Vivendi Universal Games, famosa per titoli come Diablo e Warcraft, ha stretto un accordo con la software house Epic Games per l'utilizzo del motore grafico Unreal Engine 3 per lo sviluppo dei prossimi giochi per PC e per console che usciranno nel 2006.

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VIVENDI UNIVERSAL GAMES SIGNS GLOBAL LICENSE AGREEMENT FOR UNREAL® ENGINE 3 FOR NEXT GENERATION GAME DEVELOPMENT

LOS ANGELES, CA and RALEIGH, NC – July 6, 2005 – Vivendi Universal Games (VU Games) and Epic Games today announced a studio-wide agreement under which VU Games will license Unreal® Engine 3 tools and technology for next generation console and PC game development.

VU Games’ internal and external development studios are licensed to use Unreal Engine 3 technology for next generation titles, which are expected to launch starting in 2006. Specific titles will be announced at a later date.

“Our licensing agreement with Epic Games underscores VU Games’ commitment to developing top tier next generation products,” said Peter Della Penna, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Product Development for VU Games. “Unreal Engine 3 technology will enable us to create exceptional high quality next gen titles in a productive and cost effective fashion.”

Mark Rein, Vice President and Co-founder of Epic Games said “VU Games has an incredible lineup of internal and external development teams that we know are going to benefit from working with Unreal Engine 3.”

About Unreal Engine 3
The award-winning Unreal Engine is known for cutting-edge graphics and a best-of-breed toolset. Unreal Engine 3 is expected to maintain those features while adding massive world support, multi-processor support, next-generation console optimizations, and one of the most mature tool pipelines in the industry. Unreal Engine 3’s new toolset is designed specifically to accelerate developers' productivity for ultra-complex, next-generation content. Additional information on Unreal Engine can be obtained at www.unrealtechnology.com.

About Epic Games
Epic Games Inc., based in Raleigh, NC and established in 1991, is a developer of cutting-edge computer and video games. The company is best known as the creator of hit PC 3D action games Unreal and Unreal Tournament, both award-winning blockbuster hits having each sold more than one million copies. Epic is also responsible for the Unreal Engine, which is the underlying technology for a wide range of games including, 2002 Console Game of the Year winner, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell ™ from Ubi Soft; PC Gamer’s 2000 Game of the Year, Deus Ex from Ion Storm/Eidos; America’s Army: Operations, from the United States Army, and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (PC) from Electronic Arts. Additional information can be obtained through Epic's Web site at www.epicgames.com.

About Vivendi Universal Games (VU Games)
Vivendi Universal Games (www.vugames.com) is a global developer, publisher and distributor of multi-platform interactive entertainment. The company is a leader in the subscription-based massively multi-player online (MMO) games category, and also holds leading positions in the PC, console and handheld games markets. Its development studios and publishing labels include Blizzard® Entertainment, Sierra® Entertainment, Radical Entertainment™, Massive Entertainment™ and Swordfish Studios. VU Games’ library of over 700 titles features owned intellectual properties including Warcraft®, StarCraft®, Diablo® and World of Warcraft™ from Blizzard; Crash Bandicoot®, Spyro The Dragon®, Empire Earth®, Leisure Suit Larry™, Ground Control® and Tribes®. VU Games also maintains strategic relationships with industry leading content partners, including Universal Music Group, NBC Universal and Twentieth Century Fox.