Capcom licenses Unreal Engine 3

Publisher to use technology behind Gears of War and Unreal Tournament 3 in unannounced project.

Add Capcom to the ever-growing list of publishers ponying up to put Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3 in upcoming projects. The Japanese publisher today announced that it has licensed the development toolset for an unannounced project being developed in North America.

Last year, EA, THQ, and Sony Online Entertainment all announced licensing agreements to use the engine. Vivendi Games, Microsoft, and Midway had signed on even earlier. Last month, Square Enix joined the flock of publishers striking a deal for Epic Games' technology, and last week, Activision announced that it had licensed Unreal Engine 3 for an unannounced action game.

Unreal Engine 3 is best known for powering Epic Games' Xbox 360 hit Gears of War and its hotly anticipated Unreal Tournament 3, but the tech has been used for smaller scope titles as well. Naked Sky's RoboBlitz for the PC and Xbox Live Arcade was built on the engine.

150 Comments

  • brain20035

    Posted Mar 2, 2007 10:48 am PT

    CAPCOM in my view, is a company that really knows when to put a step forward and why.
    Their titles are just brilliant and their licensing the Unreal Engine 3, guaranties even better ones.

  • zoozilla

    Posted Mar 2, 2007 10:26 am PT

    The people saying everything using the Unreal engine will look the same apparently doesn't know what a game engine is. The game engine does not influence art design! No-one is going to make their game look like GoW just because it's using the same engine. That's stupid. Just look at Stranglehold, Mass Effect, and Roboblitz. 3 completely different games.

  • Masoud03

    Posted Mar 1, 2007 11:00 pm PT

    imagine devil may cry 4 with the graphics of gears of war ........ WOW !!!

  • Kill-er

    Posted Mar 1, 2007 1:39 pm PT

    what about half-life 2's engine? wouldn't that be the best?

  • Icepick_Trotter

    Posted Mar 1, 2007 11:55 am PT

    I remember when Epic Megagames' big game was Jazz JackRabbit 2 ... good old times....

    hey, wouldn't it be perfect if some companies dedicate to building good engines (and some do it best) and others to making games?
    i mean... it would make sense

  • casshern

    Posted Mar 1, 2007 11:20 am PT

    This will allow game companies to create next gen games with reduced development costs and shorten the time spent on building everything from scratch. Good News

  • Sevenik

    Posted Mar 1, 2007 1:41 am PT

    i've always ahd hope in the Unreal engine receiving wide support since its inception. Hopefully it'll fund the development of the next few versions which should be astounding to look at.

  • tcampbell1976

    Posted Feb 28, 2007 11:40 pm PT

    Well every big developer now pretty much has a license to UE3 now. So its either a good or bad thing in the next year or two so many games will look as good as Gears. Puts harder pressure on Gears to step it up for the sequel because looks can't continue to be one of the reasons that sell it now.

  • greystone227

    Posted Feb 28, 2007 7:58 pm PT

    You can't blame Capcom for using the engine, seeing as UE3 is basically the best thing out there right now. And better yet, it keeps improving with each company's own modifications (compare GoW to UT3's current screenshots; UT3 is significantly better).

  • gunner6270

    Posted Feb 28, 2007 3:44 pm PT

    I hope RE five uses it, might speed the process up quicker

  • Nachoking2k2

    Posted Feb 28, 2007 8:55 am PT

    I'd say RE5 is going to use it, but the engine will probably be outdated

  • ZeroTae

    Posted Feb 28, 2007 8:50 am PT

    I prefer sidescroller... i dontknow y 3D megaman wouldnt be good.. i think

  • greendestiny7

    Posted Feb 28, 2007 8:49 am PT

    terrabreak13 Why does everyone think the games are going to look the same? Rainbow Six Vegas looks nothing like Gears of War. It all comes down to the artist.

    Too true. The engine does not decide the look of a game it's just how it works.

  • chrisdojo

    Posted Feb 28, 2007 8:43 am PT

    maybe MEGA MAN on UE3???? mega man 3rd person plaftormer? or even sidescroller w/sweet graphics (and more like the NES games).....

  • Sheiko

    Posted Feb 28, 2007 8:31 am PT

    Capcom + UE3?? Man if they can develop a good story then they can definitely make a helluva good game.

  • terrabreak13

    Posted Feb 28, 2007 8:18 am PT

    Why does everyone think the games are going to look the same? Rainbow Six Vegas looks nothing like Gears of War. It all comes down to the artist.

  • razu_gamer

    Posted Feb 28, 2007 7:44 am PT

    I really would start to laugh at unreal engine 3 licensee's (forgot spelling) who spent alot of cash on it and the Wii is dominating...!! Not implying it will....just saying.

  • Phazevariance

    Posted Feb 28, 2007 7:25 am PT

    UR3 engine is a very powerful engine, which produces amazing graphics and it is not too hard to produce games with. Why would anyone not want to use this engine? The best part is that it keeps getting updated so people who learn to programm for it can keep making their games and adding features as they are released... so it's great news.

  • MrSickVisionz

    Posted Feb 28, 2007 7:19 am PT

    "Dammit. Why can't everyone be like Kojima and make their own engines... Now all the games are gonna start lookin like GeOW."

    Licensing a game engine is like an artist buying a "painters pack" thats comes with brushes, paints, easel, papers and an guide book on drawing technique. If the artist draws pictures that are knock offs other someone else with the painters pack, its not the pack's fault. The artist still has to paint the picture. Why s/he would spend all that time and effort on drawing a picture thats an imitation of someone else's is a question that can only be answered from within.

    Plus, this lets developers spend more time/money on actual gameplay events rather than doing the more mundane and boring programming tasks. I think some people are confusing a game engine with something similar to that "RPG Maker" for the PS1. On that, yeah everything would have the same look/feel to it. But game engines licensed to developers aren't that closed of a system to where you're pretty much just choosing preset characters and environments. The customization level isn't even comparable. Its like comparing a blank page to coloring book.

  • anamnawshad

    Posted Feb 28, 2007 6:52 am PT

    Great!

  • Lewpy79

    Posted Feb 28, 2007 6:39 am PT

    I agree with ShadowMK-II.

    People are quick to put Capcom down for using the UR3 engine, but there is nothing wrong with using a proven technology that obviously gets results. The fact of the matter is different studios and companies will use the engine in various different ways according to what they want to achieve, so it doesn't necessarily mean that every game is going to look like Gears. I think Capcom has proven their selves time and time again, if they feel that the UR3 engine is what they need to produce their next smash hit, then who are we to put them down before they've even announced a title for the game in question.

    The other point of course is the cost of producing triple A titles, it has already been reported earlier this month that it cost $10 million to produce what is essentially the best title on the 360 at the moment IMO. Also in the same month it has been reported that the return on games is starting to come down as studios focus on niche genres, and the production of these titles are rising into hollywood budgets. Frankly I think a big player such as Capcom would be fools to not at least see what all the fuss is about surrounding the new technology, it's not like they can't afford the licenses for the engines use.

  • miss_kitt3n

    Posted Feb 28, 2007 6:34 am PT

    I guess Capcom wont be making any Wii games

  • V_Zarnold_N

    Posted Feb 28, 2007 5:59 am PT

    unreal FTW... i wonder why nobody uses id's quake engine? or the half-life source engine.... oh wait thats because people have seen a game on the unreal engine that is good *cough quake 4 360* and was produced in less than 10 yrs *cough half-life 2*

  • wraith808

    Posted Feb 28, 2007 5:39 am PT

    Seems like the Unreal engine wins.... I haven't seen anyone licensing the Quake engine for a loooong time...

  • cjcr_alexandru

    Posted Feb 28, 2007 5:02 am PT

    A lot of companies have licensed Unreal Engine 3. Looks like Epic Games has some good "engineers".

  • Reetesh

    Posted Feb 28, 2007 4:27 am PT

    A Big Actions game... wonder if it will be a new IP or..... DMC5????

  • lovermanxxx

    Posted Feb 28, 2007 4:22 am PT

    uh oh..... re5 on ue3?????

  • razu_gamer

    Posted Feb 28, 2007 3:30 am PT

    OMG, a giant company like Capcom, licensing UE3......disgrace.

  • Chrissyc86

    Posted Feb 28, 2007 2:57 am PT

    Could be good, could be bad, games might start looking the same OR developers might step it up and make their games artistacally different, I'm sure the UR3 engine can be used in all sorts of styles, hopefully everything won't just look like GOW (never thought I'd say that!!)

  • deathdemon89

    Posted Feb 28, 2007 12:52 am PT

    Dammit. Why can't everyone be like Kojima and make their own engines... Now all the games are gonna start lookin like GeOW.

  • axia_777

    Posted Feb 28, 2007 12:33 am PT

    Source Engine and UnReal 2 Engine = Wii

    UnReal 3 Engine = PS3 and 360

    Nuff said on THAT subject....

  • PSdual_wielder

    Posted Feb 27, 2007 11:17 pm PT

    In the end, Epic turns out to be the best in using their own engine better than everyone else. I respect Capcom and all, but I would greatly hope they don't all of a sudden decide to have RE5 using the engine.

  • onlineterrorism

    Posted Feb 27, 2007 11:02 pm PT

    I am tired of seeing the Unreal 3 engine. The engine lacks quality and diversity. Every game you see being developed on the engine, it looks the same as Gears of War or R6 Vegas. All of the visuals have the bloomy and hazy look on them. Not to mention, the lack of realistic visuality that Cryengine 2 and Source presents.

  • wenbin09

    Posted Feb 27, 2007 10:37 pm PT

    EA games already have good graphics, but they just need better and longer gameplays

  • DominusSabathan

    Posted Feb 27, 2007 10:25 pm PT

    sweet lost planet

  • Digital-Devil

    Posted Feb 27, 2007 10:04 pm PT

    Proving...Epic does it best

  • eanbowman

    Posted Feb 27, 2007 9:35 pm PT

    I remember when Epic Megagames' big game was Epic Pinball.

  • YukoAsho

    Posted Feb 27, 2007 9:34 pm PT

    Now all we need is for Konami to make a Contra game with the engine and all will be right in the world.

  • nintendorocks

    Posted Feb 27, 2007 9:29 pm PT

    Now, almost every major publisher has liscensed the Unreal Engine 3. Epic must be loving this.

  • majestikk

    Posted Feb 27, 2007 9:03 pm PT

    **** Wants to see that used in the Dead Rising sequel.... hehe

  • mikethemonkey

    Posted Feb 27, 2007 8:46 pm PT

    Unreal Engine 3 plus bionic commando..Thats what I'm talking about!

  • DevilMayAsian

    Posted Feb 27, 2007 8:23 pm PT

    No matter what Capcom does now, it won't matter. Losing Kamiya is what's gonna kill them. Whatever engine they decide to use isn't gonna matter. I think this is an indication that Capcom is worried about their future.

  • robfield

    Posted Feb 27, 2007 7:46 pm PT

    How much does it cost to get that engine?

  • bobbysbits

    Posted Feb 27, 2007 6:52 pm PT

    dead rising sequel

  • e1viento

    Posted Feb 27, 2007 6:12 pm PT

    Imagine:

    Resident Evil using the Unreal Engine........

    It boggles the mind...

    In retrospect, imagine mega man using the Unreal Engine LOL

  • omegacis

    Posted Feb 27, 2007 6:10 pm PT

    Wow. Imagine the possibilities.

    I could see it now... FPS Megaman!

  • ShadowMK-II

    Posted Feb 27, 2007 5:51 pm PT

    I generally think alot of people don't listen. I would bet on it alot of developers would all love to make their own special games engine. But what some of you aren't taking in is it takes alot of time and money to do such a thing. There wouldn't be many game developers if everyone of them tried to make their own engine as generally alot of developers don't have the money to do it. (You could think of it like this: Custom Games Engine - £Time – Employed Programmers - £Salary. To perfect a games engine it could take a big group of programmers 1-2yrs more or less depending on how many programmers you could get on a project. Then you think the more you have the more salaries you'd have to pay the less you have the longer you'd have to pay a programmer.)

    (in the hierachy of who gets the most money when a game is sold its generally goes mainly to the publisher the developers don't generally see alot of the the money. Which they need to obviously start another project or keep one going.) I'd much rather see companies taking on a proven tool and being able to make a game with out spending a fortune and having more time to spend on actually making the game. It's like pirating games if everyone did it we wouldn't have any more games due to developers not having money to make games or sequels etc (bit of a harsh way of putting it lol). This is going to help alot of developers out in the long run and bring us the gamers games that have had alot of effort put in due to the more time they can put into their games.

    Oh and on the question to Unreal 3 engine licenses I think one license is rather pricey I believe it was like around $350,000 for a license then uhh $50,000 per SKU.

    Whoops another rant ahhaha only because i'm bored xS

  • thestickman

    Posted Feb 27, 2007 5:03 pm PT

    Interesting news...

  • ffgothic

    Posted Feb 27, 2007 5:01 pm PT

    Cool Capcom, now use it to make some great games!

  • BigB10123

    Posted Feb 27, 2007 4:02 pm PT

    The only game on consoles I know of that is not using the Unreal Engine 3 is Halo 3. Companies need to stop being lazy and make their own engines like Bungie is with Halo 3.

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