Proprietary tech is ‘risky’, says 38 Studios

US independent developer 38 Studios has added another string to its middleware bow, following the licensing of BigWorld’s MMO suite by signing up to use Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 3 too.

UE3 will be used to power gameplay while the BigWorld Technology Suite will provide backend, server-side capabilities.

38 is currently building an online game devised in conjunction with comic artist Todd McFarlane and author R.A. Salvatore. The game is due in 2010.

The studio said that it chosing off the shelf technology as the team doesn’t want to build proprietary technology.

“History has taught us that the risk associated with building complex games is reduced significantly when the core infrastructure and toolsets are in place early on,” explained Jon Laff, CTO.

“With both Unreal Engine 3 and BigWorld, 38 Studios is marrying two unbeatable technologies to give us the foundation to produce the highest quality MMOG we can while still allowing us to focus on making a game that is uniquely ours."