GDC CoverageEpic Games Gets Unreal with SOFTIMAGE

Avid Technology Inc. and Epic Games announced at GDC that they have teamed up to co-develop the UnrealActor X Exporter, a tool designed to allow professional developers and hobbyists to create interactive titles using Epic’s Unreal Engine and SOFTIMAGE|XSI animation software.

The Unreal Actor X Exporter for the XSI toolkit will allow users to export any type of model or character created with SOFTIMAGE|XSI directly into the upcoming Unreal Engine 3. Unreal’s mod community can also use the toolkit with the SOFTIMAGE|XSI Mod Tool to create their own characters, props and environments to modify titles powered by the Unreal Engine. The free SOFTIMAGE|XSI Mod Tool includes multiple toolsets for texturing and animating characters, as well as designing and previewing real-time effects.

"Using production-proven middleware solutions like Epic’s Unreal Engine as the foundation for their games allows professional developers and designers to focus more on the art and story-telling for their titles," comments Gamers Gareth Morgan, senior product manager for Softimage. "By working together, Softimage and Epic are democratizing the game development process and making best-of-breed professional-level products available to all game developers."

Based in Raleigh, North Carolina, Epic Games is best known as the creator of hit PC action games Unreal and Unreal Tournament. In addition, its Unreal Engine has been employed in the creation of such award-winning, best-selling games as Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, Ion Storm/Eidos’ Deus Ex, the United States Army’s America’s Army: Operations and EA’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone for PC.