Last week,
Gears of War 3 received an "18" rating from the German
USK, making it the first
Gears not to be
indexed in the region.
"I wish I could give you a list, because then I could tell you I wasn't shocked when I heard we didn't get indexed. I was very much surprised, I'll admit," Capps told us when we asked what changes Epic had made to the franchise formula to get the game rated. "To me,
Gears 3 is not just more of
Gears 2, but tons more. ... It doesn't immediately strike me as something easier to pass through. It's not a modified version there. We have a "no gore" filter, but
we've had that for Gears. We didn't do anything special for Germany this time."
Capps is, of course, happy that Epic can finally bring its biggest series to Germany. He told us the country was the developer's "second biggest support center for Epic products," and that
Unreal Tournament was huge there. He also mentioned that several members of the company's staff at the Raleigh studio are from Germany, including their engine lead.
So, is there any chance of
Gears of War 1 and
2, perhaps in their
Triple Pack format, being resubmitted for approval in Germany?
"That's a fantastic idea." Capps said enthusiastically. "We didn't try to submit it at all. I don't think anyone thought to. We'll give it a shot."