Movie Studio buys Epic Games - chances of Multi Plat dev increases exponentially

[Elandyll]

http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/10/...-tie-ins-ahead

Will those be good games though? The future will tell...

Legendary Pictures, the financing studio behind 300 and The Dark Knight, is set to acquire videogame developer Epic Games, which shipped over 5 million units of "Gears of War," Variety says. Good move. The two companies had already partnered to work on a movie based on Gears, set for 2010.

Why does the deal make sense?

First of all, Epic is an unusual gaming company: While a lot of its competitors see earnings spike and fall with their release schedule, Epic has a fairly steady cash flow from licensing its game engine to numerous other companies. That makes it a lot more attractive to any buyer, and provides a cushion against either creative burnout or a mass talent defection.

Secondly, just take a look at some of the movies Legendary will be producing over the next few years. These titles are begging to find life on the PS3 and Xbox.

Superman: Man of Steel (2011)
Clash of the Titans (2010)
Gears of War (2010) (already an Epic tie-in)
Untitled 300 Sequel (2010)
Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
The Hangover (2009)
Observe and Report (2009)
Watchmen (2009)
Kung Fu (2009)
Ninja Assassin (2009)

So rather than go looking for deals later with companies that may or may not be able to deliver (case in point: THQ's terrible "Wall-E" game), Legendary picks up a company with steady earnings and a proven track record in advance.

[Nerdkiller likes BD]

I wonder if this means if we'll be seeing Unreal Tournament: the movie sometime soon? That would be awful.

[jkwest]

They are also making the World of Warcraft movie....interesting....

[Blu-ray Fanatic]

I don't know about that. Most movies that are based on video games usually bomb.

[dk3dknight]

Originally Posted by Elandyll

http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/10/...-tie-ins-ahead

Will those be good games though? The future will tell...

This sounds more like bad news...

Originally Posted by http://www.ps3fanboy.com/2008/10/20/unreal-tournament-iii-to-get-expansion/

While nowhere as successful as Gears of War, Epic Games is working on an expansion to their multiplayer shooter, Unreal Tournament III. "We're working together on a major expansion that we expect will excite and grow our UT3 customer base," Epic Games' VP Mark Reins told Gamespot.

No other specifics were provided, such as release date or format (DLC? Expansion pack disc?). Considering the game debuted on the PS3, we're going to keep our eyes peeled for any more info.

If that affects this I will be very sad person

[Musashi]

Originally Posted by Blu-ray Fanatic

I don't know about that. Most movies that are based on video games usually bomb.

That hasn't been as true lately. Personal and reviewers opinions aside, Silent Hill and the Resident Evil Trilogy both made a lot of money.

[PS34EVER]

Originally Posted by Blu-ray Fanatic

I don't know about that. Most movies that are based on video games usually bomb.

I haven't seen it yet, but Max Payne looks pretty badass.

[Cyorg]

Originally Posted by jkwest

They are also making the World of Warcraft movie....interesting....

NERDS!!!

[zweet77]

Maybe gears of war will go multi platform

[Monkey]

What have they made aside from Gears and UT games?

Gears was a good rental and Gears 2 looks more of the same. UTIII was also another one I should have just rented.

[PA_Kid]

Originally Posted by Blu-ray Fanatic

I don't know about that. Most movies that are based on video games usually bomb.

And vise-versa, though I wonder if having a development studio internally that can be involved with the game pretty much on day 1 of the movie will help to change that. Still means that you're looking at a hard deadline (which is usually what screws most movie tie-in games), but probably a heck of a lot more lead time and much better information.

[dk3dknight]

Originally Posted by Monkey

What have they made aside from Gears and UT games?

Gears was a good rental and Gears 2 looks more of the same. UTIII was also another one I should have just rented.

They own one of the massively used engines, which makes them money off of licenses..

Oh and dont forget U, not UT but U that game defined a genera... sadly people like mp more then sp...

[pEgLeG]

Originally Posted by PA_Kid

And vise-versa, though I wonder if having a development studio internally that can be involved with the game pretty much on day 1 of the movie will help to change that. Still means that you're looking at a hard deadline (which is usually what screws most movie tie-in games), but probably a heck of a lot more lead time and much better information.

In general yeah, but has anyone ever played "The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay"? That game was pretty well done IMO. (Just an example to show that it can be done)

[SoCalTiger]

Originally Posted by Nerdkiller likes BD

I wonder if this means if we'll be seeing Unreal Tournament: the movie sometime soon? That would be awful.

It couldn't be any worse than Doom the movie. =)

[Monkey]

Originally Posted by dk3dknight

They own one of the massively used engines, which makes them money off of licenses..

Oh and dont forget U, not UT but U that game defined a genera... sadly people like mp more then sp...

True, good point on the engine being used. Personally I think there are better engines out there but it seems dev's like it so it must make them some good $$.

I've never played U but I agree, I wish there were more quality SP (or co-op) shooters out there like Resistance, Goldeneye, etc. Sounds like Far Cry is pretty sweet. I would have loved if UT3 had an actual campaign (not just training missions).

[Maximus]

Originally Posted by zweet77

Maybe gears of war will go multi platform

Gears 3 was always going to be multi-plat. MS only had a two game publishing deal with Epic, after that Epic will be free to align with any publisher of their choice (probably EA) and pursue any strategy they want.

For Gears 3 to be Xbox exclusive, it would take more that $80m from MS to tie it up, not even they are stupid enough to spend that kind of money on one game.

Just like GTA and DMC went multi-plat, all other third party games, barring a few, will be multi-plat.

[Xerios]

Paperboy.. the movie.. rofl

[dk3dknight]

Originally Posted by Monkey

True, good point on the engine being used. Personally I think there are better engines out there but it seems dev's like it so it must make them some good $$.

I've never played U but I agree, I wish there were more quality SP (or co-op) shooters out there like Resistance, Goldeneye, etc. Sounds like Far Cry is pretty sweet. I would have loved if UT3 had an actual campaign (not just training missions).

You would have liked the original Unreal it was nothing like ut, but UT is more popular then Unreal. Unreal had originally plopped in something similar to UT but that felt more like a add on to the single player campaign.. which allowed online co op...

How things have changed..

As far as I know the only engines worth a damn for licensing purposes would be Unreal, Source, and possible quake through its not used as often anymore.

Alot of people misunderstand what a engine does or connects a engine with a specific art style.

That is not true the texture artists the mappers the modderlers choose the style to go with.

An engine mearly processes the will of the creator, they all have there own unique advantages and disavantages.

Source has a stronger physics system as any item in the world can have actually weight and reacts accordingly. The engine also continues to advance moving forward.

Samples of games made in source: Half Life 2, Dark Messiah, Sin Episode 1, Vampire the Masquerade: Blood Lines.

Unreal engine has the advantage of now forcing users to write everything in C++ and allow the creation of small plugins which source does not.

Games Made in the various Unreal Engines: Deus Ex, Deus Ex The conspiracy, Advent Rising, America's Army, Linage2, Postal 2, All of the Splinter Cells, Army of Two, Bio Shock, Mirrors Edge, Rainbow Six Vegas 1 and 2.. very small sample.

Im going to bet some of you are surprised on what games were made in the Unreal engine, in fact perhaps even some of your favorite games of old or new are in the Unreal engine.