Midway: PS3 Tech Issues Over, 'Ambitious Open-World Game' Coming Soon

Midway CEO David F. Zucker today said the company has learned from the PLAYSTATION 3 development process of Stranglehold and Unreal Tournament 3, and that the company's multiplatform releases would be more closer to release than before.

He explained, regarding the issues with Midway titles being delayed on PLAYSTATION 3:

"For our first wave of next-gen games... lead development has been on the Xbox 360, due to its earlier introduction and larger installed base. We ran into some technical issues developing for the PlayStation 3 that have taken more time to finalize than we expected.

These include... making sure that the framerate, networking, and graphical features are at parity between the platforms. We've also encountered challenges as a result of shipping two of the very first PS3 games using Epic's Unreal Engine 3."

He is speaking of Stranglehold and BlackSite: Area 51. He finished:

"We do believe that these technical issues are now complete at a core level in our engine. Looking ahead to 2008, we expect the PS3 versions of our titles to ship day and date..."

Additionally, Zucker said that the company's production plan regarding Sony exclusives and Epic's Midway-published Unreal Tournament 3 would not change, explaining:

"Our expected product plan is to release a PC version of Unreal Tournament 3 this November, and a PLAYSTATION 3 version as soon as it’s ready. At this point, we have not announced any timing for an Xbox 360 version of Unreal Tournament 3."

Finally, elsewhere in the call, Zucker hinted at an "ambitious open-world game" from Midway, to be announced shortly, and said to be one of the highlights of their upcoming slate. However, no other information was given.

[Via Gamasutra]