Epic Games, developers of the Gears of War franchise, have announced their next big project: a new edition of Unreal Tournament. While Epic Games has always been responsible for the title, they have left it dormant for far too long. Development has officially begun with “a small team of UT veterans”. The official announcement has also made it clear that the new UT will be free for everyone.
Based on the Unreal Engine 4, the new UT will avoid the usual baggage that comes with free games. It will not use microtransactions, and Epic Games will attempt a new method of making money. Within the game will be a marketplace for modders and designers to sell their creations, where Epic will take a cut of the earnings.
Development of UT is also taking a highly open approach. All code and content is being uploaded to GitHub for fans of the game to look over; and Epic will also be providing updates through their forums and a Twitch stream.
There is no announcement for when the game will be finished, but Epic is saying that it will take many months to finish. Considering that building games takes closer to years, that statement is being very ambitious. Anyone who wants to join the project or just track its progress can check the official page.
