Epic

Epic headlines

• EA defends its loot box systems to Parliament, calling them "surprise mechanics"

  During a session with the UK Parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport Committee, EA says that its randomized purchases are not loot boxes, but rather “surprise mechanics.”

• Fortnite adds new six-pack Chug Splash health pack in weekly update, adds new hide and seek mode

  Epic Games giveth, and Epic Games taketh away. Fortnite’s Battle Royale mode gets a new consumable health item in this week’s update, and other weapons are heading to the vault.

• Epic Games Store will block your account for buying too many games in quick succession

  Epic Games Store customers have run into a fairly unusual roadblock.

• Fortnite: Epic and Legendary Pump Shotguns coming to Battle Royale

  Two new shotguns are being added to Fortnite’s Battle Royale mode this week.

• After hours of downtime, Fortnite is left with ADS and building bugs

  Fortnite finally came back online last night, but it’s been left with a handful of bugs.

• The Gears of War movie has a writer

  The Gears of War screenplay will be written by Shane Salerno, who was recently a writer for Ghost Recon: Wildlands.

• Epic forums compromised by hackers

  Unreal Tournament developer Epic Games has had to shutter its forums.

• Unreal Engine 4 video demos the engines running at near-native speeds in Firefox

  Firefox has released a teaser video showing Epic’s Unreal Engine 4 running in the browser. The video shows a glimpse of Epic’s Soul demo and Swing Ninja running at near-native speeds in the browser without pesky plugins. Have a look at it in action below. Thanks, Engadget.

• Unreal Engine 4: majority of in-development titles are new IP, says Epic boss

  Unreal Engine 4 licensees are mostly working on brand new properties rather than sequels, Epic’s Mike Gamble has said.

• Gameloft and Fox announce Epic movie tie-in for mobile, tablets

  Gameloft and Fox Digital Entertainment have announced a game tie-in to Ice Age creator Blue Sky Studio’s upcoming animated film Epic. It’s heading to mobile and tablets soon.

• Epic marketing boss exits for Microsoft

  Yet another highly-placed staffer has left Epic Games.

• Mike Capps steps down from Epic advisory role

  Former Epic president Mike Capps, who retired to an advisory role late last year, has decided to step away from the the company altgoether.

• Epic's Tim Sweeney is "looking forward" to the digital future

  Epic Games’ Tim Sweeney has said he is “looking forward” to the digital future, where development budgets can be scaled and priced differently.

• Gears of War: Judgment's OverRun mode was inspired by MOBA titles, eSports

  Quinn DelHoyo, multiplayer lead on Gears of War: Judgment at Epic, has said the game’s team-based mode OverRun was specifically designed with eSports in mind.

• Epic expects next-gen game development to cost at least double the current rate

  Epic Games’ Chief Technology adviser Tim Sweeney has said he believes the company will be able to produce next-gen titles for double the cost accumulated at the start of this current generation.

• Make Something Unreal Live 2013 shortlist announced

  Epic Games has announced the shortlist of 12 teams which will progress into the next round of its Make Something Unreal Live 2013 competition.

• Gears of War: Judgment pre-orders start today

  Gears of War: Judgment pre-orders kickoff today at participating retailers, and customers can receive an exclusive in-game multiplayer weapon at launch: the Classic Hammerburst.

• Infinity Blade: Dungeons to miss 2012 release

  Infinity Blade: Dungeons has been pushed back from an expected release later this year.

• Gears of War: Judgment adds free-for-all multiplayer mode

  Gears of War: Judgment will add a new PvP multiplayer mode to the mix.