http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/49146

Epic Confirms No Unreal Tournament 3 PC-to-PS3 Online; Other UT3 Details Shared

by Chris Remo Sep 26, 2007 7:01am CST

Much ado has been made about the potential presence of cross-platform play in Epic Games' upcoming multiplayer-heavy shooter Unreal Tournament 3 (PC, PS3, X360). The most likely compatible platforms have been PC and PlayStation 3, as the Xbox 360 version has taken a development backseat and the PS3's approach to network architecture is more conducive to the kind of freedom Epic would want for such a service. PS3, unlike Xbox 360, also supports mouse and keyboard controls, which would allow for a more potentially level playing field between users of the two platforms.

Still, in an IRC chat conducted yesterday featuring numerous members of Epic's UT3 team, Epic VP Mark Rein finally confirmed that the game will not feature cross-platform multiplayer--at least at launch.

"The biggest challenge in doing cross platform play is syncronizing [sic] the builds such that the build on the PC is 100% compatible with the build on the PS3," said Rein. "Unfortunately (or fortunately) when you [develop] games on console you have a lengthy certification process to go through each time you release anything new."

"We looked at how this would impact our ability to respond quickly to things happening at internet speed on the PC side of the equation and realized that this would not be in the best interests of our very loyal PC userbase," he went on, "because we would constantly be holding on to updates to wait until they passed cert on the console platform."

Rein was sure to note that the feature may see release later on, "after the game has settled down," but "even then the likelihood is small."

Sticking to Their Guns
"Our PC fanbase is of ultimate importance to us. They are our bread and butter," added Rein, possibly addressing post-Gears of War claims that Epic is now a console-focused studio. "We can't let them down or compromise their experience in any way to accomodate cross platform play."

Further addressing the subject later in the chat, Rein explained the heavy PR focus on the PS3 game. "We've been talking about the PS3 version a lot because the game is really something new for the PS3 customers and being able to do mods on consoles is pretty exciting to us," he said. "But we never forget that those mods COME from the PC community and the PC is still our lead platform for UT. So thanks for your continued [support]--you're going to see lots of cool things from us in return!"

Hmm...I was actually expecting there to be PS3/PC play. I probably wouldn't play PS3 players too much...but I figured the option would be there.

Oh well. It doesn't really make too much of a difference...they wouldn't have to worry as much about balance issues if each version was exclusive anyway.

It was never confirmed and this was expected.

PC lead platform? What a shock, considering where the fanbase was, is, and always will be.

I don't think any sane PS3 gamer would want to play this game against a PC gamer.... PS3 gamers would be schooled against the PC. What has prevailed here is common sense. PS3 gamers will want to play against fellow PS3 gamers not high end PC users so they can get schooled.

There isn't a lot of fun in just getting PWNED which is what would happen to PS3 gamers against the PC.

Kind of sad that cross platform play is out of the picture @ launch, would have been awesome. With PC's and PS3's UT 3 would have had a humongous online community and packed servers. Using my keyboard & mouse on my pc and my buddy driving vehicles on his six axis.

On a sidenote, it was nice to hear Epic reaffirm their vows to the PC gaming scene. 

You know the funny thing about this? The mods of course are going to be made using the PC version of UT3 with the latest patches and the PS3 will not be able to run the mods.

@twesterm,

The PS3 can run custom maps made by PC users though. At least, most of them I'd assume. I suppose a few maps won't work, considering the PS3 version starts with less maps, due to RAM I think we decided.

Maps are fine, mods not so much. They're generally made with a specific version and I'm pretty sure you have to have at least that version, though I suppose I could be wrong because I haven't fiddled with Unreal for a while.

Yeah this is going to mess up the PS3's access to mods unfortunately. Maps should still be mostly fine however.

Also, I sort of expect PS3 fans to go from "Sweet x-platform play!!" to "Bah who needs it anyways.". But honestly I think that feature was very cool and I see it as a feature lost to not just the PS3 but also to the PC version. Less people to play against is a bad thing no matter how you slice it and I hope they can sort this stuff out but it doesn't sound promising.

Seriously, PC fans were looking forward to playing console gamers and I am pretty sure the same was true on the other side of the things. Regardless of where the problem comes from it is still a lost feature to both versions of the game.

*files under "News No One Really Cares About"* :>

I really don't know a single PC gamer that wants to play against PS3 gamers.  That may because some of them are stuck-up uber "hardcore" PC gamers, or maybe just because there's already thousands of PC gamers to play with...an additional thousand or so PS3 gamers wouldn't really make a difference.