Starbreeze licenses Unreal Engine 3 for future projects
Starbreeze, developer of The Darkness and Chronicles of Riddick, has announced a "multi-year, studio-wide license agreement" to develop projects using Unreal Engine 3. CEO Johan Kristiansson has stated that the engine is "the solution that best fits [Starbreeze's] needs." Presumably, UE3 will be the engine behind Project RedLime, Starbreeze's rumored Syndicate revival for EA.
The news should come as something of a surprise to industry watchers, as the company previously made a name for itself using its own proprietary Starbreeze engine. The engine was used to power both The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay and The Darkness. Riddick in particular is generally regarded as one of the most graphically impressive titles on the original Xbox.
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Starbreeze Studios Signs Long-Term Unreal Engine 3 Licensing Agreement
UPPSALA, SWEDEN and CARY, N.C., Feb. 17, 2011 - Starbreeze AB, developer of action adventure games including two titles in the "The Chronicles of Riddick" series and "The Darkness," today announced it has entered into a multi-year, studio-wide license agreement to develop projects using Epic Games' award-winning Unreal Engine 3 for the engine's supported platforms.
"We evaluated several game engines in the market and came to the conclusion that Unreal Engine 3 is the solution that best fits our needs," said Johan Kristiansson, CEO of Starbreeze Studios. "We were particularly impressed by the tool chain, which facilitates rapid iteration and high productivity for our team."
"Starbreeze has proven to be a talented developer of games based on popular properties as well as those based on their own worlds," said Mark Rein, vice president of Epic Games. "With this team now armed with all Unreal Engine 3 has to offer, players will get their hands on the newest creative visions thanks to Starbreeze using our state-of-the-art game engine tools and technology."
About Starbreeze
Starbreeze AB is an independent video game developer based in Uppsala, Sweden. The company was founded in 1998, and today has approximately 120 employees. The company is currently busy with a major production together with publisher Electronic Arts. The latest releases are action adventure titles "The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena" from 2009, with an 82% MetaCritic rating, and "The Darkness" from 2007, with an 82% MetaCritic rating. For more information, please visit www.starbreeze.com.
About Unreal Engine 3
The award-winning Unreal Engine is known for its cutting-edge graphics, best-of-breed toolset and scalability across platforms. Unreal Engine 3's highly mature toolset and content pipeline consistently evolve along with its advanced mobile features, multi-core processor support, optimizations for iOS, Xbox 360® and PlayStation®3 and massive world support. Unreal Engine 3 is designed to accelerate developers' productivity for computer and video games, mobile games and applications, training simulations, 3D visualizations and digital films and television shows. Additional information on Unreal Engine 3 can be obtained through the Unreal Technology website at www.unrealtechnology.com.
About Epic Games
Epic Games, Inc., based in Cary, NC and established in 1991, develops cutting-edge games and cross-platform game engine technology. The company has created multiple million-selling, award-winning titles in its "Unreal" series, including "Unreal Tournament 3" for PC, PlayStation®3 and Xbox 360®. Epic's "Gears of War" franchise has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide and won more than 50 Game of the Year awards. Epic's Unreal Engine 3 is the four-time winner of and Hall of Fame inductee for Game Developer magazine's Best Engine Front Line Award. Unreal Engine 3 has also held the Develop Industry Excellence Award in its category for the past three years. Additional information about Epic can be obtained through the Epic Games website at www.epicgames.com.
Epic, Epic Games, Gears of War, Unreal, Unreal Development Kit, UDK, Unreal Engine, UE3, and Unreal Tournament are trademarks or registered trademarks of Epic Games, Inc. in the United States of America and elsewhere. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
