Epic Games president retiring
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Mike Capps handing over presidential duties and stepping into advisory role after 10 years with the company; will continue to serve on Epic board.
Epic Games president Mike Capps is retiring. The executive announced today in a blog post that after ten years with the company, he is handing over his presidential duties and transitioning into an advisory role at the Cary, North Carolina-based Gears of War studio. Capps will continue to serve on Epic Games' board of directors.
Capps said his retirement was due in part to the impending arrival of a baby boy he is having with his wife. He plans to be a stay-at-home-dad "for a while" and added that he does not have much planned.
"I might do some teaching, spend more time on creative writing, and maybe get more active with a few charities," Capps said.
Capps is not the first high-profile Epic Games staffer to leave the company recently. He follows former design director Cliff Bleszinski, who left the company in October after 20 years to "chart the next stage" of his career.
Additionally, over the summer, producer Rod Fergusson left to join the BioShock Infinite development team at Irrational Games; and shortly thereafter, People Can Fly creative director and co-owner Adrian Chmielarz jumped ship after Epic Games completed its acquisition of the Polish studio.
Though Epic Games has lost numerous veteran developers and executives of late, the company recently hired former LucasArts president Paul Meegan as its vice president of development. Capps said fans should not worry about his retirement having any adverse effect on Epic Games, as he believes Meegan (an Epic Games alum himself) and vice president of operations John Farnsworth "can manager development better than I ever did."
It does not appear that Capps' departure from Epic Games will have an impact on the company's endeavors, as a representative from the firm said, "all of our project plans are moving full steam ahead as planned."
Epic Games is currently collaborating with People Can Fly on Gears of War: Judgement and is also working on PC-exclusive game Fortnite. In addition, the company is developing its next-generation Unreal Engine 4 technology.
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
49 comments
Well, Mike Capps had a good run at Epic Games these past ten years. I wish you the best of luck with your family, and your future endeavors.
I know there might be a lot of changes taking place at Epic Games, but I'm sure they will be for the better. I am looking forward to seeing what the 4th Unreal Engine will be able to do!
If Epic Games is still hiring in the next couple of years, I will definitely put in a job app for a dev position.
"Keep Gaming, Gamers" -- Papa Arch Deluxe.
1 Like *looks at thumbnail* Damn, Bruce Whillis is working at Epic Games ?
*reads article" Oh, nevermind then.
They seemed to have "lost" a seemingly nice guy there, despite him not being much in the media (not a bad thiing though), but best wishes to the newborn and the newly gained homeoffice-work mentality.
Would've done the same thing - Family always comes first.
@bongsyas_23 seriously? Don't follow that kind of news really. Then there is more i would say.
4 Like Problems with THQ about to go bankrupt, people resigning... I don't like where this is going at all.
2 Like @RDavy22 @--T-Virus-- Nah dude,the Golden Age of gaming is coming,EA said. EA my ass
@RDavy22 @--T-Virus-- I'm not so sure. I think getting some new people with new ideas in upper management could be a good thing.
Another one bites the dust.All these people leaving there major post in video game company's making me nerves for the next generation.I think to myself, why don't they want to work on new hardware?has sony and ms changed something so drastic that they don't want to develop anymore?
As a long time gamer im worried to see all these changes happening so fast in the industry. It can only effect the quality of games we see as a consumer
Epic spent a lot of $ developing UE4. Wii U looks like it won't be running those games well (if at all). If PS4/Xbox 720 are not fast enough to handle UE4 games, or if development studios do not license UE4, Epic kinda bet the marbles on this engine to make them $. Maybe these guys know a lot more about the hardware for PS4/Xbox 720 and the propensity of game studios to be excited enough to want to spend that extra $ to license out UE4? If UE4 flops, they could be in trouble. They almost depend on PS4/Xbox 720 to be way more powerful so that UE4 can be adopted on a wider scale. Otherwise, this game engine could go the way of CryEngine where almost no one used it even though it did look pretty for this generation.
@BestJinjo So many games use Unreal that the console devs actually ask them for advice on how to make them work well together. I remember hearing that 360 was originally supposed to have 256mb of RAM but that was doubled because Epic wanted it for Gears.
They know plenty about next-gen hardware and they made the engine to be as scalable as possible. I doubt their new engine will be any less of a step up than the last ones. Although it seems like Frostbite 2 is actually giving them some real competition for once.
I just started playing Dishonored (UE3) and I'm really hoping Bethesda is at least seriously considering ditching Gamebryo or whatever variant they're using now. I never cared for that engine.
1 Like Seems like everyone is jumping ship. Most of the high end talent might be leaving as well, which may mean Epic might not be the same, or put out the same quality of work later on. If mos2000 is right that would suck. Oh well, I guess that's how the cookie crumbles. Still would be nice to see a Gears game make its way to the next Microsoft console.
5 Like There is a big time chinese gaming company that bought a lot of shares of epic. Immediately thereafter, people started jumping ship. For them to continue to tell us there's nothing behind the scenes causing this is a bunch of bs. They're only doing so to protect the value of the shares they've undoubtedly were offered after their departure.
Are they leaving because of the impending new generation? Will it be another massive rollercoaster which they can't quite face right now. Is it effectively signing up for another 5 year long slog?
Maybe they're thinking of skipping this coming generation and coming back to the industry once their batteries are recharged, and they're in a better position to choose which specific area of the gaming industry they'd like to work in.
Lots of new things happening out there - such as virtual reality. Maybe they'll return to more exciting areas once they mature.
On the Brightside, we might finally get Unreal 3 or UT2k14. With new people in charge, they might look back at what made the company successful.
This comment has been deleted
1 Like @SOKOLEK I am Italian.....ethnically at least, and the fact that 3 major players in Epic split right before a new Gears is coming out, a new engine is in the works, and the next gen of consoles is set to arrive raises some eyebrows. It's not a simple cash out, they are fleeing something.
1 Like @CEMETARY_GATESx @SOKOLEK Especially since Cliffy B seems to be in talks with other major game studios and visited many of them for interviews. If UE4 is not gaining traction or the major players expect it to be a flop unlike UE3, they might all be stuck making the next Gears of War game and that's not fun for these creative types. A lot of the same people don't want to make the same game over and over like the original guys who made COD. Maybe there are just no cool projects in the pipeline at Epic anymore besides UE4.
@SOKOLEK Terrible Business Plan. Let us know how it works out in two years via an EPIC article.
@SOKOLEK I don't think you should be so picky with customers, since you're just starting your business.
Nice attitude (sincere, not sarcastic). Good luck with your business. You may need not be quite so picky at times, but in principle I agree with you - you should work on projects and with clients that you'll enjoy working with.
4 Like Another one bites the dust. It's because the industry is becoming a greed driven gestapo. My interest in gaming is dying quickly with all these fee's and excessive DLC or nickle and diming....FAST. I'd retire too if I were these guys.
@DarthLod You can see where the industry is heading - a very bad place. At the rate they are going, most games will be a 5-10 hour campaign and then every 4 months a new DLC with new levels and content. Instead of designing a full game over 3-4 years like in the olden days, they are going to launch them every 1-2 and just milk DLCs. For example, in Far Cry 4 they could start with 2-3 islands and sell 1-2 more islands as DLC1 and DLC2. The original Goldeneye for N64 had 20 free multi-player maps......and a long-ass single-player campaign.
http://www.goldeneyeforever.com/goldeneye-n64-nintendo-64.php
@DarthLod You are right on the money! The way gaming is going is starting to lose me. Shallow, hollow SP experiences to mask a MP only game, make us buy a premium license, miss out on content depending upon which system you have, it's really gotten away from just buying a great game and playing it for awhile. I don't mind DLC that extends the SP story but the MP has lost me.
@DarthLod The guy wants to spend more time with his family. What the hell are you talking about??
1 Like With all the people leaving epic im starting to think no-one there wants their name associated with gears judgment.
@Jpr1zm It's a silly assumption but I can't help but to acknowledge my lowkey sense of agreement.
1 Like Wow. It sure seems a bit strange. Oh well as long as they keep making great stuff like Gears it'll be ok. Judgement looks great can't wait for this one.
??? No more Marcus Phoenix? Every generation a great franchise dies. First 'Battle Toads', then 'DKC', then 'battlefront', now 'Gears of War'
1 Like As long as Gears keeps pumping out fresh stuff unlike all the other repetitive franchises out there, I could care less
1 Like @sleepnsurf Haha have you seen Judgment? No wonder all the big names have left Epic.
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