Luminous Engine will attract dev talent, says Square Enix

Square Enix won't be handing out licenses for its super-slick Luminous Engine, so if you want to get your hands on it, you'll just have to sign on with the Japanese publisher.

Speaking to Shack News, Square Enix's western president and CEO Mike Fischer said Luminous is an in-house only affair, thank you very much.

"This is an in-house tool. We're not building this around a licensing model," he said.

But developers who sign with Square Enix may negotiate for access to the tech, too.

"It's my hope that this makes teams and creative people around the world excited to work for us because they'll get their hands on some of the best technology in the industry," Fischer explained.

Luminous has been demonstrated on a couple of occasions with a short video called Agni's Philosophy. Although undeniably beautiful and detailed, its the engine's capacity for off-the-cuff adjustments, immediately rendered in real-time, which has sparked developer interest. Square Enix has said next-generation games will share high-quality assets between cut-scenes and gameplay as a result.