Epic Games: No Plans for Wii

By Christopher Holzworth / Friday, 05 October 2007

Epic Games Vice President Mark Rein has gone on record stating that his studio will not be providing original middleware or graphical engines for Nintendo's Wii. "I don't think there's a lot of money on making engines for the Wii," said Rein during an interview with GameTrailers, "the big software dollars right now are being earned on Xbox 360 and they're going to be earned on PlayStation 3, and I think unless you're going to sell your engine to Nintendo, you're going for scraps on that platform." Epic Games Designer Cliffy Bleszinski noted the occurrence of talks between his studio and Nintendo last year. Rein's statements would seem to indicate that those talks did not bear a negotiation where development tools are concerned. Epic Games pioneered the Unreal Engine back in 1998 with the release of Unreal Tournament. Since then, developers have utilized a version of the graphical engine to create numerous games, including a slew of First Person Shooters, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, BioShock and Wii's very own Red Steel. In Epic's stead, other middleware companies such as Havok and Emergent Game Technologies have agreed to support Nintendo with their robust, pre-established software suites. Stay in touch with The Wiire for future news on the Wii's reception with game developers.