Unreal Tournament 2007 to be PS3 launch title?
[UPDATE 2] Conflicting reports cast doubt on whether Epic Games' title will be one of the first shooters on Sony's next-gen console.
As part of its pre-E3 PlayStation 3 conference in May, Sony brought Epic Games cofounder Tim Sweeney on stage. Besides saying that Epic had already received a PS3 software-development kit--which he said was "easy to program"--Sweeney also performed a tech demo of a shooter running on PS3 hardware.
The game on display appeared to be Unreal Tournament 2007, the flashy-looking, Unreal Engine 3-based successor to the popular PC shooter Unreal Tournament 2004. However, neither Sony nor Epic would confirm when--or even if--UT 2007 would arrive on the PS3.
Seven months later, the two companies have broken their silence. The January 2006 issue of PSM Magazine proudly proclaims that, yes, UT 2007 is coming to the PlayStation 3. UT 2007 for PS3 is the second Epic shooter announced for next-generation consoles. However, the first, Gears of War for the Xbox 360, is slated for a general "2006" release date, meaning it could conceivably come out after the PS3 UT 2007.
[UPDATE] The PSM article also dates Unreal Tournament 2007's debut on the next-generation console. On page 32 of the magazine, it calls the game an "online, adrenaline-fueled PS3 launch title, to be exact." Currently, the platform is tentatively slated for a spring 2006 launch.
However, over the holiday break, reports began to surface that UT 2007 might not be a PS3 launch title after all. The reports stemmed from a post on the forums of publisher Atari, who was the publisher of the Unreal franchise until Epic's deal with Midway Games.
The post was written by the forum member, "War_Tourist," who claims to be an "Epic Producer" and links to the official Epic Games web site on this profile. "We're not scheduled to be a ps3 launch title," wrote War_Tourist, "not certain where those news sites are getting that from." The poster went on to say the game will come to PC first, and Epic will release a pre-release PC demo.
[UPDATE 2] PSM reps contacted by GameSpot said that editors for the magazine were "told personally" by both Midway and Epic reps that UT 2007 would be ready on or around the launch of the PS3. However, Midway, Epic, Sony Computer Entertainment America, or War_Tourist had not given an official statement regarding UT 2007's PS3 release plans as of press time.
For more on Unreal Tournament 2007, check out GameSpot's previous coverage of the PC version of the game.
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