Epic: We’ve “treasured” Microsoft partnership

Gears of War 3 executive producer Rod Fergusson has said that, while there are both pros and cons to being exclusive, Epic has “really treasured” their partnership with Microsoft on the Xbox 360 franchise.

Asked if they still get a buzz from working on exclusives, Fergusson told CVG last week: “Oh yeah, absolutely. There are a lot of benefits. There are pros and cons for being multiplatform and exclusive and one of the things I’ve really treasured out of this process has been our partnership with Microsoft.

“Exclusives allow us to focus and do the best that we can do on that particular platform, and we don’t have to worry about all the other stuff that you need to deal with.

“So when we look at our man power – the force that we can apply to a game – we can apply it in one direction which is great, because it allows us to fully take advantage of that.

“Microsoft’s been a great partner and I think success you have with a game comes down to the relationship between the developer and the publisher and having the publisher believe in it.”

Fergusson turned towards Epic’s recently released Bulletstorm, where the company partnered with mega-publisher Electronic Arts.

“Even Bulletstorm and launching a new IP… you can’t do that without the support of your publisher. I think that kind of thing has been really beneficial to us.”