EA signs Unreal Engine 3 for next-gen games

Electronic Arts has inked a deal with Epic Games to use the developer's game engine for several upcoming games.

The increasingly ubiquitous Unreal Engine has added another name to its lengthy list of publisher licensees. Electronic Arts and game-and-technology developer Epic Games today announced a licensing agreement to allow Epic's Unreal Engine 3 technology to power a number of next-generation games. The publisher will add the engine, along with its own internal tools, to the production process of game projects that are currently in development.

The technology is already confirmed to power such highly anticipated next-gen games on both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 consoles as BioWare's Mass Effect, Silicon Knights' Too Human (a game that, as GameSpot's Rumor Control recently confirmed, is continuing to use the engine despite rumors to the contrary), and Epic's own Unreal Tournament 2007 and Gears of War.

EA studios president Paul Lee remarked that the deal is part of EA's strategy to "license cutting edge tools like the Unreal Engine 3 and combine them with [EA's] own systems to create state-of-the-art development technology." Epic vice president Mark Rein added that his company is "obviously thrilled to license Unreal Engine 3 to EA, the world leader in our industry." Neither company has named any games that will make use of the technology going forward. GameSpot News will provide further updates when they become available.

118 Comments

  • georgeverity

    Posted Nov 6, 2006 3:58 pm PT

    i can never use EA's online servers... its sooo aannnoooyyinnng!!!!

  • Saturos3091

    Posted Aug 24, 2006 9:19 pm PT

    Hopefully EA won't destroy this engine because some of the games that use it look amazing (GoW, Mass Effect, Too Human)

    And hopefully EA won't acquire the Offset Engine; EA doesn't deserve to own all the good engines! (OE looks amazing btw)

  • axia_777

    Posted Aug 21, 2006 5:21 pm PT

    The graphics engine will all be basicaly the same. That does not discount if the developers re-write the code to mek some changes, as many do for their games. UnReal 3 is a powerfull engine and is easy to change from what I have heard, which is why it is so flexable.

    The only thing that makes them "Cookie-Cutter" games is gameplay. If the gameplay is all, say FPS's, the yes, they will all be doomed to be cookie-cutter. But in the hands of a very creative Dev with the power of UnReal 3 to wotrk with, well, some very fun and original games could be made.

    You see, with a complete games engine to work with and modify at will, the Dev can spend more time on gameplay and push it as far as it will go. Most games are in develpoment for the first couple of years just making the Graphics Engine. So, if they are willing to push gameplay then fun will happen.

  • mastermind89

    Posted Aug 21, 2006 3:01 pm PT

    unreal engine 3 is pretty nice, looking at gears and mass effect could show anyone that, but from what i've seen of too human its gonna need a lot smoother gameplay and more interesting play mechanics if it wants to compete with the previous mentioned games.

  • sasuke55

    Posted Aug 21, 2006 1:52 pm PT

    Now if they could just add some substance to these games then we would have something.

  • popsadent

    Posted Aug 21, 2006 1:32 pm PT

    Yah, cookie cutter games.

  • MegaMightyMe

    Posted Aug 21, 2006 11:44 am PT

    Project Offset HAS been liscensed and is supposedly due out for the 360 and PC. I'm thinking EA or Ubisoft or maybe even Microsoft. 'Sides, anyone that's seen Offset would know that it completely blows UE3 away.

    On another note, I'm not a fan of any of EA's games other than Burnout and Battlefield, so I couldn't care less what engine they use for what game.

  • frankeyser

    Posted Aug 21, 2006 11:26 am PT

    well... atleast ea;s craptastic games will look lets craptacular.

  • dsgamer1

    Posted Aug 21, 2006 9:01 am PT

    EA is known to make crappy games. Even with Unreal 3 Engine, they don't have the talents to make great games. It doesn't matter what engine they use, EA just sucks.

  • Dust24311

    Posted Aug 21, 2006 8:39 am PT

    The Project Offset engine touts advanced shadowing options. The development interface reminds me of Unreal Ed v1. Have we seen enough from PO to determine that is is better than Unreal Engine 3? I don't think so. Wouldn't PO be licensed by developers if it was so great? UE3 has a LOT of advanced options explained clearly on their website (advanced shadowing, lighting, internal and Ageia SDK physics, object editor, the list goes on)...

  • makemeweak

    Posted Aug 21, 2006 8:32 am PT

    Unreal 3 is good - but the things I've seen from the Project Offset engine blow it away.

  • jackassultima

    Posted Aug 21, 2006 8:26 am PT

    maybe burnout will look even better on this engine if they abandon Renderware

  • mskittykat

    Posted Aug 21, 2006 7:41 am PT

    Sweet. Nothing like the UnReal engine to hype up a game...I just hope EA doesn't try to strong arm everyone out of the Tech like they do everything else. =/

  • gskehans97

    Posted Aug 21, 2006 7:31 am PT

    Sounds good, i hope the games will be better(I'm not saying that their CR*P or anything before, i just hope that their better!)

  • F1sTDaCuffS

    Posted Aug 21, 2006 6:57 am PT

    its cheap and played out, cant someone design something new. geezzz

  • wenbin09

    Posted Aug 21, 2006 6:17 am PT

    Seems like EA got themself another great deal!!!

  • Autolycus

    Posted Aug 21, 2006 5:55 am PT

    oh yeah the the UE3 engine does NOT use all 7spe's only 3 if i remmeber correctly. one for audio, and i dont remember the other two

  • Autolycus

    Posted Aug 21, 2006 5:53 am PT

    great now everygame that is release on the PS3 will look the same...sweet

  • TVR_Fan

    Posted Aug 21, 2006 4:04 am PT

    And I quote from Official PS2 magazine:

    Fifa 07 is better then Pro Evo 6 in gameplay and graphics.

  • ftjx

    Posted Aug 21, 2006 3:47 am PT

    I think EA is mostly hated for there success

  • ftjx

    Posted Aug 21, 2006 3:46 am PT

    Zindul you played 99% of EAs games -thats a lot of sequels

  • Zindul

    Posted Aug 21, 2006 2:56 am PT

    I hate EA too to some extent.. They've been making games with decent graphics for a long time but the game itself usually sucks. I mean, making graphical robots without any sense of authenticity is just plain stupid, the fact that they get enormous buisiness-wise is also lame... if there should be a monopoly in this buisiness it should be conducted by a company with a little sense of GAMING, not a company that just buys other companies. I would vote for either Ubisoft or Blizzard who close to always make really good games.

    PS. To all the people (Morpheus007) who accuse people of not having played the "EA lineup"; I have played most, I would say 99% and my opinion stays the same. Someone has to enjoy EA's games too 'cause otherwise they wouldn't stay afloat, but I'm convinced that many comitted "Fifa-people" (as you describe as their shining star amongst stars) would gladly submit to confess that PES is killing FIFA if you look at the feeling of the game but since EA sits on a pile of gold they get to buy all the licenses and PES (or Konami in this case) don't. That really conludes my point. Ea=money without any sense in how to use it. Now if that doesn't bake your noodle I don't know what will DS.

  • capthunt

    Posted Aug 21, 2006 12:17 am PT

    At least with Unreal Engine 3 theres no way they can make a game with crap graphics. Now they can concentrate on making games with solid gameplay.

  • d0njuan

    Posted Aug 20, 2006 11:00 pm PT

    lol nba live with UE3...sweeeet

  • hotplayer220

    Posted Aug 20, 2006 8:53 pm PT

    This should be a good boost for EA.

  • Ocram_Zepol

    Posted Aug 20, 2006 8:49 pm PT

    I hate EA. They're starting to take over, and they don't really make the best games. Oh well... we'll see what happens.

  • dn3datomiced

    Posted Aug 20, 2006 8:27 pm PT

    You just HAVE to love the irony of this article. I thought it was funny enough when Rockstar abandoned Renderware for their titles, but now EA doesn't even want to use it. I guess we'll just chalk that accquisition to another parasitic move by EA. Mother****ers.

  • imkro2

    Posted Aug 20, 2006 8:18 pm PT

    I recently found out this website which has fun and informative information about PS3, X360, and PC titles. It also has things like, what's the best top 5 games for each platform (PS3, X360, and PC)
    http://myhome.naver.com/imkro4/
    you should visit the above site too

  • mach-stem

    Posted Aug 20, 2006 7:26 pm PT

    Good. Let's see how long it takes them to ruin a game with it! hehehe

    PEACE

  • VolcanoMan001

    Posted Aug 20, 2006 6:56 pm PT

    Oh my!!! I am surprised they did not buy the exclusive license to the Unreal 3 engine. Look out!

  • iebubu

    Posted Aug 20, 2006 6:50 pm PT

    Murpheus007 you are right EA doesn’t need Madden to survive, because they have a little game called FIFA (which sells more than Madden by the way). Now take Madden and FIFA away from EA’s lineup, and see how much of the marketshare they’ll loose.

  • Murpheus007

    Posted Aug 20, 2006 6:18 pm PT

    I love how so many people knock EA for it's games. Oooh, great graphics + average gameplay... what the hell. Chances are you haven't played even half of EA's lineup. They may be one of the big dogs because of Madden, but believe me they don't need Madden to survive.

  • longstick689

    Posted Aug 20, 2006 4:59 pm PT

    haha ea.you bought criterion for its renderware engine. then no one used it because they didnt want to give their codes to you.now you licence unreal engine 3. i hope you make a lot of money on rehashed burnout games every year or that was a waste of money.

  • sigma8

    Posted Aug 20, 2006 4:40 pm PT

    "Alright! Fantastic graphics + average gameplay = another typical EA game! I can't wait!"

    That sounds pretty accurate. They all do start to blend together, don't they?

  • Destroyeron13

    Posted Aug 20, 2006 3:14 pm PT

    Best game Wuth U3 Engine: UT2007.

  • Dinghy_Dog

    Posted Aug 20, 2006 1:34 pm PT

    ··MS is losing the software war. Unreal 3 should also be a 360 game.

    umm, sure, since Unreal is originally a PC game and has always had their games on PC, its should be only on the 360. yeah, that's pure "genyus".

  • trigun0006

    Posted Aug 20, 2006 12:14 pm PT

    all i can say is that Epic is makeing a s**t load of money off its unreal engine now, not that it made enough off its games. I only have one fear that it will be like the doom 3 engine, where every game that uses it looks almost exactly like it. I guess it already has more diversity than the doom 3 engine has with fatal inertia in the unreal engine 3 lineup, but turrok looks like unreal tournament 2007 with dinosoars in it.

  • Shalomony

    Posted Aug 20, 2006 12:12 pm PT

    The Unreal 3 Engine might make some really kick ass games for 360. I don't know about PS3 alot, I don't own one duh. But I do know the Unreal Enigines have worked GREAT in other games in the past. This should prove to be awesome... (#1 game using Unreal 3 enigine: Mass Effect)

  • nickyp27

    Posted Aug 20, 2006 12:08 pm PT

    2. Not owning a genre like FPS. Unreal and other FPS are going to PS3

    last time I checked MS had Halo, the most popular FPS on consoles

  • Vicious1Knives

    Posted Aug 20, 2006 11:38 am PT

    x-ray engine is still better

  • Narasil

    Posted Aug 20, 2006 11:33 am PT

    UnrealEngine 3 is very good, but nothing beats CryEngine 2.

  • rokkuman09

    Posted Aug 20, 2006 10:41 am PT

    Unreal 3.0 may acctually beat Quake 3 engine in the number built on the engine. -tuteeja


    =O that would be insane...but it seems you could be right

  • rokkuman09

    Posted Aug 20, 2006 10:39 am PT

    Did any one play BF2: MC on the 360 EA made awesome use of RENDERWARE in that game it looked great.....I hope they do that in some other games...too

  • ewjim

    Posted Aug 20, 2006 9:01 am PT

    What's new in Unreal Engine 3???

  • azizrulez

    Posted Aug 20, 2006 8:29 am PT

    i think unreal 3 engine is just fantastic
    that engine makes gears of war look awsome but i think its gonna be really close with crytek 2 engine that engine has amazing foilage and trees and stuff

  • Mechakucha

    Posted Aug 20, 2006 8:26 am PT

    EA needs to use the U3 engine to make a mother ****ing Snakes on a Plane game. That'd be sweeeet.

  • CHAOSWEAV3R

    Posted Aug 20, 2006 7:30 am PT

    Cool, hope to see some good games fom EA.

  • tem_k

    Posted Aug 20, 2006 7:01 am PT

    well i reckon the crysis engine will be the one to look out for since it will be using directx 10

  • jackal29

    Posted Aug 19, 2006 10:10 pm PT

    [This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

  • 16bit_skillz

    Posted Aug 19, 2006 9:10 pm PT

    "MS is losing the software war. Unreal 3 should also be a 360 game.

    MS failuers:

    1. Lack of quantity must have exclusives
    2. Not owning a genre like FPS. Unreal and other FPS are going to PS3.
    3. Lack of Japan software support

    Nintendo WILL have the best price. The war is still wide open until someone does their job."

    I'm pretty sure I read they were trying to get on the X360 they said it wouldn't be unlikely, but they didn't officially comfirm. They do still own FPS even with titles like Resistance: Fall of Man and Red Steel coming out. I really don't think anything can dethrone that title. And Japan support, well... your right they blow in Japan. Aw well the only games I'd want (besides Nintendo obviously) are KH and the Dragon Warrior series.

    And Sony is loosing the software war. I think MS is tied or a nose ahead of Nintendo in terms of software.

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