Good News and Bad for Unreal Fans

It all depends whether you're waiting for the PC or the PS3 version.

There's both good and bad news for twitch-shooter fans anxious to play the next instalment of Epic's Unreal Tournament series.

PC gamers can breathe a sigh of relief. Midway and Epic said on Thursday that the PC edition of Unreal Tournament III will be out across Europe on 23 November.

Previously Midway had been reluctant to say definitively that the game would be out before the end of the year.

The news is less pleasant for console owners. While Xbox 360 owners were always going to be forced to wait until next year, for the timed-exclusivity of the PlayStation 3 version to lapse, it appears that even PS3 owners may have to go without this Christmas.

Speaking with Kikizo at an event in Birmingham on Thursday, Epic's Mark Rein admitted that the game was running a couple weeks behind, adding that the team was very close to having the game done, and all that remains is for it to be tested and certified. We asked Rein if the game would arrive in Europe this year.

"Over here, probably not, because there's a longer certification process for Europe, obviously. There are so many different countries doing so many different languages."

He did say that the developer had sent a very recent version of the game in for an early look by the certifiers and it came back with very few comment.

"It's just hard to say right now because there are so many variables that aren't under our control."

For more on Unreal Tournament III, look for our full interview with Rein next week.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo