The Energon Pub

This Fall's highly anticipated Transformers: Fall of Cybertron will not be coming to the PC. High Moon's game director Matt Tieger recently spoke to gaming website Kotaku regarding why:

"Focus is one. I know that it's not a huge leap to do a PC SKU, but it is different. It's outside of our area of expertise, to be honest."

"I think there are a few things that are inherent in what PC consumers are looking for that frankly we didn't deliver good on."

"We were spread so thin that I feel like we barely served that audience. Then there were some issues with continued support that were frankly beyond our control, but at the same time did not create a great experience for PC gamers that got it."

The full article can be read by clicking here. Transformers: Fall of Cybertron will be available this Fall on Xbox 360 and PS3.

Figured as much. Oh well, I've been meaning to buy a PS3 anyway. Glad I started saving from November. Lol. I have several more months before the game comes out to get it all together.

But I dunno about technical issues, if they were referring to WFC. Ran pretty smoothly on my computer... my laptop hated it, but that's hardly surprising considering it's not meant for gaming. My PC was bought to run the likes of Autodesk Maya so it was pretty smooth there.

Not all that surprised, but a little disappointed. Running WFC at native 1080p at 60fps (with a hack) was a nice step up from the consoles. Oh well. Maybe it'll do really well and they'll decide to release a PC version in a year

What does he mean 'didn't deliver good on'?

Is this just a lame excuse not to port it to the PC, or is Hasbro and its associates just trying to anger its older-aged fan communities even more?

This sucks. I may have bought FOC for PC, but I'm exclusively PC, so consoles are out of the question. I'm not paying money to buy a console with out-of-whack controls and more expensive games. I'd rather spend that on TF figures themselves. (Or possibly third party figures, if TFs get any worse)

I mean, making a good game that's PC compatible isn't impossible. Look at Half-Life 2.

Here's to hoping they release the FoC game for NINTENDO. After making so many Transformer figure purchases, I do not have money left over for a new PS3.

C'mon FoC, light my darkest hour!

Flakmaster wrote:What does he mean 'didn't deliver good on'?

He meant "didnt deliver well on"

What!! what the hell!! NOOOOOOOOO!!

Damn I have to buy Xbox as soon as this game is out.

Heard about this from way back during Game Informer's month-long coverage of the game. Very old news.

The PC version for WFC sucked monkey nuts. I bought the console version and never looked back.

While slightly disappointed, I am not at all surprised. PC gamers got the shaft with WFC, no patches, no fixes, no DLC, no support and piss poor customer service. Never once were any of the many problems fixed. Any questions as to where the support was on PC on their Facebook page were deleted. Unacceptable in my opinion, even if I had not known that it was not coming to PC, I would've had a hard time convincing myself to go through this again. That being said, their excuses are poor for not releasing it on PC, and I don't believe it for a minute. PC ports are not hard to make, besides, games usually originate (originally or partially designed on) the PC. No, IMO, it just comes down to laziness or something equally as bad.

The console version was great. Don't know anything about the PC version, but I've heard there's almost no one playing it online anymore. Luckily there are still guys playing multiplayer WFC on the PS3. It's far better than CoD
Definitely gonna pre-order FoC!

I'm primarily a PC gamer but I bought WFC on PS3 and had no shame in doing so. There are many genres that PCs dominate over consoles (FPS, RTS, MMO) but sadly, 3rd person is not one of them. I don't think Uncharted or God of War would be as fun on PC as it is console. Granted, I could always plug in a controller into my PC but then I'm missing out on the tight percision and control only a mouse and keyboard can offer.

DAMMIT.

I do not own a console because I'm not a gamer. I played the previous game on my laptop with no complaints (either from the laptop or myself). I will *not* buy an XBOX or a PS3 just to play one damn game.

This sucks!!!! I rather prefer PC games to console games. The DLC I can do without. I just want the game. Letter writing time!

Lame. I have WfC on Ps3 and PC, and there only seems to be people on the PC one anymore. Console games come and go, and I have a feeling FoC will be lost among them.

Flakmaster wrote:This sucks. I may have bought FOC for PC, but I'm exclusively PC, so consoles are out of the question. I'm not paying money to buy a console with out-of-whack controls and more expensive games. I'd rather spend that on TF figures themselves.

Same here

Flakmaster wrote:I mean, making a good game that's PC compatible isn't impossible. Look at Half-Life 2.

Good point

Just sent this to them. To Prime theme, gets me inspired


I just read that you are not planning to release Transformers: Fall of Cybertron for the PC. I am very disappointed about this!! I purchased via preorder 2 copies of War for Cybertron for PC, and am still playing the campaigns and multiplayer. The game runs fantastic and I think its the best Transformers game ever made. As a PC gamer I missed out on the DLC, and I did not care at all, because it was such a fantastic game.

I would seriously reconsider your recent and poor decision. PC gamers make up a large portion of the gaming market, and not providing them with a copy of Fall of Cybertron is a poor financial decision. I do not and will not have the money to buy a new console for this game, and I would hate to miss out on what is going to be a fantastic game. Please reconsider this decision! Even if the PC version must come out later than the console releases that is fine. I patiently waited for the Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions game for PC, and I love it!!.

Again please reconsider. This is one customer you will lose if you do not.

Sincerely,

Disgruntled PC Gamer

Sabrblade wrote:Heard about this from way back during Game Informer's month-long coverage of the game. Very old news.

Perhaps, but I believe this is the first time they've really commented on why it's not coming to PC. As you can see from the responses this is news to many.

This is something I've learned to live with. MS and others who pretty much control the PC industry have been pushing PC's toward smaller, less powerful platforms and pushing gaming to the consoles.

Over time more and more titles will be going the same way as FoC. It's simply much easier to design and support a game that runs on specific hardware that doesn't change (that's what consoles are, computers without upgrades and specific hardware). PC's can vary with different CPU's, GPU's, HDD's, operating systems, drivers and the speed and capabilities of different hardware is all over the place.

I like PC's for gaming because I have some control over my experience. If I want the game to run better, I can upgrade my hardware. If I don't like the way a game runs or looks on my console, I'm SOL.

For a shooter, you just can't beat a keyboard and mouse (there's a reason MS doesn't allow PC players to play online against other gamers on XBox Live for games like Halo ).

Lame...Looks like I might have to convince my bro to buy it and let me play on his PS3. Other than that no dice.

NOTE: When I say elitist and simpleton, I'm not trying to label anyone, I'm stating how I feel we're being treated. Both PC and console gamers alike.

High Moon's Bitch Puppet Person, Debbie Downer wrote:Focus is one. I know that it's not a huge leap to do a PC SKU, but it is different. It's outside of our area of expertise, to be honest.

Translation:

"We don't actually care about PCs. They're for elitists, while consoles are for everyone. Consoles equal more money for us. Plus, we don't know how to use PCs."

So...let me get this straight... In the same breath he says they don't notice or pay attention to PCs, basically. Then...he says it's outside their capabilities, yet they've made ports to PC.

Gotta love the nonsensical double speak. Not even good at it.

High Moon's Bitch Puppet Person, Debbie Downer wrote:I think there are a few things that are inherent in what PC consumers are looking for that frankly we didn't deliver good on.

Translation:

"We actually did make a game for the PC, but those elitist bastards expected after the sales service, care, and respect! HOW DARE THEY! That takes time from us making profits off of screwing the simplistic console gamers."

High Moon's Bitch Puppet Person, Debbie Downer wrote:We were spread so thin that I feel like we barely served that audience. Then there were some issues with continued support that were frankly beyond our control, but at the same time did not create a great experience for PC gamers that got it.

Translation:

"We barely served that audience. They should like it and shut up. Continued support was NOT beyond our control, we just didn't give a damn. We made our money. We could've created a great PC experience, we just didn't want to. Yes, that remains true even knowing the fact that there were PC fans who wanted to give us their money. Look, we're trying to work and make money on the path of least resistance. I mean, seriously...you want us to actually work for a living and deliver a quality product?"

Ohh.... No, no, of course not. We don't wanna put you out after the majority of us spent $40.00 a pop to the tune of MILLIONS of dollars. No, we can't have you do that.

Ya ya ya, the real reason is because the money spent to work/test on PCs didn't nearly outweight the returns of making a game that wasn't going to make them money on that platform with all the torrenters and such... urgh.

WOW. Some of you guys are VERY acidic about this. So, here's my own translation. Hopefully you guys will be perhaps less miffed.

"Focus is one. I know that it's not a huge leap to do a PC SKU, but it is different. It's outside of our area of expertise, to be honest."

Do you know how many people are on High Moon's team, or what they train in? Without specific knowledge on this front we should take this at face value - some of you in the past have even said High Moon can't program their way out of a box (MP glitches, etc.) - this is them ADMITTING to their weaknesses. He's saying to make the game for PC, they're going to have to take time away from developing the project -hours and hours of training and then actual work porting- to get the game to be on par on PC as console.

"I think there are a few things that are inherent in what PC consumers are looking for that frankly we didn't deliver good on."

PC users of WfC complained (sorry I don't have any less negative connotative synonyms off the top of my head) about several things they didn't get that the consoles did, or that WfC didn't have that other PC ports typically do. He's admitting they didn't deliver on it for one reason or another, and this is now a reason as to why FoC will not be released on PC (it would be repeated). Be it because they can't, won't, or are just trying to tick you off. Take your choice of assuming a reason.

"We were spread so thin that I feel like we barely served that audience. Then there were some issues with continued support that were frankly beyond our control, but at the same time did not create a great experience for PC gamers that got it."

IE they put so much of their team into developing the PC port that WfC is not as good as they thought it was going to be. It detracted from what they thought they were capable of on the final game.

From these quotes it appears as though they have accounted developing a PC port too expensive to even bother to attempt. That is, with manpower, time, money, and any other resources that would otherwise be used to further develop the game, versus adding a port for a less polished game - breadth versus depth. This was my assumption when I heard about it ages ago. I see no point in them attempting it until they hire enough experienced new workers to devote to porting specifically for the pc. Otherwise Activision could certainly have another developer make a "Foc" for PC, similar to what publishers do for the other platforms (but it would likely be considered a waste of money, compared to making a ds game or wii game, etc.).


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And to anyone who is concerned with my own position on the matter, I'm two weeks shy of leading a group to deliver a demo on a UDK based game. We've had countless setbacks in implementing certain things that we had to train team members to do. Some of those, wasted hours due to finding out those features will not add to the game well. All the same, it's good for the individual's experience, but it detracts from our budget for the game. I know our game won't be what we initially hoped for due to not sticking to what my guys were trained to do.

Lastly, have any of us read the whole article/interview? I admit I didn't because I didn't feel the need. However, after reading the thread, I did want to respond to all the vitriolic comments on the matter, and hopefully present another light. Coming from the developer's perspective, I won't blame them for whatever compounded reasons that led to this decision. I'll deal and move on, though, no, I don't expect everyone else to.

And no I don't play Wfc on PC. I play Halo on PC. (and halo 2 on xbox, and wfc on Ps3...)

I can understand all that, but that does not excuse the piss poor customer service from them, especially Tieger. Deleting simple questions about PC support on facebook, just to pretend that there are no problems is unacceptable. It's almost FunPub levels of bad.

eh, so it's not coming to PC. No biggie ... just get someone to develop a real-time strategy TF game. That would simply blow any console game out of the water.