Gamespy tech + Unreal Engine 3 = crossplatform PS3 and PC online play

Epic and IGN today announced that Gamespy's online technology will be licensed with Unreal Engine 3. The best part of this deal is that it will enable cross-platform play against PC and PlayStation 3 owners, according to the press release.

Gamespy technologies that will be made immediately available to license include matchmaking services, in-game chat services, online data storage (e.g. statistics), leaderboard and tournament services.

While it's not guaranteed that every developer who uses Unreal Engine 3 for PC and PS3 titles will utilize Gamespy's tools, we feel confident that this is the final piece of evidence we need to safely say that Unreal Tournament 3 will sport PC and PS3 cross-play. Questions about keyboard-mouse vs. gamepad play and user-generated maps / mods have already been addressed by developer Epic Games' Vice President Mark Rein.

[Via press release]