Unreal Engine 3 licensed by Starbreeze

Starbreeze has confirmed that it's licensed Unreal Engine 3.

The announcement comes as a bit of a surprise, as the Swedish developer used its own Starbreeze engine that was used to power The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay and The Darkness.

However, Starbreeze boss Johan Kristiansson remains upbeat about the deal.

"We evaluated several game engines in the market and came to the conclusion that Unreal Engine 3 is the solution that best fits our needs," said Kristiansson.

"We were particularly impressed by the tool chain, which facilitates rapid iteration and high productivity for our team."

Epic Games VP Mark Rein added: "With this team now armed with all Unreal Engine 3 has to offer, players will get their hands on the newest creative visions thanks to Starbreeze using our state-of-the-art game engine tools and technology."

It's now thought Starbreeze will use the engine for Project Redlime, the secret codenamed project for EA that's rumoured to be a Syndicate revival.

Redlime is reported to be shown behind closed doors at GDC next month.