Epic Games: Unreal Tournament 3 could require authentication

Before all of you UT-heads bark “Nuh uh! Oh no he di-int!” we’d just like to say: yes he just did. Epic Games‘ president Michael Capps said in an interview with Games Industry that authentication for Unreal Tournament 3 is on their minds.

If he’s talking about the same authentication procedure for games like updated Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six: Raven Shield or (it bleeds us to even think of it) Microsoft’s Windows XP authentication mechanism, oh boy, are they in for a world of hurt.

Capps, in a passionate crusade against piracy in the PC games industry, said in the interview that the he respects services such as Steam to distribute digital content over to customers as an anti-piracy measure.

He even pointed out that World of Warcraft, Blizzard Entertainment and Vivendi’s cash cow, is successful (or more appropriately, “profitable”) because of two things: “it’s incredibly fun and everyone who’s playing for it is paying for it.” (*cough* trial accounts *cough*)

He also highlighted that server-based content and subscription based gaming are the most reliable ways to combating piracy in the PC industry. Although he did say that Unreal Tournament 3 is not going for Games for Windows Live exclusive (a day of happiness to all you PS3 UT-heads out there), he didn’t say anything to confirm or deny that Unreal Tournament 3 could be going for the Games for Windows subscription based mechanic.

But perhaps even bigger still is that Epic Games may no longer cater to the PC at all? Due to production costs and time invested to combating compatibility and performance, Epic Games has had trouble trying to keep the bottom of their ledger green for the most part. Piracy isn’t all that stands between the PC game developer and worthwhile profit. Concluding the interview, Capps said:

Beyond piracy, the next real issue for us is the range in performance between high- and low-end systems. Last generation, we had to deal with a really nasty difference between high- and low-end machines, with performance varying by as much as 10x. Now it’s a difference of 100x or more between high end graphics cards and crap Intel integrated graphics chips. Some companies can aim at the lowest common denominator, but as a technology-driven shooter company that’s not exactly a fit. We chose to aim at performance levels near the predominant consoles, which means we must cut ourselves off from a massive percentage of the PC market. So it’s that narrowing market share for high-end games, combined with piracy, that’s making the PC space so difficult for us right now.

Unfortunately for Capps and Epic Games, they’ve forgotten that bleeding edge FPS isn’t everything today. There’s a reason why people are still buying Unreal Tournament GOTYE, re-installing Quake 3 Arena, hounding TASpring or even waiting for forever-in-development Duke Nukem Forever: it’s all about the gameplay. Fan note to Epic: use brains, not the muscle.

Before all of you UT-heads bark “Nuh uh! Oh no he di-int!” we’d just like to say: yes he just did. Epic Games‘ president Michael Capps said in an interview with Games Industry that authentication for Unreal Tournament 3 is on their minds.

If he’s talking about the same authentication procedure for games like updated Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six: Raven Shield or (it bleeds us to even think of it) Microsoft’s Windows XP authentication mechanism, oh boy, are they in for a world of hurt.

Capps, in a passionate crusade against piracy in the PC games industry, said in the interview that the he respects services such as Steam to distribute digital content over to customers as an anti-piracy measure.

He even pointed out that World of Warcraft, Blizzard Entertainment and Vivendi’s cash cow, is successful (or more appropriately, “profitable”) because of two things: “it’s incredibly fun and everyone who’s playing for it is paying for it.” (*cough* trial accounts *cough*)

He also highlighted that server-based content and subscription based gaming are the most reliable ways to combating piracy in the PC industry. Although he did say that Unreal Tournament 3 is not going for Games for Windows Live exclusive (a day of happiness to all you PS3 UT-heads out there), he didn’t say anything to confirm or deny that Unreal Tournament 3 could be going for the Games for Windows subscription based mechanic.

But perhaps even bigger still is that Epic Games may no longer cater to the PC at all? Due to production costs and time invested to combating compatibility and performance, Epic Games has had trouble trying to keep the bottom of their ledger green for the most part. Piracy isn’t all that stands between the PC game developer and worthwhile profit. Concluding the interview, Capps said:

Beyond piracy, the next real issue for us is the range in performance between high- and low-end systems. Last generation, we had to deal with a really nasty difference between high- and low-end machines, with performance varying by as much as 10x. Now it’s a difference of 100x or more between high end graphics cards and crap Intel integrated graphics chips. Some companies can aim at the lowest common denominator, but as a technology-driven shooter company that’s not exactly a fit. We chose to aim at performance levels near the predominant consoles, which means we must cut ourselves off from a massive percentage of the PC market. So it’s that narrowing market share for high-end games, combined with piracy, that’s making the PC space so difficult for us right now.

Unfortunately for Capps and Epic Games, they’ve forgotten that bleeding edge FPS isn’t everything today. There’s a reason why people are still buying Unreal Tournament GOTYE, re-installing Quake 3 Arena, hounding TASpring or even waiting for forever-in-development Duke Nukem Forever: it’s all about the gameplay. Fan note to Epic: use brains, not the muscle.