Epic engines coming to Android and iOS

Epic Games is modifying it UDK engine to include support for iOS devices such as iPhone, the company has confirmed.

And at a recent event in South Korea, the firm demonstrated a custom Unreal Engine 3 working on the Samsung Galaxy S; an Android smartphone device.

The company, renowned for its influential console engine UE3, says the UDK will soon be able to generate iOS applications.

No concrete announcement was made for Android devices, though Epic remains comitted to the platform.

Epic’s UDK is a free-to-use game engine, initially released for PC only, that developers can get to grips with before bringing a game to market.

And while engine’s mobile-specific costs and licencing structure is unclear, much can be speculated from the deal Epic has with its PC-bound UDK developers. If working in a commercial capacity, PC devs will have to pay Epic $99 up-front for UDK, and also give out 25 per cent of revenues from games built with the tech. The first $5,000 earned by a developer is however free of charge.

Epic Vice President Mark Rein recently told Develop that, in moving into the mobile games business, the firm will offer multiple licensing models for mobile game creators.

“We will work with licensees directly to figure out the best fit for each situation,” he said.

But the company believes further discussion at the company is needed to evaluate how to partner with developers selling their games at bottom-tier prices on the App Store.

The UDK has now been installed by more than 350,000 unique users.