Capcom, .hack Devs In New UE3 Licensing Agreement

Capcom has entered a licensing agreement with Epic Games to use Unreal Engine 3 in the recently-announced Asura's Wrath, developed by .hack studio CyberConnect2. The action game, revealed at Tokyo Game Show last week, is for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and it comes from the third UE3 agreement between Capcom and Epic. Capcom's most recent UE3 game was Dark Void, developed by external Seattle-based studio Airtight Games. Fukuoka, Japan-based CyberConnect2 is also known for developing fighting games based on the Naruto anime franchise. The agreement is the latest to come through Epic Games Japan, which was founded by the Cary, NC-headquartered Gears of War studio in 2009. Epic localized all of its UE3 documentation into Japanese, and a small staff spends face-time with Japanese UE3 developers. In a statement, CyberConnect2 game director Seiji Shimoda offered, "At CyberConnect2, we have our own development process and know-how gained from years of development. But this time we decided to reconsider our process to achieve higher quality and efficiency." He added that he believed UE3 was the appropriate solution for the studio. Epic is in the process of expanding platforms that support UE3, particularly focusing on Apple's mobile devices, iPod Touch, iPad and iPhone. The company is also looking at bringing the engine to Google's Android OS.