LucasArts licenses Unreal Engine 3 for long-term, multi-project use

by James Ransom-Wiley on Apr 26th 2011 6:43PM

LucasArts has entered into a multi-year licensing agreement with Epic Games to develop with Unreal Engine 3, the studios announced today. The deal will encompass "multiple projects" and looks to provide a shortcut for LucasArts "between inspiration and execution on a wide variety of gaming platforms," according to Zak Phelps, the company's director of technology.

Epic VP Mark Rein echoed that sentiment when he trumpeted "Unreal Engine 3's ability to scale across platforms, from mobile, through PC and console all the way up to the next generation of games." Epic's recent tech demo of the latest UE3 updates certainly looked incredible, but we didn't notice any new features promising to render a deeper Star Wars experience. Then again, we'd probably pay a buck just to see the Force unleashed on our iPhone, inspired or not.

Previously, LucasArts licensed Unreal Engine 2 for 2005's Star Wars: Republic Commando (pictured).

Source: Epic Games

Tags: epic-games, license, licensing, lucasarts, mac, mark-rein, microsoft, mobile, pc, playstation, ps3, unreal-engine, unreal-engine-3, xbox, zak-phelps

Reader Comments (58)

:D we so excited

@Rizraz

BATTLEFRONT 3!

@Mr Hett

I CONCUR!

@Rizraz only if it's republic commando 2 or battlefront 3 we are

@DarkSan00

Agreed!

@Rizraz

New technology, same star wars games......How i miss the old lucasarts, when they created ORIGINAL games, and the very few star wars games they made were awesome like x-wing and tie-fighter.

@Hunter141072

Seriously.

My first thought when I read this article's headline was, "great, another half-dozen Star Wars games."

But then, when the company does try to create something new, it's something horrendous...like Fracture.

Or RTX Red Rock. Ugh.

Jesus, LucasArts, you have a ridiculously awesome backlog of IP's. Would it be too much to ask to get an HD remake of Loom between Star Wars: Blah Blah Force Blah and Stormtrooper Pro Basketball?

@Mr Hett

I hope and pray that that's what it's gonna be used for.

Star Wars Battlefront 3? We can only hope

You had to use a picture of Republic Commando didn't ya. We are never getting a sequel to that game. =(

Interested to see what they will do with it at least. Come one jedi knight 4!

@NukeAssault

Or how about Dark Forces 5? Since Jedi Academy was technically "Dark Forces 4: Jedi Knight 3: Jedi Outcast 2: Jedi Academy". :P

Battlefront 3,4,&5 nao!

why dont they use unreal engine for old republic instead (sadface)

Jedi Knight 4. Battlefront 3. Republic Commando 2.
DON'T FAIL ME LUCASARTS!

... But Stormtroopers aren't brown

@oOWallaceOo

So racist.

I think you're on to something. Aren't they white?

http://i51.tinypic.com/21sbjk.png

@oOWallaceOo

Silly! These are gritty Stormtroopers...

With Pandemic gone from the EA/Bioware deal, could Lucasarts develop Battlefront 3? Cause awesome

Let's hope this means BATTLEFRONT 3 somewhere down the line!!! It's been waaaay too long btw Battlefront II...man, I STILL love that game. Nix the industry politricks and make it happen, please!

@C1ph3rDivyne

Yeah, SWBF2 was the best selling SW game of all time, they should've had a sequel greenlit the day after release and had it out within a year. But then they just kept dawdling and doing other projects(LucasArts stopped releasing games around then, Pandemic did LotR: Conquest[aka 'SWBF in Middle-Earth'] and The Saboteur), and then Pandemic was shut down and it was too late, with the odds of SWBF3 becoming almost nil.

I would get Battlefront 3, i just hope they fix alot of the bugs, and dont cash in on a beloved property ala... pretty much everything LucasArts does...

dam, the company that is known to push visual arts is using ancient UNREAL ENGINE 3? how about you guys develop a new next gen engine yourselves?

NOOOOOO!

I HATE UE3.

And with good reason, Epic has gone out of their way to make triplehead on their engine as painful as possible....

What a shame, I loved most of Lucasarts games, but I'm not gonna touch em if they use UE3.

@thelolotov You DO know that Mass Effect and a multitude of other games completely unlike Unreal Tournament 3 use the Unreal 3 engine, right?

@Proog I'm well aware of that, and Mass Effect does not support triplehead, and I've yet to find a UE3-based game that does.

If they finally make a Republic Commando 2, I will literally shit my pants, I will actually have actual shit in my actual pants.

Of course, Lucas Arts may never do it, but if they do...

Thank the Lord. We finally have a chance of seeing Battlefront 3! Back to Hoth we go.

Indiana Jones: Unreal!

how will euphoria and unreal work together?

@KiraXD

are there any Unreal games that use Euphoria?

@KiraXD At this point Euphoria seems to be in almost nothing except TFU and Backbreaker. A FREAKING IPHONE GAME

Which is a shame, since it had so much promise - maybe if they would have actually made that absolutely epic Indiana Jones game we might see it more places.

But yeah, integrating it into Unreal shouldn't be a problem.

@Proog Um... GTA IV? Red Dead Redemption?

I mean, I still play Battlefront 2 on my PS3.

Well, not right now..

@PatientJ

trollface.jpeg

Thumbs up JS for the Republic Commando pic!

@Beastcake

I know

Republic Commando was pretty badass

Nice choice of engine, Lucasarts. Now how about you maintain a talented creative staff without hitting the reset button every few years, and get back to innovation and unique original IP !

You guys need to STOP using that republic commando pic. There isn't even any mention of it other than you guys mentioning the last one. You can't keep tearing my heart out like this!

@TheDarkWayne

Plus it's not even in-game, it's pre-release art. You can tell by how the commandos don't have any coloration on their armor. Fixer had a blue mark, Scorch had an orange mark, and Sev had red that looked like blood. I don't know what Boss had since I played him and it was first person.

@TheDarkWayne

Sorry for the second reply, but my bad on Fixer, he was in green. Wookieepedia shows Boss in a darker orange shade than Scorch, whose colors are a brighter yellowish orange.

@TheDarkWayne
Agreed. It was a cheap way to get me to click on the article. It's good information but the LucasArts logo would have been more appropriate.

@RogueJedi86
I am ashamed for knowing this, when someone named RogueJedi does not... Thats Niner, Fi and Atin from the Republic Commando books. The picture itself is the cover of the book Republic Commando: Hard Contact.

Which is no longer canon. Which means there won't be a Republic Commando 2, or Imperial Commando game. Or even an end to the RC book series. Which means Star Wars is dead to me.

@Nuisance

Why isn't it canon? Just because Karen Traviss quit writing for SW doesn't mean it isn't canon. Nor does the Mando Trilogy of the TCW cartoon, since those Mandos were retconned as yet another splinter faction of the Mandalorians.

@Nuisance I feel your pain and share your sorrow, however, I'm pretty sure most of that stuff was never officially invalidated canon wise. Sure it probably isn't part of official Lucas G or T canon which includes only the films, and then the films and the tv shows, respectively. There was a lot of talk about all of Karen Traviss' stuff being nullified (some of which I wouldn't have been upset about), but it's all pretty much settled and stuff's gelled together to peacefully coexist. Suffice to say, the commandos and their adventures definitely happened, but don't take Traviss' definitions of Mandalorian cultural traditions too closely to heart. Geez I am a huge nerd.

Unreal Engine X-Wing/Tie Fighter?

A man can dream.

@(Unverified)

If only........

I just had my first child, I'm willing to give him up for Replublic Commando 2

I really don't care about anything Lucasarts puts out unless its a new Republic Commando or an X-Wing/Tie Fighter. Or a non-Star Wars game that's original and good and...oh who am I kidding.

I expect exactly nothing at all out of this deal that is going to interest me in the least sadly. That's how far Lucasarts has gone from back in the days.

Heres hoping for Battlefront 3, Republic Commandos 2, or another X-Wing style FLIGHT SIM

AND NO ROGUE SQUADRON DOESNT COUNT. Unless I am in the cockpit managing, Engines, Weapons or Shields, its NOT the same. Tie Fighter remake. X-Wing remake. Get on it.

@DasMadHatter

On your six on that one. This needs to happen this freaking decade.

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LucasArts licenses Unreal Engine 3 for long-term, multi-project use

Reader Comments (58)

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 6:52PM Rizraz said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 6:54PM Mr Hett said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 6:59PM FreakSheet said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 6:59PM DarkSan00 said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 7:24PM Misfit Toy said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 8:09PM Hunter141072 said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 8:20PM Urethra Alfredo said

Posted: Apr 27th 2011 12:59AM spartandre217 said

Posted: Apr 27th 2011 12:45PM rocketsfan20 said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 6:56PM NukeAssault said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 7:19PM RogueJedi86 said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 6:57PM Brando Calrissian said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 6:57PM beanbaggers said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 6:57PM Schlecht said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 6:57PM oOWallaceOo said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 7:12PM Assmar said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 7:22PM Epoque said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 7:26PM Misfit Toy said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 6:58PM PatientJ said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 6:58PM C1ph3rDivyne said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 7:59PM RogueJedi86 said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 7:00PM FreakSheet said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 7:02PM Tradio said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 7:03PM thelolotov said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 10:36PM Proog said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 11:24PM thelolotov said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 7:11PM Andrew12h said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 7:12PM AmericanAce said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 7:13PM KiraXD said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 7:14PM KiraXD said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 10:41PM Proog said

Posted: Apr 27th 2011 3:51AM Fadakar said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 7:32PM PatientJ said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 10:35PM DasMadHatter said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 7:38PM Beastcake said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 7:46PM Jawmuncher said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 8:10PM edit said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 8:13PM TheDarkWayne said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 8:33PM RogueJedi86 said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 8:38PM RogueJedi86 said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 8:45PM PastaGabe said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 10:29PM Nuisance said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 10:58PM RogueJedi86 said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 10:59PM TheDarkWayne said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 8:41PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Apr 27th 2011 11:27AM Dracownsu said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 11:42PM Hivetyrant said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 9:16PM gLitterbug said

Posted: Apr 26th 2011 9:46PM DasMadHatter said

Posted: Apr 27th 2011 11:41AM Dracownsu said

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