The U.S. Army announces they have licensed the Unreal Engine 3 to power the next
version of the America's Army shooter, just as the first America's Army game was built upon a previous version of Epic's Unreal tech. Here's the
plan:
West Point, NY May10, 2005 The U.S. Army today announced that it is
expanding its technology agreement with Epic Games. Since 2000, Epic's Unreal.
Engine 2 has served as the foundation for America's Army, the Official U.S. Army
Game. To take advantage of leap-ahead capabilities afforded by Epic Games'
newest engine, the Army will begin developing its next generation versions of
America's Army on the Unreal Engine 3. in the coming months.
"The Unreal Engine has enabled us to develop one of the most popular games in
the world. At the same time, the Unreal Engine has provided us the power and
flexibility to develop revolutionary training and education applications for use
across the government," said Colonel Casey Wardynski, project director and
originator of the "America's Army" concept. "The gameplay, environments and
immersive action generated using Unreal Engine 3 will allow us to create ever
more realistic scenarios and environments through which young adults can learn
about Soldiering and through which Soldiers can master skills ranging from
lifesaving to countering IEDs in the Global War on Terrorism."
The America's Army game (www.americasarmy.com)
has placed Soldiering into popular culture by providing young adults the means
to explore key Soldier lifecycle experiences from basic training to operations
in the Global War on Terrorism. Since the America's Army game launched, gamers
have completed more than 1.34 billion missions and 94 million hours virtually
exploring progressive developmental experiences ranging from basic training to
the Special Forces Qualification Course. Upcoming versions of the game include
America's Army: Special Forces Overmatch, which will release this fall; and
America's Army: Stryker-Overmatch to be released this winter.
By harnessing the power of the Unreal Engine, America's Army produces
extraordinarily engaging and realistic environments and experiences. As a
result, a wide variety of agencies from the U.S. Navy to national laboratories
have repurposed America's Army for applications ranging from appended training
devices for weapon systems to adaptive thinking and leadership
training simulations.
"Our relationship with the Army has proven that Unreal Engine 3's flexibility,
versatility and wide array of features can be deployed for greater purposes
beyond traditional gaming," said Mark Rein, vice president of Epic
Games. "We are delighted that our technology is supporting the Army in achieving
its mission of showcasing the Army and helping to drive the America's Army game
series to new levels. It's also really exciting for us to see how our technology
can be used to help the Army prepare its Soldiers for the challenges they
confront in real-life scenarios."