Atari licenses Unreal Engine 3 for next-generation development

Atari is the latest in a long line of publishers to license Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3 and tools for developing next-generation games.

Announcing the deal today, Atari's senior vice president of worldwide product content Jean-Marcel Nicolai said, "By utilising the Unreal Engine 3, Atari will gain rapid prototyping capabilities."

Other licensees include Buena Vista, which plans to use it for a new Turok game among other things, Gearbox Software, for Brothers in Arms 3, Silicon Knights, and Sony and Microsoft for their respective first-party titles on PS3 and Xbox 360.

"We've had a long-standing licensing and publishing relationship with Atari and it is especially gratifying to me to see our technology partnership continue," said Mark Rein, vice president and co-founder of Epic Games. "We're confident that Atari will make several great games with our technology and look forward to working with the company and its developers in achieving that goal."

Atari has yet to specify which games will use the Unreal Engine 3 technology.