NCsoft has secured a long-term deal with Epic Games to license their latest game engine tech, Unreal Engine 4. The licensing deal was secured through by NCsoft through Epic Games Korea, making them the first Korean studio to license the new tech.

Under the new deal, NCsoft will continue to develop and ship new massive size games using the Unreal Engine 4. What those games are will be announced at a later date, but some of NCsoft’s previous work with Epic’s Unreal Engines includes Lineage II, which utilized Unreal Engine 2, and the Unreal Engine 3 powered Blade & Soul.

Stay tuned and we’ll update you on future announcements from NCsoft.

NCSOFT Licenses Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 4 

Premier MMO developer and publisher to build on legacy of Unreal Engine success and harness the power of Unreal Engine 4 breakthrough technology for new blockbuster games

 CARY, N.C. and SEOUL (February 14, 2013) – Epic Games, Inc. has licensed Unreal Engine 4 to NCSOFT through a long-term deal that grants the renowned publisher and developer of massively multiplayer online (MMO) games to utilize Epic’s groundbreaking technology and tools for upcoming projects. NCSOFT secured its license through Epic Games Korea and is the first Korean studio to license Unreal Engine 4.

'Unreal Engine 4 is an extremely fascinating game engine in terms of its unprecedented efficiency and performance,” said James Bae, chief product officer of NCSOFT. “We plan to release our best game ever using our Unreal Engine expertise and the new state-of-the-art Unreal Engine 4 tools.”

“NCSOFT’s first Unreal Engine mega hit, ‘Lineage II,’ has remained in Korea’s top 10 games for 10 years, and people have been blown away by the leading-edge Unreal Engine 3 visuals of ‘Blade and Soul,’” said Ray Park, territory manager for Epic Games Korea. “With Unreal Engine 4 in their hands, NCSOFT is set to redefine MMORPG success all over again.”

Under this new agreement, NCSOFT is building onto its track record of shipping top-tier games of massive size and scale using Unreal Engine technology. The studio’s Unreal Engine 2-powered “Lineage II” has blazed trails across the MMO landscape and has sustained a massive player base over the past decade. Their top-ranking “Blade & Soul” was developed with Unreal Engine 3 and has become one of Korea’s most popular games. “Blade & Soul” recently swept the 2012 Korea Game Awards, winning the coveted Presidential Award along with top technical honors for best graphics, sound and character.

Additional details around NCSOFT’s Unreal Engine 4 projects have yet to be announced.

About NCSOFT

NCSOFT, headquartered in Seoul, Korea, is the world's premier publisher and developer of massively multiplayer online games, including the critically acclaimed “Aion®,” “Lineage®,” “Guild Wars®” and “City of Heroes®” franchises. More information can be found at www.ncsoft.com.

About Unreal Engine

Developed by Epic Games, the award-winning Unreal Engine is known for its cutting-edge graphics technology, world-class toolset and scalability across PC, console and mobile platforms. Unreal Engine 3 (UE3) is designed to accelerate developers’ productivity for creating high-quality games, applications, training simulations, visualizations, digital films and animated entertainment. Powering hundreds of games and integrated with two dozen leading middleware technologies, UE3 holds more than 20 technology awards, including eight Game Developer Front Line Awards and five Develop Industry Excellence Awards. The Unreal Engine also owns a seat in the Front Line Awards Hall of Fame. Unreal Engine 4 (UE4), winner of multiple Best of E3 2012 awards, offers unprecedented graphical capabilities and workflow improvements that provide unparalleled accessibility for developers building the next generation of games and applications. For more information, visit www.unrealengine.com and follow @UnrealEngine.

About Epic Games

Established in 1991, Epic Games, Inc. develops cutting-edge games and cross-platform game engine technology. The company is responsible for the bestselling “Unreal” series of games, the blockbuster “Gears of War” franchise and the groundbreaking “Infinity Blade” line of mobile games. Epic’s award-winning Unreal Engine technology has won dozens of awards and is available for licensing. Epic is continually recruiting top talent for its studios located in North Carolina, Washington, Utah, Poland, Korea and Japan. For more information, visit www.epicgames.com and follow @EpicGames.

Epic, Epic Games, Gears of War, Infinity Blade, Unreal, Unreal Engine, UE3 and UE4 and are trademarks or registered trademarks of Epic Games, Inc. in the United States of America and elsewhere. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

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