Zucker: PS3 Tech Issues Over, 'Ambitious Open-World Game' Coming Soon 2

Author: by Leigh Alexander, Staff

Elsewhere in the call following its results, Midway CEO David F. Zucker said the company has learned from the development process of Stranglehold and Unreal Tournament 3, and that the company's multiplatform releases would be more promptly synchronized going forward. He explained, regarding the issues with Midway titles being delayed on PS3: "For our first wave of next-gen games... lead development has been on the Xbox 360, due to its earlier introduction and larger installed base. We ran into some technical issues developing for the PlayStation 3 that have taken more time to finalize than we expected." Zucker continued: "These include... making sure that the framerate, networking, and graphical features are at parity between the platforms. We've also encountered challenges as a result of shipping two of the very first PS3 games using Epic's Unreal Engine 3." These titles are the now-shipped Stranglehold and the soon-to-ship Blacksite: Area 51. The Midway CEO concluded of the issues: "We do believe that these technical issues are now complete at a core level in our engine. Looking ahead to 2008, we expect the PS3 versions of our titles to ship day and date..." with the Xbox 360 and other SKUs. Additionally, Zucker said that the company's production plan regarding Sony exclusives and Epic's Midway-published Unreal Tournament 3 would not change, explaining: "Our expected product plan is to release a PC version of Unreal Tournament 3 this November, and a PS3 version as soon as it’s ready. At this point, we have not announced any timing for an Xbox 360 version of Unreal Tournament 3." Finally, elsewhere in the call, Zucker hinted at an "ambitious open-world game" from Midway, to be announced shortly, and said to be one of the highlights of their upcoming slate. However, no other information was given.