Big Download Interview: Epic's Mark Rein on Chair Entertainment purchase

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Big Download Interview: Epic's Mark Rein on Chair Entertainment purchase

Posted May 21st 2008 2:00PM by John Callaham
Filed under: Features, Interviews

Cary, NC based Epic Games is unquestionably one of the biggest and most important game developers in the industry. Not only do they make best selling and acclaimed games like the Unreal and Unreal Tournament series and more recently Gears of War, their Unreal Engine game development tools continue to be licensed and used by nearly every major game publisher. On Tuesday, Epic expanded even further with the announcement that they were acquiring Chair Entertainment, the Utah-based developer that previous to the Epic purchase had released the Xbox Live Arcade Undertow. Big Download contacted Epic Games's Vice President Mark Rein soon after the announcement and he gave us a little more info on their latest business deal and how it will affect both Epic and Chair Entertainment.

First, how did the idea come about for Epic to purchase Chair? Did Epic come to Chair first or was it the other way around?

We have been continuously impressed with the work Chair has been doing, the talent in their studio and some of the new ideas they had brewing for future games so we approached them.

Why is this new purchase a good idea for both Epic and Chair?

This is a win-win situation for both companies. Chair has some pretty cool ideas for new IP that we would like to see made and they have some great people on board to help make it happen. They'll need more people for that and hopefully being backed by Epic will help them draw some great talent to their studio.

How will Chair Entertainment be run under Epic Games. Will Donald Mustard still have control over most aspects of Chair?

Ryan Holmes will continue to manage Chair working closely, as People Can Fly do, with Epic President, Mike Capps.

How will this new development affect the previously announced plans to make a game based on the "Battle Room" of Ender's Game?

We have not made any decisions around that.

How is the development of Empire proceeding in terms of the video game and movie properties and will Epic's purchase affect these plans?

We'll have news on that at a later time.

Is Chair working on any other upcoming titles and if so what hints can you give us about them at this time?

We have nothing to say about future projects at this point in time.

This is the second game developer Epic has purchased, the first being People Can Fly. Why is Epic purchasing developers rather than expanding their own Cary, NC offices?

This isn't an either-or situation. We continue to have many open job listings at Epic and we recently purchased another 4.9 acres of land beside our current office here in Raleigh so we could expand our studio. We continue to be looking for the best talent in the industry to come and join us and we continue to offer a great work environment and amazing compensation. This is a wonderful place to live and work and we invite people to visit www.epicgames.com and check out our job listings.

Finally is there anything else you wish to say about the new Chair-Epic deal?

No, we're good :)