Pachter: Epic regrets signing Gears of War as exclusive with Microsoft
Michael Pachter recently made some interesting comments regarding the future of the Gears of War series. Currently the franchise is locked down by a contract between Microsoft and Epic Games.
According to Gametrailer’s Bonus Round feature, Michael Pachter was asked from a corporate perspective if the sequel to Gears of War will come to the PS3. Pachter indicated that most likely not as Microsoft probably has the sequel locked down on the Xbox 360 with a contract.
He also stated that Epic Games regrets signing the contract as the studio could have sold an additional 3 million to 4 million copies on the PS3 worldwide. Epic Games may regret signing the contract, but I know Microsoft sure doesn’t.
Geoff Keighley leading up to his question with Pachter stated, “I think Mass Effect 2 will eventually come out to the PS3, they just can’t announce it yet.†This is another rumor that has been swirling around the Web for quite some time. I suppose only time will tell what will eventually happen.
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64 Responses to “Pachter: Epic regrets signing Gears of War as exclusive with Microsoft”
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January 21st, 2010
Rockstar 2010 PS3 releases
http://www.playstationuniversity.com/rockstar-promises-big-things-to-ps3-owners-in-2010-2133/
January 22nd, 2010
The Gears of War series is a huge commercial success. Of course it was a mistake to sign that exclusivity deal. I’m pretty sure that the PS3 wouldn’t have held up anything besides the development time. Timed exclusivity would’ve been a great choice for Epic, but since it will never appear on the PS3, there’s tons of lost sales.
Of course, I don’t have a clue just how much Microsoft paid them. Probably carried their chairs around at the office and fed them grapes. They’d deserve that treatment, anyways. Where would the 360 be without having Gears of War? Not quite as big, I know that.
January 22nd, 2010
Wait, i’m confused. Did Epic say that, or Pachter? If Pachter said it, then he’s probably wrong, just like most of his predictions.
January 22nd, 2010
I know harry, I don’t know who was Epic, Pachter or Mike in that.
January 22nd, 2010
I knew this that’s why i keep posting this i knew an article was coming up LoL.
Mass Effect series updated will come to PLAYSTATION 3 is just a matter of timed Gears of War series also. Microsoft is trying to avoid that day and Sony is just waiting for it to come and destroy Xbox 360 entirely.
Sony has wage war against Microsoft and they about give Microsoft a major blow in their heart.
January 22nd, 2010
“I think Mass Effect 2 will eventually come out to the PS3, they just can’t announce it yet.â€
I think Resistance 3 and Ratchet and Clank will eventually come to 360, they just can’t announce it yet.
“Epic Games may regret signing the contract, but I know Microsoft sure doesn’t.”
Insomniac may regret signing the contract for PS3, but I know Sony sure doesn’t.
January 22nd, 2010
CarlB:
Sony owns everything Insomniac Games has made for PlayStation so they are not allow to touch that shit without the authority of the big dogs in Sony corp. Microsoft on their hand doesn’t have any rights like that just a soon to be expire contract. Also Sony is the one that markets and funds every exclusive they got also they own them all unlike Microsoft. In reality it looks like Sony had more money then Microsoft but that’s not the case they are just more committed.
CAD doesn’t like Mike now he’s not the only reporting this there’s a lot other major sites reporting this thing is just hard facts for Xbox owners well Xbox 360 owners.
Is just a matter of time until we see Mass Effect series on PS3 that will be the first for sure and the next one is Gears of War series this is a sure thing in everyone’s eye especially Epic Games the IP owners. They will never sell the IP and Microsoft will lose more then gain if they retry to get a longer contract extension which we all know they won’t get. Not in this entire lifespan.
That’s why we PlayStation owners don’t need to be panicking over our exclusive moving away since we own them %100 we got true EXCLUSIVES.
January 22nd, 2010
Oh that’s funny Carl B. One has to wonder if any Sony studio regrets signing a contract with Sony. Super long development times just so it can have lack luster sales. I highly doubt any Sony bought studio has made any profit developing for the PS3. There is my prediction for today.
One this is for sure Gears would never be as big as it is now had it not been for exclusivity. The extra marketing push through Microsoft’s agreement sure made it possible. Just look at Unreal Tournament multiplat and sells like shit. Being multiplay does not always pay off.
January 22nd, 2010
CarlB “I think Resistance 3 and Ratchet and Clank will eventually come to 360, they just can’t announce it yet”
I know you want to defend the 360 and all, but Resistance and Ratchet & Clank are both Sony’s IPs. and Insomniac has worked with Sony since the PS1 days so if they had regret it, they would have gone multiplatform long time ago.
CAD: “I highly doubt any Sony bought studio has made any profit developing for the PS3″
its funny when they made quotes like this without any knowledge on the subject. GT5 is the game that has the highest development cost on the PS3 (60 million)….GT5p sold 3.6 million copies and made 100 million in revenue. so GT5p alone covered the dev cost and made Sony and PD profit
January 22nd, 2010
@carlb
metal gear solid 4 and konami would have been a better example.
January 22nd, 2010
Oh thanks for deleting my comment. I know you couldn’t take critisim. Just delete the comment section why don’t you or simply leave Blorge since no one is allowed to comment on whatever Mike Ferro writes.
January 22nd, 2010
CAD:
Maybe is because you just a retarded moron who writes only bullshit. Every Sony exclusive have made profit already so shut the fuck up. Those companies we Sony love Sony especially Insomniac Games. The only reason they haven’t been bought by Sony is because they don’t want to be own but if they ever change their mind Sony would buy them in a heart bit.
Halo and Gears of War are the Xbox exclusive that you can brag LMFAO.
Xbotic are all jealous bitter trolls hating because Microsoft doesn’t show them enough love or support. We PlayStation owners are spoil in technology and games. We always get the best, well that’s because we are the best.
January 22nd, 2010
LOL who cares?
@CAD, grow up dude.
January 22nd, 2010
@CAD
Sony seems to buy these studios when they are practically no name studios. The acquisitions by Sony probably turns into a better deal for these studios anyway. (Like Bungie/MS relationship)
It’s not like at any point Sony bought a widely well known company like Rare or anything…..
What have they produced?
Perfect Dark: 1.3 million
Kameo…half million
Viva Pinata: 1.5 million
Viva 2: 300k
Evolutions (never heard of them) Motorstorm on the other hand sold 3.5 million and just under 1 million for the sequel.
January 22nd, 2010
from wiki about Rare:
“The company is notable for having created an unusually large number of successful games, and for the company’s price tag: Microsoft paid US$375 million for the company, a record for a video game developer.”
January 22nd, 2010
Wow I think I’m loseing it. It must be to early in the morning. What I thought was deleted is back again. Oh just forget it.
January 22nd, 2010
lol @ CAD.
gotta blame mike for everything huh?
January 22nd, 2010
@CAD
Theres two topics where first party companies were mentioned. It does get confusing at times.
January 22nd, 2010
Coulda woulda shoulda.
Dry your eyes, didn’t happen.
January 22nd, 2010
Well this is an argument we’ve been having since the dawn of time, but…
Sony owns 1st party studios. They invest money into the games, in exchange for ownership of the IPs created.
Microsoft owns a few studios, but general perfers to pay large sums of money to delay PS3 versions of multiplat games.
It’s simply a matter of a difference in company philosophy.
January 22nd, 2010
Bungie is no longer own by Microsoft in a couple years we might see Bungie making PS3 exclsuives or multiplaform.
Barnabe Jones:
Sony owns wholly owns all the exclusives on the PS3. Microsoft philosophy’s sucks. And most of Microsoft own studios like RARE make god awful games.
January 22nd, 2010
Remember E3 when that douchey MS guy touted FallOut 3 DLC as “only on 360″ when he very well knew it would be coming to the PS3?
Or how about the box art and commercials for Star Ocean, Tales of Vesperia, etc, etc clamming the games were “only on xbox 360″?
If that’s not flat out lying and false advertising… then IDK what is.
Ivan – Yeah, Rare’s glory days are over I’m afraid. It’s sad too because they have made some amazing games in the past. If they were smart, they would take a cue from Ratchet and Clank.
January 22nd, 2010
Barnabe Jones:
Only on Xbox is stupid it only works for Microsoft own IPs. Only on PlayStation is actually legit and real. Rare is a mess they make now the worst game of all times. Almost every Xbox 360 so called exclusive is on PS3 or at least going to be soon. Xbox is dying the culprit to blame is Microsoft own business stupidity.
January 22nd, 2010
I heard that Rare is making a Kinetic (wii fit) type Natal game.
January 22nd, 2010
http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/7/925207_71507_front.jpg
January 22nd, 2010
http://www.ps2vicio.com/imagenes1/PS2/EyeToy_Kinetic/EyeToy_Kinetic_2.jpg
is going to be so original and so much fun
January 22nd, 2010
That’s hilarious. Well it’s not the first time (Milo) Welcome to 1995 Rare.
It’s ok, Wii owners are stuck in 1995 with you also.
January 22nd, 2010
Damn the PS2 was years ahead.
Barnabe Jones:
So true. Xbox 360 is also a little bit behind in technology.
RARE should destroy no one buys or even cares for them they SUCK.
MAG
http://forums.mag.com/mag/board/message?board.id=generaldiscussion&thread.id=126175
January 22nd, 2010
Pachter is an “analyst” with a third party firm.
He has very seldom ever been right in any of his predictions yet somehow he’s suddenly credible speaking for a company he doesn’t work for….
brilliant.
January 22nd, 2010
Ivan – “So true. Xbox 360 is also a little bit behind in technology”
the rumor is that sony is moving it’s hardware away from the “cell” and design the ps4 hardware using a multicore architecture as the 360 does now.
if anything is “behind in technology” it’s the cell. otherwise sony would move to it for the ps4.
January 22nd, 2010
@Happy.
You’d be glad to know that Uncharted 2 won these awards from IGN (the overall is new)
Overall Game of the Year
Overall Best Action Game
Overall Award for Visual Excellence
Overall Award for Excellence in Sound
Overall Best Story
PS3 Game of the Year
PS3 Best Action Game
PS3 Award for Visual Excellence
PS3 Award for Excellence in Sound
PS3 Best Multiplayer
January 22nd, 2010
Demon’s Souls took GameSpot’s GOTY. It also took a few other awards.
h**p://www.gamespot.com/best-of/game-of-the-year/index.html
January 22nd, 2010
“Demon’s Souls took GameSpot’s GOTY. It also took a few other awards”
Awesome!
January 22nd, 2010
Yeah I know you’re at work, but the video they put together is pretty good. The guys there all go into detail about their experiences playing the game. I completely agree with everything they said.
One of my friends finally picked it up. I started a new character to play with him. He wants me to “help him out” with beating the game.
lol I’m not sure I’m ready to beat it AGAIN just yet.
January 22nd, 2010
I will watch the video when I get home.
WKC is in 10 days…the online mode is pretty good. you get rated for completing quest which means we might want to strive for perfection
January 22nd, 2010
Out for weekend guys…enjoy.
J……….E………..T……….S
JETS JETS JETS!!!!!!!!
January 22nd, 2010
Yeah UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves has millions of awards everyone worships that game everyone the game truly is amazing a true master piece that shouldn’t be miss by any real gamer.
January 22nd, 2010
You’ve gotta figure that Pachter makes claims like this to enjoy some kind of pseudo celeb. status.
January 22nd, 2010
SW:
LoL yeah he’s a total moron but this new shit he’s talking is true we all know it. The only fanboy at Epic Games that i think Cliff.
January 22nd, 2010
Roca,
Yeah I pre-ordered it. From what I’ve heard, the online is supposed to be kind similar to Monster Hunter. You meet up, do a quest that involves killing a target or gathering an item, and it’s timed.
Supposedly each online quest takes about an hour to complete. So just the online portion should take up a lot of time. The single player is around 20-30 hours or so also. And then there’s also the whole Georoma part.
January 22nd, 2010
phranctoast
….and so what?
That still ends up amounting to there being a minute difference between it and the rest.
Whooopey-do.
January 22nd, 2010
Yes, Ivan Uncharted 2 is a masterpiece. If you own a Ps3, everyone should definitely check this game out. Bayonetta is one of my favorite games so far.
Roca,
Hopefully, you will enjoy WKC. I know you are disappointed with the Final Fantasy debacle. At least, you still have some other good Ps3 games coming out.
Microsoft’s lack of ip’s is not good. Microsoft got Rare and they haven’t delivered. They do not own most of their exclusive titles so it is possible that some of the titles could end up on Ps3. Since both systems get multi-platform releases, it will be up to the exclusive titles to make a difference.
January 22nd, 2010
twilight:
“Microsoft’s lack of ip’s is not good. Microsoft got Rare and they haven’t delivered. They do not own most of their exclusive titles so it is possible that some of the titles could end up on Ps3. Since both systems get multi-platform releases, it will be up to the exclusive titles to make a difference.”
Yeah so true only Sony will prevail victorious in the end like always…
January 23rd, 2010
“Resistance and Ratchet & Clank are both Sony’s IPs”
My point exactly. If they hadn’t signed the contract with Sony they would be selling millions more on 360 in addition to or instead of PS3 and they would own the IP’s they developed themselves.
January 23rd, 2010
That’s exactly why multi-plat is the way to go. However, Sony owns the studios who made Resistance and R&C, do they not? I guess that if they own the game with more than a silly contract with a 3rd party developer, it’s theirs to keep.
Gears would sell good on PS3, and R&C would sell good on Xbox. Not as well as on their initial platforms, I don’t believe.
January 23rd, 2010
Sony does not own Insomniac and they never signed a contract to develop only on Playstation. That’s their own choice as they have stated many times. last time I heard they will be stay exclusive for the rest of this generation, they might go multiplatform next gen but R+C and Resistance will stay on Playstion.
@Twilight
the core “Rare team” split long time ago, most of them went to form Free Radical and just a few stayed with Rare, that is mainly why they haven’t deliver they way they are known for
January 23rd, 2010
Well, this explains it. Microsoft definetely has not received much fron their investment.
January 23rd, 2010
Roca.:
Thank you. Insomniac Games adores Sony because the way they are treated plus they are very close friends with Naughty Dog and Sucker Punch Productions and High Impact Games. Sony will one day own Insomniac Games. Sony buys talented visionary gaming companies when they start up because they are cheaper to buy and and will bring more profit they have never be wrong once.
Rare was better off with Nintendo. Microsoft can handle gaming companies unless they make Halo.
January 23rd, 2010
“they never signed a contract to develop only on Playstation.”
No, but they did sign a contract in 2002 with Sony for the R&C series to only be on Sony consoles.
January 23rd, 2010
“Well, this explains it. Microsoft definetely has not received much fron their investment.”
Well, that explains Microsoft having twice as many consoles AND software sales as Sony in the U.S. when the opposite was true last gen.
January 23rd, 2010
LMFAO Yeah okay sad Xbotic denial.
January 23rd, 2010
CarlB,
Your statement has nothing to do with Rare’s under performance. The fact is Microsoft invested money in Rare and Rare has not made very much money for Microsoft. It hasn’t hampered the performance of the Xbox360 but the games that Rare have released have been underwhelming to say the least.
January 24th, 2010
True, twilight. Rare has disappointed me this generation, and I don’t even know what they did all of the last gen. They were my favorite developers in the N64 era. Banjo, Donkey Kong, Conker’s, Goldeneye, and Perfect Dark.
I can’t see there ever being a 3rd (true) Banjo, and what ever happened to Donkey Kong? I loved that stuff. Ah well, the past is the past. All of those past gems are sitting in a cupboard, waiting for me to go back to them.
Microsoft needs to slap some fresh creativity back into them
January 24th, 2010
@twilight,
I absolutely agree. My statement has nothing to do with Rare’s underperformance. Epic on the other hand has done incredibly well with the games they have released (game quality + sales success + ROI for Microsoft and themselves), especially in comparison to Insomniac (quality is there, but sales & ROI pale in comparison per game) for the PS3.
January 25th, 2010
@CAD & Kev,
Your comments have been deleted that contain insults.
Say all you want about the source but I don’t see the point in attacking me.
January 25th, 2010
@ Mike: Them two and Ivan are the biggest kids on here lol
January 25th, 2010
Mike Ferro – no suprise you deleted my post. you do this whenever you’re proven to be a raging ps3 fanboy who will write *anything* that shows the 360 in a possible bad light.
if you don’t like being called a fanboy, stop writing like one. If you had waited just a little bit, you would have seen Epic’s response they have “no regrets”. But the fanboy in you just couldn’t wait to write this article as it can be taken anti-360 very easily.
want proof you’re a raging fnaboy? you still haven’t printed the response from Mark Rein/Epic…
i only call it like i see it. skewed “journalism” is *not* what this industry needs when people are ponying up hundreds of dollars in purchases.
It’s impossible to distinguish fact from fiction in your ramblings. A great injustice to gamers everywhere.
i fully expect you to delete this one too…..
January 25th, 2010
@Kev,
I’m a raging PS3 fanboy? I post the story as I see them. I’m not omnipotent and see everything across the Web as they happen.
I’ve been putting up an incredible amount of Xbox 360 game coverage lately so not sure what your complaining about.
And I can’t see how this story is even anti-360 when its clearly said by analysts and not by the studio. I didn’t even throw my opinion into the story. Its just straight forward.
January 25th, 2010
mike
dont listen to him, he is just pannicking coz they are about to lose an exclusive, i cant just picture the scene with kev. . . a big fat, ugly spotty stupid virgin fuck living in his parents basement with a blonde wig on his 360, crying and stroking the 360 and saying “no not another exclusive” whilst scoffing another donut down his neck. . . .
January 25th, 2010
No Mike, you’re not “a raging fanboy”, although you do have a certain writing style that has a clear slant; though the slant has decreased recently, it is still there, as with any writer. Writers sometimes follow up their stories when past ones they covered did not turn out to be true… this was written only four days ago, so I’m sure you haven’t had a chance yet, or didn’t even realize they made a direct public response to Pachter’s statement.
“I didn’t even throw my opinion into the story. Its just straight forward.”
As I’ve experienced here before, you can put up only straight quotes and their sources and people will directly relate it to you and your leanings, accusing you of being a fanboy… or worse.
January 25th, 2010
CarlB is on Kev sides…no wonder why he lets all Kev’s rants go but he can’t resist Ivan’s.
you also think Mike is a fanboy just because the wasnt anything news related on the 360 a while ago…he’s been writing about Mass Effect for 2 weeks straight now, he also wrote about the PS3 being Hacked. you guys just need to relax and dont let a simple online blog article get over your heads
January 25th, 2010
“As I’ve experienced here before, you can put up only straight quotes and their sources and people will directly relate it to you and your leanings, accusing you of being a fanboy… or worse.”
that’s not his fault, thats just people looking to always blame someone to justified their point of view
January 25th, 2010
“CarlB is on Kev side”
As Mike said in another thread, “I am not on anybody’s side here.” I’ve even come to your defense and disagreed with Kev and CAD in the recent past here.
“you also think Mike is a fanboy”
I never have called Mike a “fanboy” and never will because I don’t believe he is one, as you can read in my comment above. He has his own opinions just like you or I or anybody else. Sorry to disappoint. You need to relax and not let a simple comment online go to your head so much.
“that’s not his fault, thats just people looking to always blame someone to justified their point of view”
I never said it was “his fault”, only that I had experienced the same thing here. I totally agree with the conclusion though.
January 25th, 2010
Everyone has their console of choice, I admit mines the PS3 due to the fact it has a much better line up. The 360 is still amazing especially with the recent ME2 release.