When it comes to PC gaming, Epic Games has been triumphant throughout the 90's and early 2000's. While many gamers today may only know the studio for its amped-up shooters and widely-used game engines, the name "Epic MegaGames" still strikes a chord with gaming enthusiasts who recall a simpler time.

While gaming has changed significantly in the past decade, it appears that Epic has dared to go back to its roots with Fortnite, which will not only be the first game to run on Unreal Engine 4 -- it will also be PC-exclusive.

During what was arguably the golden age of PC gaming, Epic stood out with landmark series like Jill of the Jungle, Epic Pinball, Unreal Tournament and more. Epic's own rockstar developer, Cliff Bleszinksi, got his start creating the atmospheric Dare to Dream in 1993, and ground-breaking run-and-gun platformer Jazz Jackrabbit a year later.

Since then, Epic appeared to have all but left its early days behind by aiming towards the shooter genre and favoring console systems over PC. During a San Diego Comic-Con panel today, however, Cliffy B himself spoke of the studio's upcoming co-op survival sandbox title, and praised PCs as being part of Epic's "heritage." On the topic of Fortnite, he stated, "this is a PC-designed game, it's shipping exclusively for the PC." According to Bleszinksi, there is no need to wait for the next generation.

"Next-gen's here. It's been here. It's a high-end PC."

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Unlike previous Epic Games titles, Fortnite will bring players together to survive, rather than have them frag each other for glory. Players will have to create bunkers and various types of defences during the day, in order to survive onslaughts of monsters at night. Needless to say, in the face of such an FPS-saturated market, Fortnite certainly appears to be a breath of fresh air, both for us and for Epic. Bleszinski seems to welcome the change.

"We've had like six years of Gears and we've perfected the art of killing. Fortnite is serving as a fresh change of pace for us."

Ranters, are you supportive of Epic's "back-to-basics" change of pace? Epic certainly touts its upcoming title as being a game for everyone, but is it for you?

Fortnite is set to release in 2013, exclusively for the PC.

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Source: Joystiq