Bad news for fans of twitch shooters – Unreal Tournament development is on hold as the majority of staff at Epic Games are currently focused on working on Fortnite.
Unreal Tournament is a name that’s well familiar to any gamer who’s been around the block. Heck, the franchise’s very first release is the reason that the Unreal Engine exists today. Unfortunately, it seems that Unreal Tournament development isn’t a priority for Epic Games these days.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney was able to discuss the status of Unreal Tournament development while he was in the midst of talking about the launch of the Epic Games Store. The explosive growth of Fortnite and the rollout for the Epic Games Store has meant that the studio’s modernized twitch shooter doesn’t have very many people working on it at the moment.
A comment from Unreal Tournament developer Flak on the game’s official forums had stated that development was on hold back in September of this year. Stating that the Epic Games team was “working super hard on Fortnite“, he indicated that the company just didn’t have enough people to go around for all of the projects they’re currently juggling. Unfortunately, he was unable to say if and when Unreal Tournament development would continue.
With the recent statement from Mr. Sweeney, fans of twitch shooters will likely be waiting a long time for their next fix – at least when it comes to what’s on offer from Epic Games. While Unreal Tournament development is on hold, we may nonetheless get a chance to play some of the other games in the franchise on the upcoming Epic Games Store or elsewhere. Mr. Sweeney has indicated that they’re working with GOG to bring more of its library to the store “in their original glory”, though it’s unclear which store he’s talking about.
It may be some time before we see anything new from Unreal Tournament. The folks at Epic Games might be able to circle back to it after things settle down or they hire some new staff. It’s not the greatest news, but we can at least take comfort in the fact that the game’s development hasn’t technically been canceled.
[via Variety]
