Epic Games has confirmed that its upcoming Unreal Engine 4 technology will be showcased later this year and that it’s already running on systems the studio “can’t name yet,” probably meaning next generation consoles that might arrive soon enough.
Epic Games delighted fans with lots of high quality titles, but also pleased fellow studios with its very popular Unreal Engine technology. The latest iteration, Unreal Engine 3, has helped power all sorts of games, from Mass Effect to BioShock and anything in between.
As such, it’s no surprise that the studio is working on the Unreal Engine 4, with some of its features being highlighted last year with the Samaritan tech demo.
While Epic’s lead technology boss Tim Sweeney said that the new technology wouldn’t be coming until 2014, Epic’s Vice President, Mark Rein, has now confirmed that the full reveal of Unreal Engine 4 will happen sometime this year.
"People are going to be shocked later this year when they see Unreal Engine 4 and how much more profound an effect it will have," Rein told G4TV about the upcoming technology.
The outspoken executive also mentioned, via LoudMouthedGamers, that the engine is already running on “systems we can’t name yet.”
As you can imagine, these systems are certain to include next generation consoles like the oft-rumored PlayStation 4 or Xbox 720, although Rein didn’t elaborate on his statement.
While both Sony and Microsoft declined to comment on the successors of their current PS3 and Xbox 360, lots of rumors say that these new platforms will soon be revealed to the world, after being tested by various game developers from all over the world.
Rein’s comments only serve to consolidate reports that these new devices will arrive either this year, probably at E3 in summer, or sometime in 2013.
Until then, gamers should certainly look forward to Unreal Engine 4 later this year, as it’s bound to power plenty of games that will appear for next generation devices.
