Square Enix first Unreal 4 licensee

Final Fantasy and Tomb Raider publisher Square Enix is the first publicly known licensee for Unreal Engine 4. Epic Games announced the news today, confirming it has inked a deal with the Japanese game maker that allows it full use of the Unreal Engine 3 and the new, next-generation technology.

Epic Games described the deal as "long-term" and "sweeping," noting it will span multiple games from Square Enix. Epic Games Japan provided assistance in getting the deal done and will work directly with Square Enix for the new license.

According to the announcement, Square Enix will use Unreal Engine 4 as a means to supplement its proprietary software, the Luminous Studio engine. Square Enix showed off a next-generation Final Fantasy technology demo running on this engine in June.

Epic Games' own Fortnite is the first game that has been confirmed to run on Unreal Engine 4. It is due out sometime in 2013 exclusively for the PC.