Epic is no longer developing Unreal Tournament
The current version will continue to be available, but no further updates are expected
Epic has stopped active development of Unreal Tournament, the new version of the classic shooter announced in 2014.
According to Epic's Tim Sweeney, it may not be the final example of Epic dipping into its back-catalogue, but this version of Unreal Tournament will be playable only in its current state.
"Unreal Tournament remains available in the store but isn't actively developed," Sweeney said in an interview with Variety. "We've recently worked with GOG on making classic Epic Games titles available, and we're planning to bring more of them to the store in their original glory."
The lack of forward momentum on Unreal Tournament is an apparent consequence of the success of Fortnite. Back in September, an Unreal Engine developer told the game's community that development was on temporary hold due to the demands of working on the enormously popular battle royale title.
"Many of you have been asking for an update, but there isn't anything new to report at this time," the developer said. "The team is working super hard on Fortnite, so there aren't a lot of people to spare."
Yesterday, Epic revealed another possible consequence of Fortnite's success: a new storefront that will eclipse the industry standard with a 88/12 revenue share in favour of developers. You can read Tim Sweeney's comments on the new store here.