EA Licenses Unreal Engine 3

According to a recent press release, the next-generation iteration of Epic's Unreal game engine will be used in "several" unnamed titles currently in development at EA studios.

The news appears to be a departure from EA's previous development strategy, which, as reported by Gamasutra late last year, had involved utilizing a supplemented version of the Renderware engine as part of a "common technical structure" for all EA studios. EA originally acquired Renderware in 2004, as part of its purchase of Burnout creator Criterion Software. In the recent announcement, EA notes that it "employs a variety of engines, tools and technologies to best serve the needs of each game and development team."

The past year has seen numerous Unreal Engine 3 licensing announcements by developers intending to use the technology for upcoming next-gen games. The first Unreal Engine 3-powered title to be released will be Epic's own Gears of War for the Xbox 360, due out this November.