The Rise and Fall of Unreal Tournament

Footage thanks to:
• Sveriges television - "Dreamhack 1999"
• Epic MegaGames - Unreal 1997 Trailer
• Mika Tuomi - Making of Second Reality / Future Crew
• Cliffy B talking about Gears Of War (G4TV 2006)
• Game Invasion - Tim Sweeney, Mark Rein - Epic Game Interview, 2008

Wolfenstein 3D, Duke Nukem 3D, Quake. These seminal games rest at the forefront of the first-person shooter genre. All were instrumental to the genre’s birth and subsequent growth in one way or another. Although, there does exist one title of consequence that too often goes without mention—Epic’s Unreal.

In recent years, Unreal has exclusively been associated with the game engine of the same name. As such, its roots are either forgotten or wholly unknown to younger generations of gamers. But long before Epic began showcasing demos of its graphics engines on console hardware, the studio’s original group of staffers dreamt of creating the premier PC gaming engine and FPS experience. The crew achieved this and more upon unleashing Unreal and the Unreal Engine in 1998.

Unreal began as a serviceable shooter powered by inventive technology, but held back by lackluster network offerings. A spinoff in the form of Unreal Tournament saw the series blossom into a tour de force competitive shooter, whose DNA remains scattered across modernity’s popular multiplayer adventures. And yet there were instances where it appeared Epic had lost track of Unreal’s roots, as the series lapsed into a ghost of its former self that followed the herd instead of leading as destined.

This is the rise and fall of Unreal.

Or use the thanks button on YouTube to support our work!

Subscribe to GVMERS:

Follow GVMERS on Twitter:

Like GVMERS on Facebook:

Join the GVMERS Discord channel:

Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit:

[MartinGP_dfxlegacy]

When those games were deleted of the platform, I lost the faith in the industry :(. Those games are as important as Doom, Starcraft or Call of duty. Thanks for the video

[JustAFan]

One of the biggest crimes in gaming is what Epic has done to try to erase Unreal.

[CozyWizardVibes]

UT99 is one of the best games ever made. I still boot it up once a year around the holidays and do a full single-player Tournament run. Incredible vibes.

[MisterNightfish]

Everything else aside, the announcer from Unreal Tournament remains my absolute favourite.

[mortemtyrannus]

This was a difficult video for me. When I was a kid, we had Unreal Gold and UT99's GOTY edition on PC. Me, my sister and my dad used to play both of them all the time. I still remember playing Hydro and Facing Worlds, and him just sitting there in the tower, sniping away at the bots. At the time, my sister and I, we couldn't finish either game. It was my dad who beat the Skaarj queen at the end of Unreal, my dad who beat the Skaarj Warlord at the end of Return to Na Pali, and my dad who, after god knows how many tries, finally beat Xan and won the Tournament. A decade later, UT3 comes out, and I manage to save up enough money to buy it on the 360. Same thing happens, but now, we're not taking turns, we're actually playing it, two of us at once, the way we would've liked to have played the original all those years ago. Sure, age had caught up with him, and his reactions weren't as quick as they were when we were kids, but dad still jumped in and joined us whenever he could, up until he reached the point where the game was just too fast-paced for him and he couldn't keep up at all.

Cancer took him, New Years Eve last year. I lost those original disks long ago, but luckily I managed to pick up the full series before Epic delisted them. I think I'm going to go see if I can remember his favourite character and play through the original, just as a reminder of better times. Thanks for bringing back memories I'd almost forgotten.

[avozsaj]

GVMERS casually breaking my heart with that title

[emaheiwa]

I used to play Unreal Tournament while listening Fear Factory and NIN... Good Times 😎

[DarkStryder]

Such great memories of Unreal Tournament GOTY Edition. Back in Secondary School, loads of us would play LAN in the "Tech" room after school hours.

CTF while Sniping on Facing Worlds was my jam!

Cannot capture that same experience playing online, with a headset. I miss UT!

[MrDilkington]

I'll say it over and over again..
Unreal Tournament 2004 offline with bots in 2024 is more fun than 99% of modern FPS games

[juliomonk]

Unreal Tournament 99 is still the greatest arena FPS of all time. The spectacular music, iconic maps and amazing AI provides such a unique experience. It's a shame that Epic delisted the game everywhere. I can only hope for a proper remaster made by Nightdive but I doubt the game will ever be forgotten. Great video.
*Congratulations, you're the winner.*

[Isaacfess]

UT2004 is still my favorite multiplayer arena shooter ever. So many good memories with it. Such a shame how hard Epic dropped the ball with UT4 and then delisting the *entire* series afterwards.

[nogoodgreen]

Unreal Tournament 99 my favorite shooter of all time

[TheBrokenEclipse]

UT was such a GOAT series, it's a crime it is no longer available.

[Black.Red]

UT was many people's childhood. The soundtrack slaps just as hard today.

[TheRealistMus]

Always a pleasure to see a new GVMERS retrospective

[Rugg]

I’m just happy Unreal Tournament is getting its own episode in the new “secret level” series coming out.

[nrbert]

UT99 is still going strong. I am playing daily with online buddies on servers. The community is great too, and you can have your own servers and there are community master servers. UT99 lives on.

[smantie]

Unreal Tournament really was the best FPS of its time, and perhaps the best arena shooter of all time. The movement, weapons, and overall gameplay was premier.

[Garcian_Smith]

To those old enough and to clarify to younger audiences, Unreal Tournament never died off on its own. It was killed off effective immediately the moment Fortnite and the battle royale game genre kicked off and started raking in massive profits. In that regard Unreal Tournament was seen as an antiquated relic from a time long passed that did not look anywhere near as profitable as Fortnite unfortunately...

[PaulC-Drums]

I want a new Unreal Tournament game pretty much more than ANY OTHER GAME. I can't even fully fathom how ambitious a fully fledged Unreal Tournament game would be in 2024. Half-Life 3 is seriously the only other game I want more. PLEASE MAKE IT!