it is the best making of documentary I have ever seen, flat out comedy drama from the get go.

Talking of devs posting on boards… there’s a discussion over at GAF which is about Cliff Bleszinski cockblocking some guy in a club. CB has posted in it a couple of times, though apparently him and the girl are just friends.

For a moment there i read that as “Cliff Bleszinski cockbiting some guy in a club”.

That’s yet to be confirmed.

/runs

Cliffy B you salty sea dog

@ Hunam

Cliff said it was not true and that it was done to add tension and drama for an MTV special but it was true. On the bonus disc for GOW1 Collector’s Edition they show the actual back & forth with Microsoft and Epic about inclusion of the chainsaw in the final game; including Cliff’s first time meeting with Bill Gates, taking a picture, and the priceless expression on Cliff’s face when Bill imposed a November 2006 release date for Gears of War, an 8 month window at the time. Jeff Bell worked directly for Peter Moore at the time and he can tell you that it is true.

@ Johnny Cullen : You do realise that this comment went all over the internet because you wrote “This is indeed Mark Rein – I can confirm that” ?

I hope we don’t get a press release one of these days from epic games saying “Mark didn’t make that comment” ^^

@ Goliath : We do know that Mark Rein has been lying about stuff in the past when it was convenient for the company to have him do so. It’s just business, he has to lie when it’s good for the face of the company from time to time.

I think that most people including the vg247 staff are taking this comment for what it is : the official response of the company, nothing more.