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Unreal Engine 4 geared for next-gen consoles

by Randy Nelson on Jul 24th 2008 4:15PM

Despite the fact that Unreal Engine 3 has been licensed by, oh, everyone for building their current-gen games, results have been hit or miss. While developers continue to get to grips with the current iteration of the technology, its creator, Epic Games, is already at work building the next version to ~~stump them~~ make their lives easier ... in the future.

In news sure to make Dennis Dyack happy, Epic's president, Mike Capps, revealed at Microsoft's Gamefest technology conference that the successors to the current crop of consoles (even Wii?) are its target platforms for Unreal Engine 4. "We've got Unreal [Engine] 4 in production right now," Capps told the gathering of developers, adding, "it's going to be in the next console generation ... our rough guess is 2012 to 2018." So, there you have it. Xbox 720 in 2012. We kid. We aren't kidding when we say that we hope developers other than Epic and a handful of others get a sound grasp on UE3 before then.

Source

Tags: epic-games, middleware, unreal-engine, unreal-engine-4

Reader Comments (76)

This is the second time they've said that.

(http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/51752)

Speaking of Dyack and UE3, how's that lawsuit coming along?

yeah the main guy in Unreal Tournament 3 is just Marcus Fenix with red armor and goggles on his head LOL. Creativity at its finest huh?

You guys are missing something here. Games like Mass Effect, GTA4, and Oblivion have texture popping because they try to avoid loading screens. If they wanted to they could easily have loading screens twice as long as what they currently have and texture popping would most likely be gone... They've chosen a satisfactory mix between short load times and acceptable texture popping.

We'll see what happens when you are able to put the game completely on the HDD, but my guess is popping will be virtually gone.

Sorry, this was supposed to be a reply.

Uh, 2012-2018?

Dear Epic: Sony wasn't to be taken seriously with their 10 year life cycle bull sh*t.

Dear Spartacus: The PS3 came out on Nov. 17th, 2006
2012 would be ~6 years not 10.
Math is good.
That is all.

Well, 2018 will be 12 so...

More to the point, Sony's 10 year plan isn't to devote ten years to the PS3 as their main or sole platform. They are going to continue overlapping generations like they did with the PlayStation and like they are doing with the PlayStation 2. PS3 came out in 2006, PS4 may come out as early as 2011. As long as PlayStation 3 remains (or as some might argue, becomes) successful, there is no reason to doubt that it won't be an actively promoted console still being manufactured, purchased, and played in 2016.

@Xoviet chiK
Oh I totally agree about the overlapping. I'm just trying to tell Spartacus that just cause Epic said 2012-2018 for UE4 doesn't mean that the consoles are only allowed to start coming out then. At this point their just guessing that that's about when things will get going strong and all 3 (maybe only 2) systems should be out by that time frame. It was more of a 'Calm down' response :)

Yeah, apparently the joke didn't fly...

Xbox 360 launched in Nov of 2005 and PS3 a year later. So this gen of hardware effectively began late 2005. Given that console hardware historically only has a life cycle of around 5 years before the next iteration launches, 2012 would be pretty late for a dev tool. Developers who want to license this engine would want to get it BEFORE the next gen of hardware comes out if they want maximum amount of time for a quality product.

That's a 2012 scenario. 2018? Yeah, I can do math genius- that's TWELVE YEARS after the PS3 launched and THIRTEEN after the Xbox 360.

Shit, I was hoping for new consoles in the next 2 years! I've been gaming on my 360 for going on 3 years.. Gimme new stuff. :)

My sentiment exactly. Even 2012 is *7* years after the 360. That seems a bit long between systems. However this generation of hardware (Wii excluded) has been pretty pricey, so MS and Sony might want to recoup losses and milk the systems as long as possible before plunging into their next hardware push.

Still, I was hoping to see some new hardware in the next year or two...

"Now with over 50,000 more shades of brown!"

Hey now, brown isn't the only color in the Unreal Engine!

They also have a lovely assortment of greys!

As much as I hate the Browns and Grays... Have any of even played Unreal Tournament III? Purples, Reds, Greens... They all Contrast Beautifully thanks to the relative lack of color in the background.

http://www.joystiq.com/2005/11/16/blue-sky-in-games-campaign-launched/

I actually wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo didn't release a new console at all when everyone else does. They could probably just keep making more and more add-ons to the Wii, that everyone will just keep buying and buying. They may release a new DS with like 2 touch-screens. Of course I could be wrong and they'll just release 2 Wiis duct taped together.

It's possible that they could upgrade the Wii later than normal, and give it a 6 year run because the Blue Ocean doesn't mandate frequent updates. However, they could equally wind up upgrading in 4 or 4.5 years, since they're already so far behind

I couldn't see them supporting Wii beyond 2012, though.

Short load times in Mass effect? HAHAHA have you ridden the elevator recently!

You want a console that won't just get dumped , then why the hell did you buy a 360 instead of a PS3 , they're still making and supporting the PS2 , wonder what happend to the Xbox1 .

Good Lord we're already talking about next gen!?

Thanks Epic!

Maybe sony will get it shit together by then.

Maybe by then we could actually use HOME.

Wow the gaming industry really moves fast,eh.

Well MOAR CHAINSAWZ and GUTS fur 2010!!!

Um Make it 2011.

next gen? i'm still waiting for MS to finish the 360 before i get one. this fall maybe?

If the next generation begins in 2012, I suspect Microsoft will attempt to one-up the competition with a 2011 release of their next console. Honestly, I would be surprised if the next generation didn't begin in late-2010.

They're acting like Unreal Engine is the be all and end all of what is next gen...

I'm far more interested in, say, the next iteration of Valve's Source Engine.

Anyway, why the hell are they going to leave the PC version of this for last?

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Posted: Jul 24th 2008 4:57PM Centaur said

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