Epic Games announced today of an agreement with Square Enix to let the Japanese develop titles using the Unreal Engine 3 technology.
Interestingly the news throws new light on comments made by Final Fantasy producer Yoshinori Kitase during a recent inteview with Gamereactor UK.
When asked about the company licensing the likes of Unreal to keep costs and development times down, Kitase dismissed its use for RPGs given it takes "a lot of customisation". But admitted that colleagues had used the engine, and stated he thought the "Unreal Engine would be better suited to games such as a FPS, but with an RPG we would have to adapt it to lots of different types of needs."
He finished by saying that: "I think it doesn't necessarily allow us to cut down on costs really."
Whether it was idle speculation or something more concrete in his FPS comments, it at least cements the possibility that whatever Square do with the engine, its likely not to be an RPG.
Epic's Unreal Engine has long been a favourite of Western designers, saving studios valuable development time - something Square has been conscious of in recent years, and as such the deal seems a smart move. Though, it should be noted, not all stories about the engine licensing have been quite so positive.
But Square's sign-off continues a change for the usually staunch Eastern development houses, as it joins Capcom in using Western third-party technology for in-house development.
Taka Kawasaki from Epic Games Japan said of the deal: "Many Western games have achieved great success with the Unreal Engine, and this milestone reflects the Japanese development community's trust in our technical prowess. We can't wait to see how Square Enix fuses the power of Unreal Engine 3 with its beautiful characters, enthralling storylines and fantastic gameplay."