Chair Entertainment licenses Unreal Engine 3; celebratory Undertow screens!

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 Epic Games‘ Unreal Engine has been on a rampage lately, with huge developing houses buying up licenses left and right. And why shouldn’t they? The Unreal Engine has created some of the most popular, critically acclaimed, and financially productive games of the past few generations. Part of Unreal 3’s popularity is due, no doubt, to its versatility and ease of use. It can create everything from the next Mortal Kombat to whatever Squeenix has up its sleeves, and even, apparently, XBLA games.

Independant game developer Chair Entertainment, of Advent Rising fame, are the latest to license Mark Rein’s wunderapp, promising to use it on all upcoming PS3, Xbox 360, and PC games. The newest of these games is the XBLA title Undertow, which should come out sometime this summer.

In brief, Undertow takes place after aliens melt the polar ice caps, thereby flooding the Earth. It’s your job to, y’know, kick a bunch of filthy aliens off of Kevin Costner’s nightmare. In any case, the screenies are gorgeous, and the promise of a 15-level single player campaign and multiplayer modes is very enticing. When it drops, it will clock in at a dainty 50mb.

Hit the jump for a teaser and a press release. Check out the gallery for Undertow screenshots and concept art. Speaking of the teaser, anybody else get a 300 feel?

[Via Rithum, and thanks to Joe “I know what ‘misogynistic’ means and that’s totally not me” Burling!]

CHAIR ENTERTAINMENT SIGNS EXCLUSIVE DEAL WITH EPIC GAMES

Unreal Engine 3 to power existing and new intellectual properties across all platforms

Provo, Utah – June 19, 2007 – Chair Entertainment Group, an independent video game production company, today announced that it has signed an exclusive deal with Epic Games to license the award-winning Unreal® Engine 3 for all its present and upcoming game development projects.
The deal covers all games developed for Xbox® 360, PlayStation® 3 and PC and the first game that will be released under the new agreement will be Undertow® for Xbox LIVE® Arcade, which is due to go live worldwide this summer. The game, which reveals some of the most stunning graphics seen on Xbox LIVE® Arcade, features a 15 level campaign for single-player or co-op, and two robust multiplayer modes for up to 16 players which has been delivered in just 50mb – something that has not been achieved in any other Xbox LIVE® Arcade to date.

“The versatility and technological advantages provided by the Unreal Engine 3 have determined it to be our exclusive choice of technology for next-generation development,” said Geremy Mustard, technical director at Chair Entertainment. “UE3 will enable our overflowing creative vision to spill into the hands of gamers sooner and at a much higher level of quality.”

Mark Rein, Vice-President, Epic Games comments, “We love working with cool independent studios like Chair that are truly focused on delivering value to gamers and creating experiences that break new boundaries in gameplay and creativity. Sure, we love working with the big developers and publishers too, but there’s something really satisfying about seeing a young company with great talent doing some awesome stuff with our technology. Undertow is just the first great game you’ll see from these guys – prepare to be wowed some more.”

To coincide with the announcement, Chair Entertainment today officially released the first Undertow screenshots, which can be downloaded at: http://www.chairentertainment.com/company/projects/undertow/gallery.

About Chair Entertainment
Founded in 2005, Chair Entertainment Group is an independent video game production company committed to creating complete blockbuster entertainment franchises, which bring together video games, books, movies, comics, and merchandise, through the development of intellectual properties which are owned and managed exclusively by the company itself.

Under the direction of Donald and Geremy Mustard, Chair’s design team has worked together for years gaining experience in many facets of entertainment including art design, digital animation, game development, storytelling, and comic books. Several of Chair’s founding members were part of the development team responsible for Advent Rising, released in 2005 for Xbox and PC. They also directed the story and art design for the 360ep comic book series, Advent Rising: Rock the Planet.

Additional information and gamer forums can be found at: www.chairentertainment.com.

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 Cary, NC and established in 1991, develops cutting-edge games and game engine technology for PC and console. The company has created multiple million-selling, award-winning titles in their Unreal series and their latest game, Gears of War®, broke sales records on Xbox 360 selling more than 3 million copies worldwide in the first ten weeks and awarded overall Game of the Year for 2006 by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, Game Developers Choice Awards, GameSpot, GamePro and many others. Epic is also responsible for the Unreal Engine, which is the underlying technology for a wide range of games including, Console Game of the Year winner, “Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell TM” by Ubi Soft; PC Gamer’s Game of the Year, “Deus Ex” from Ion Storm/Eidos; “America’s Army: Special Forces,” by the United States Army, and “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” (PC) by Electronic Arts. Epic’s Unreal Engine 3 is the current holder, and three-time consecutive winner, of Game Developer magazine’s Front Line award for Best Game Engine. Epic Games was also awarded Studio of the Year at the 2006 Spike TV Video Game Awards and Developer of the Year by Official Xbox Magazine. Additional information about Epic can be obtained through Epic’s Web site at www.epicgames.com.


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