Epic Purchases Reality Engine [May 12, 2005, 10:43 am ET] – Share – Viewing Comments
Epic Games announces they have purchased the
Reality Engine, with the
intention of integrating some of its features into the Unreal 3 Engine. Here's
the announcement, which states they will not be developing the Reality Engine
going forward, though they will offer its licensees a discount on the Unreal
tech:
RALEIGH, May 12th, 2005 – Epic Games, one of the world’s leading developers of cutting-edge computer and video games and the pioneer of the award-winning Unreal® Engine, today announced that it has completed the purchase of the Reality Engine™ from Artificial Studios and hired its founder, and lead engine programmer, Tim Johnson. Tim will join the Unreal Engine 3 development team effective immediately and be part of Epic’s presence at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, California next week.
Epic has purchased the Reality Engine outright, including intellectual property rights, trademarks, and copyrights. Epic does not intend to continue sales, development, or support of the Reality Engine, but will review its technologies for inclusion into Unreal Engine 3. Developers who had purchased Reality Engine licenses prior to this sale will be offered upgrades to Unreal Engine 3 at significantly discounted prices and should contact licensing@epicgames.com for more details.
Unreal Engine 3 provides a pathway to both PC and next generation console development, supported by the recent announcement that major game developer Silicon Knights will use Unreal Engine 3 exclusively for its next generation games. Other recently announced licensees include Bioware, the console game developer of the year, and renowned publisher Midway, which has acquired a studio-wide license.
“I am thrilled about joining the team at Epic Games” said Tim Johnson. “I’m a long-time fan of Unreal games and technology, and I am proud to be joining a company I consider to be a world leader in both game development and next generation middleware.”
“We’re very excited to have Tim Johnson join Epic Games,” said Epic founder and CEO, Tim Sweeney. “He brings six years of engine development experience to the Unreal Engine 3 development team, and he’s already brimming with ideas on how to improve our technology. Tim is a great fit for Epic – he clearly understands all sides of the licensing business, from engineering to customer support to business development. He will have a huge positive impact on our company and our engine licensees.”
Morrowind came out before anyone even heard of the Reality Engine. As for Oblivion, AFAIK, it's Bethesda's own engine.
Ehh, I'll bet they'd let you finish your game using the tech, but I doubt you'd get any more help with it from the developer. Even if your license agreement allowed Epic to halt your production, they'd have to be spawned from Satan to actually do that. They’ve eliminated any future threat from the engine, so there’s nothing to gain but bad press by shutting down current licensees.
Wasn't the Elder Scrolls : Morrowind developed using the Reality Engine?
Also, isn't the new Elder Scrolls : Oblivion being developed using the Reality Engine?
Also, isn't the new Elder Scrolls : Oblivion being developed using the Reality Engine?
Unreal Engines suck.
Since when?
I can't tell you what's going on. This press release is completely new information to us as an RE licensee. I'm not even sure what falls under NDA anymore. Suffice it to say, this is insanely different than what we've already been told about this (which wasn't much). However i'm sorry to say that if Epic will require us to buy UE3 to continue development of our game (at no matter what price they have to offer) that's going to mean the end of our game. We wouldn't be able to afford their "significantly discounted prices" even if it was a 90% price cut.
This is a bombshell. We were set to reveal our game in private to certain publishers at E3 (followed by an announcement afterwords), but if the above is true it seems that now we've essentially been screwed out of the 6 months that were so painstakingly spent developing it. I have no idea what will happen to us now. I'm waiting on clarification from our contacts at RE.
If you had ever wanted to see a programmer spew coffee out of his mouth all over his keyboard, you could seen it happen this morning. Wow. Just wow.
---------
Pandora Studios programmer
http://www.pandora-studios.com
This is a bombshell. We were set to reveal our game in private to certain publishers at E3 (followed by an announcement afterwords), but if the above is true it seems that now we've essentially been screwed out of the 6 months that were so painstakingly spent developing it. I have no idea what will happen to us now. I'm waiting on clarification from our contacts at RE.
If you had ever wanted to see a programmer spew coffee out of his mouth all over his keyboard, you could seen it happen this morning. Wow. Just wow.
---------
Pandora Studios programmer
http://www.pandora-studios.com
Seems kinda Microsoft'ish, doesn't it? Fuck, that engine has stuff we don't, let's buy em, then make it vanish from the face of the earth.
No tears shed here, I hadn't even heard of this Reality Engine before. Any noticeable games that have ever been developed with it?
Creston
No tears shed here, I hadn't even heard of this Reality Engine before. Any noticeable games that have ever been developed with it?
Creston
That's a shame, Unreal Engines suck.
Not surprised though.
Reality Engine was slow as fuck though, they went the no BSP route which for all their bragging, was still slow as shit.
Will be interested to see what happens with this.
I wonder what happened to all the people at Artificial Studios who aren't Tim Johnson...
Not surprised though.
Reality Engine was slow as fuck though, they went the no BSP route which for all their bragging, was still slow as shit.
Will be interested to see what happens with this.
I wonder what happened to all the people at Artificial Studios who aren't Tim Johnson...
Although getting the talent is a nice plus, would you say the same thing about every one of MS’s competitor buyouts? The simple fact is that one Reality engine license is potentially a loss of 500K to Epic, so it’s going to be a tough sell to convince a thinking person that it’s primarily about the talent.
Okay Epic, now really impress us and get some ground breaking A.I. into the Unreal Engine 3.
This is huge news for me (I'm pretty stunned too). I've been following the development of RE for quite some time now and always wished that some of the features would be in UE3.
But on the other hand this is a little sad thing too. I would have loved to see RE grow in popularity, which I think it was really starting to get (deservedly) and be a good competitor in the engine market.
But on the other hand this is a little sad thing too. I would have loved to see RE grow in popularity, which I think it was really starting to get (deservedly) and be a good competitor in the engine market.
Rob: I don't think it's about the threat level. It's about getting the talent.
Yikes. After looking at some of the screenshots, and seeing that he's already got a few licenses apparently, this is smelling an awful lot like eliminating the competition through purchase.
Giving this guy perhaps $1M for the engine and a $100k/year (perhaps more?) is a lot cheaper than losing 5 licensees to him, for instance.
Giving this guy perhaps $1M for the engine and a $100k/year (perhaps more?) is a lot cheaper than losing 5 licensees to him, for instance.
This guy probably learned long ago that the engine’s perceived quality is made by content developers, not programmers, and it would never gain real popularity until it was used in by a prominent AAA title (and even then it’s success is hardly guaranteed, as Farcry illustrates very well). I’m a bit surprised they were bought this early in their development, they didn’t seem like much of a threat, but I guess it’s easier done now than if they get lucky and land a notable licensee.
UNREAL III: ATTACK OF THE TIMS
Edit: Damn, is it too late to add another? With a Johnson and a (s)Weeney running the technology development, you could say there are two dicks in charge.
This comment was edited on May 12, 14:31.
Edit: Damn, is it too late to add another? With a Johnson and a (s)Weeney running the technology development, you could say there are two dicks in charge.
This comment was edited on May 12, 14:31.
That squirrel guy here is using the Reality engine for something, isn't he?
-------------
Music for the discerning:
http://www.deathwishinc.com
http://www.hydrahead.com
http://www.painkillerrecords.com
Music for the discerning:
http://www.deathwishinc.com
http://www.hydrahead.com
http://www.painkillerrecords.com
They drove a dumptruck full of money up to his front door.
I'm surprised that a superior engine, atleast by their comparisons chart, would allow themselves to be bought and merged. Tim Johnson must be one really big fan of Unreal.
This comment was edited on May 12, 11:16.
This comment was edited on May 12, 11:16.
Copyright © 1996-2025 Stephen Heaslip. All rights reserved.
All trademarks are properties of their respective owners.
Privacy Policy. Manage Cookie Settings.
News CGI copyright © 1999-2025 James "furn" Furness & Blue's News. All rights reserved.
Chatbear v1.5.0/blue++: Page generated 25 April 2025, 17:49.