Unreal Engine 3 to power Microsoft's next-gen games

Epic Games today announced that its Unreal Engine 3 technology will be used in games from Microsoft's internal development team, Microsoft Game Studios. The announcement follows the news earlier this year that Epic, the studio behind the Unreal franchise and the award-winning game engine, was a licensed partner in providing tools and middleware for Microsoft. While no specific titles were mentioned, Epic confirmed that the technology will be used for "the next-generation Xbox platform."

"By integrating Unreal Engine 3 into our development infrastructure we are able to really maximize our teams' performance and deliver the quality content and creativity that the market has come to expect from us," said Shane Kim, general manager, Microsoft Game Studios.

Microsoft isn't the first company to announce that the engine will power their games. Last month, Midway Games revealed that it is already using the game engine in the development of next-generation titles.

The Unreal Engine is a high-powered tool for developers to create 3D worlds with real-life physics, complex animations, and lifelike lighting effects. The Unreal Engines have always been a top choice for developers, and have been featured in games such as Thief: Deadly Shadows, the Splinter Cell series, and Epic's own Unreal Tournament 2004.

"We are hugely excited that Microsoft Game Studios have selected Unreal Engine 3 for its next generation Xbox platform games," said Epic Games president Mark Rein. "It's an opportunity for us to show the industry the true capabilities of our tools and technologies and is a testament to the incredible amount of hard work by our teams here to deliver tools and technologies that are 100% tuned into the needs of next-generation development."

For more information on the Unreal Engine 3, check out GameSpot's first look, which includes a six-minute trailer of the technology in action.