Epic doubles down NC campus

Gears of War developer reportedly purchases $1.57M, five-acre plot next to primary North Carolina headquarters to accommodate growing tester pool.

Since the launch of Gears of War in November 2006, Epic Games has been the game developer of the hour. A week scarcely goes by without a new company signing on to license Epic Games' popular game-development technology Unreal Engine 3, and in November Epic shipped Unreal Tournament III for the PC to a warm critical reception, with the similarly well-received PlayStation 3 version following shortly thereafter in December. An Xbox 360 version is expected later this year.

Success breeds expansion, and Epic is doing just that by doubling its Cary, North Carolina, operations, reports The News & Observer. Epic Games reportedly purchased a $1.57 million, five-acre plot next door to its 31,000-square-foot headquarters last month, with the intention of moving temporary testers sent by its games' publishers closer to its base of operations.

"The feedback loop is better," Rein told the News & Observer. "We can sit in a room and say, 'Hey, here's a bug I saw. Can you recreate this and tell me what you think is causing it?' They're constantly playing through the game and testing every little level, and it takes a lot of people to test a game properly."

Speaking to the News & Observer, Epic vice president Mark Rein said the company currently employees 94 people. Rein said Epic hires on average one employee a month, a trend he expects will continue for the next two years. In addition to continued development on its Unreal Engine technology, Epic is believed to be hard at work on the next Gears of War game, which Microsoft has said will be a trilogy.

60 Comments

  • Ninja_RaVeN

    Posted Mar 23, 2008 2:03 pm PT

    Gears of War was an awesome single player experience. I cant wait for the next one.

  • pimp95

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 9:40 am PT

    GOW KICKS ASS !!!!!!!!!!

  • wars45

    Posted Jan 19, 2008 6:21 am PT

    yes unreal is ace killzone 2 ace mg4 ace ps3 is god

  • FireNForget

    Posted Jan 17, 2008 9:49 am PT

    @Warrzone
    Alright, but,
    Warm: "having or giving out a MODERATE degree of heat". It's not how I would have described it.
    BTW, no need to be an @sshole about it.

  • Ravanofdarkness

    Posted Jan 17, 2008 6:07 am PT

    Well i hope Gears of War 2 comes out end of this Year or maybe next year its really one of those Games that makes the Xbox360 awesome. But this time i hope they put in a 4 Player Coop because at Gears of War i had friends that wanted too play with me real bad and take one of there friends with and it didnt work because it was only 2 player Coop so Double it and it will be awesome and make the online VS like 5 VS 5 should be enough.

  • harm0n1ca

    Posted Jan 17, 2008 2:14 am PT

    I thought the length of GOW was pretty good, the difficulty at the top end was on the fun side of challenging (not too easy not too hard for me!), gameplay was spot on, as was the bleak and sparce introductory storyline, and it's the only game apart from FF7 and the GTA series' that I've played through multiple times, and would still play through right now if I wasn't at work. More of that formula please Epic!

  • WARRZONE

    Posted Jan 16, 2008 7:42 pm PT

    FireNForget said:
    ""warm critical reception" [on PS3]??? Says who? Have you seen how many people are online? In terms of number of people online for the PS3 it's probably in the top 3 or 4."

    Are you retarded? Warm critical reception is a good thing. It means it was well received by the critics.

  • theboz11

    Posted Jan 16, 2008 3:29 pm PT

    The Game is a disaster of glitches and no load malfunctions for the PC. The Epic forum has over 1000 complaints about the overwhelming problems and no one from Epic has bothered to answer any of the posts with a solution or a patch to clear up the mess. If you plan to buy this game for your PC , Buy lotto tickets, you will get more out of them

  • FireNForget

    Posted Jan 16, 2008 3:25 pm PT

    "warm critical reception" [on PS3]??? Says who? Have you seen how many people are online? In terms of number of people online for the PS3 it's probably in the top 3 or 4.

  • normsta

    Posted Jan 16, 2008 11:11 am PT

    blah! i hope GOW 2 is a great game. the only problem is that they would have to acctually give it a story and make the single player longer then 5 hours of crap. blah

  • xTheExploited

    Posted Jan 16, 2008 11:07 am PT

    hopefully before the next gears, epic will give us a few more maps. For the next gears i dont care if they add anything new other then larger teams so more then 4v4.

  • roxythethegreat

    Posted Jan 16, 2008 9:57 am PT

    i GOW

  • joey4uncw

    Posted Jan 16, 2008 8:06 am PT

    Good news for Epic and gamers alike. It's also good for the Triangle. Hopefully they keep coming out with good games.

  • mrkame16

    Posted Jan 16, 2008 7:36 am PT

    we need gears updated i havent played that in months....COD4's my lastest addiction.

  • okassar

    Posted Jan 16, 2008 7:23 am PT

    That's a good thing,that means more testers for Gears of War 2,better progress,and, at the end, an overall fantastic game.Let's just hope Epic doesn't mess this up.Their challenge?Improve over the great first game AND stand out among COD4 and Halo 3.We need to see more innovation in multiplayer and a cooler campaign.

  • NeoNavarro

    Posted Jan 16, 2008 2:12 am PT

    I can't wait till we start to hear more information about Gears 2 I can't wait much longer!

  • agustbestur

    Posted Jan 16, 2008 1:58 am PT

    When will gow2 come out???

  • sinaps

    Posted Jan 16, 2008 1:39 am PT

    GOW "1" is great!!! few weapons, easy control (on PC) not many things to catch u're attention except the Locusts. What i'd like in GOW 2.... bigger maps, less linearity, more funny jokes between team members AND better optimization for PC!!! cheers

  • deathscythe999

    Posted Jan 15, 2008 11:06 pm PT

    Hopefully when they make Gears2 they won't be gay like Halo and make it take place 5 minutes after the last game ended and then add new vehicles, guns, enemies, and an ending that made as little sense as a Uwe Boll film.

  • DaBigTickett

    Posted Jan 15, 2008 11:05 pm PT

    The only thing that I cared about in that entire article was the link and statement that Epic is hard at work on Gears of War 2. They should also be hard at work on giving the 360 owners new maps.

  • stormwalkerx

    Posted Jan 15, 2008 10:45 pm PT

    A trilogy! so we are not killing locust queen in GoW2...?

  • godzillavskong

    Posted Jan 15, 2008 10:23 pm PT

    Sweet. I live in NC, about 75-95 miles from Raliegh. It would be nice to go see their studio, or maybe not

  • Merl57

    Posted Jan 15, 2008 9:42 pm PT

    OK if you do make games SUPPORT THEM. Gears of war 1+ year later, PC version, and still the game has bugs, cheaters, glitches, people getting stuck on geometry, statistics, achievements not tracking, kill stealing, disconnections, quitters, and the list goes on they really need to do that more hopefully this expansion will help.

  • mikep09

    Posted Jan 15, 2008 8:46 pm PT

    and we care ..why exactly?

  • Pete5506

    Posted Jan 15, 2008 8:46 pm PT

    I am still waitting for GEARS 2

  • funnysplay

    Posted Jan 15, 2008 6:48 pm PT

    I hope the upgrade a little on ut3 for the 360.

  • dandg23

    Posted Jan 15, 2008 6:15 pm PT

    do you guys know when will gears of war 2 be released

  • jaredcrazy3232

    Posted Jan 15, 2008 5:32 pm PT

    did u know they started in Canada.

  • garcia_jx

    Posted Jan 15, 2008 3:28 pm PT

    I want to hear important news, this is just lame. Don't they have anything better for us?

  • webdoom

    Posted Jan 15, 2008 3:21 pm PT

    with the ending of gears of war, they cant just leave it lol.. and there shouldnt be much more to do, story and maybe add different guns, the engine is there already

  • O-Sareoth

    Posted Jan 15, 2008 3:06 pm PT

    hey mason, i have no idea where u are looking exactly but it might have to do with alphabetical reasons not bias, because numbers generally come before letters so IF it says 360 that would explain why it is before ps3. but like i said i have no idea where u are looking. anyway i cant't wait for UT3 and GOW2 and thats what really matters. great games being released.

  • oshaun123

    Posted Jan 15, 2008 2:34 pm PT

    this is old news, everybody knew from the start that Gears of War was going to be a trilogy we were just waiting for Epic to announce it.

  • CMcCon342

    Posted Jan 15, 2008 2:19 pm PT

    Come on Epic, give us a taste of GeOW2, we're all hoping it comes out Holiday's 08, 2 years should be enough time to make a sequel on the same game engine. Just show us something so we can hope for Holiday 08.

  • vampiredust99

    Posted Jan 15, 2008 2:12 pm PT

    Good for them. But why do we need to hear such mundane news? I'm sure there are other important stories to report on.

  • ColdfireTrilogy

    Posted Jan 15, 2008 2:08 pm PT

    Now if only they wouldve done this for Unreal Tournament 3 .... I dont know maybe put some time into the game instead of giving us PC users a dumbed down game compared to UT2k4 with hardly any customization ... They really dropped the ball on UT3 ... we are still on patch 1.1 ....

  • MasterSandman

    Posted Jan 15, 2008 2:07 pm PT

    cool

  • pwilletts

    Posted Jan 15, 2008 1:53 pm PT

    Living only 2 hours from Cary I've got to see Epic's studio a lot and it is gigantic. By far one of the nicest buildings in the area.

  • SirFatalChaos

    Posted Jan 15, 2008 1:48 pm PT

    I'd be a good tester. Been glitching ever since SOCOM II!

  • ronnet

    Posted Jan 15, 2008 1:21 pm PT

    Mason-McGlasson, you can keep your conspiracy theroies, but you should know that people from both sides say those things. But maybe your right, then again Epic is bringing UT3 to 360 and 360 has GeOW, not to mention 360 has a bigger audience and more people are interested in seeing GeOW2 then UT3.

  • dentedskillet

    Posted Jan 15, 2008 1:20 pm PT

    Mason-McGlasson: I almost don't want to comment, because it might turn this into another console war, which I think there are enough of them already. Anyway, why are you so worried about that? It list them both. That is all that matters.

    If I have to put reasoning behind it, I would think that if they are biased, it is probably because there are currently more 360 users. They are probably trying to appeal to the most people possible. Anyway, let it go. Enjoy the games, and the good news. Don't worry about the negative.

    Also this is Gamespot the web site, not Gamestop the retailer. Being that both entities both make money on both systems, I doubt either can be too biased.

    Finally, before I get accused of being biased myself (which I am not), I have both systems, and enjoy them both in different ways. I don't have a Wii yet, and while I am not sure I ever will, but don't hate it or anyone else who does just because of that.

  • KillerFPS

    Posted Jan 15, 2008 1:02 pm PT

    Thats great now can you give us that extra Act on the 360 now Epic?

  • online-predator

    Posted Jan 15, 2008 12:57 pm PT

    i think gears 2 is going 2 be a good game and will be fun to play on my 360

  • DoomBringer2010

    Posted Jan 15, 2008 12:51 pm PT

    heck ya man i cant wait for gears 2 and UT3 for 360 it goin to be a great yr

  • Dunnie91

    Posted Jan 15, 2008 12:47 pm PT

    Making Gears of War better? Nice!

  • Shadow_Fire41

    Posted Jan 15, 2008 12:47 pm PT

    yay! gears of war 2!

  • Mason-McGlasson

    Posted Jan 15, 2008 12:37 pm PT

    notice in the corner there where it says related games. GameStop always puts 360 above ps3 where ever it can. even though UT3 is not even out on 360... little things like this show their biased side

  • ChuckNorris82

    Posted Jan 15, 2008 12:34 pm PT

    HOLLY HELL!!!!!! NICE!!!

  • JohnnyNeat

    Posted Jan 15, 2008 12:30 pm PT

    They should know having made Gears of War, aka Gears a Crapp'n. That game drove me to drink with how badly programmed and err bug checked it was. That game was a mess online and they showed how much they really cared about it by making it worse and then abandoning it. Going to air grievances on their forums was, no matter how respectably, like screaming for human rights around the Gestapo.

  • Betaslayer

    Posted Jan 15, 2008 12:21 pm PT

    this is bitter-sweet, EPIC make great games, yet at the same time they manage to be total jerks. I'll be happy though as long as we see GoW2 sometime in the near future.

  • mikegio58

    Posted Jan 15, 2008 12:16 pm PT

    Maybe with this expansion, they can FINALLY get some work done on a PC patch to fix GOW. AAARRRGGGHHHH!!!!!

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