Es hatte sich bereits angedeutet, jetzt bestätigte Epic Games auch höchstselbst per Pressemitteilung, dass man ein kostenloses Unreal Dev Kit veröffentlichen wird. Das UDK sei auf dem neuesten Stand der Technik und werde weiter gepflegt werden, heißt es weiter. Das Toolset ist für nichtkommerzielle Projekte und den Einsatz im akademischen Umfeld gedacht.

• Immediate access to Unreal Engine 3, the critically acclaimed 3D game engine technology for cross-platform game development.
• Easy content creation with the Unreal Editor, a fully integrated suite of top-tier development tools, which comes complete with:
  o Unreal Content Browser, a revolutionary tool for browsing, searching and organizing game assets with collaborative metadata tagging system.
  o UnrealScript object-oriented programming language and Unreal Kismet, a visual scripting system that enables rapid prototyping on the fly.
  o Unreal Matinee, a powerful tool with movie director-class controls for building in-game cinematics and gorgeous cut scenes.
  o Unreal Cascade, an advanced particle physics and environmental effects editor that aids the creation of fire, fog, explosions and other visuals.
  o NVIDIA® PhysX®-powered physics system with Unreal PhAT visual modeling tool for creating character and object physics rigs.
  o Unreal Lightmass, a global illumination system that dramatically lights and shadows with minimal effort required by artists and designers.
  o AnimSet Viewer and AnimTree Editor, which give animators precise control over every muscle and bone movement.
• Time saved thanks to technology integrations with leading game development middleware tools including SpeedTree®, Bink Video®, and FaceFX®.
• Output of standalone applications: Games created with UDK run entirely on their own with no additional software required. This means anyone can make UDK content and distribute it for free.
  

Weitere Infos gibt es auf der offiziellen UDK-Webseite. Wer das UDK für kommerzielle Zwecke einsetzen will, wird hier fündig. In jenem Fall werden 2500 Dollar pro Jahr und Arbeitsplatz fällig, so die Software für interne Zwecke eingesetzt wird - günstiger wird es, wenn man Epic eine Gewinnbeteiligung zugesteht. Wer ein Spiel oder eine Dienstleistung damit anbietet, muss, wenn er mehr als 5000 Dollar damit verdient, eine Gewinnbeteiligung in Höhe von 25 Prozent abführen.

Im Detail umfasst das Paket:

• The Unreal Editor toolset, complete with fully integrated game editing environment.
• Unreal Gemini multithreaded rendering system with support for all modern rendering and shading techniques, advanced lighting and shadowing, ambient occlusion and a powerful material system for creating complex shaders on the fly.
• Unreal Lightmass global illumination solver for high-quality static lighting.
• Unreal PhAT visual physics modeling tool with state-of-the-art physics system powered by NVIDIA® PhysX®.
• Unreal Kismet, an advanced visual scripting solution that facilitates rapid prototyping of ideas and gameplay mechanics.
• AnimSet Viewer and AnimTree Editor, which give animators precise control over every muscle and bone movement.
• Unreal Matinee, which includes movie director-class tools for creating in-game cut scenes and gorgeous cinematics.
• UnrealScript, a fully integrated, high-level object-oriented programming language.
• Unreal Cascade particle effects system for implementing explosions, fog, fire and smoke. Module-based system gives real-time previews of visual effects.
• Terrain building tool for placing and customizing vegetation, structures and countless in-game points of interest.
• Audio control through UnrealEds visual Sound Cue Editor, plus support for major audio compression schemes; 3D sound positioning, spatialization and attenuation; multi-channel playback, and much more.
• Built-in Internet and LAN networking support for up to 64 players.
• Integrations with leading game development middleware including NVIDIA® PhysX®, SpeedTree®, FaceFX® and Bink Video®.

Ein paar Bilder sind hier zu sehen.